Regarding Ami Kearns’ April 28 letter to the editor, why is it so interesting that Kim Bean, a Bakersfield resident, thinks it’s her right to visit Santa Barbara? Is it because she’s from Bakersfield?
Nowhere in the letter does Bean ever mention that she comes to Santa Barbara to party. What she does mention is that she comes to visit her children and grandchildren. If she decides to party with them is of no business except to her and her family.
We are from Los Angeles (do we also not have the right to visit?) and like to get away to Santa Barbara for long weekends because it’s close enough to drive to in a couple of hours and will not infringe upon our needed long weekend away. But it’s far enough away, that we can easily feel like we are away from it all.
My husband grew up in Santa Barbara and Goleta and knows the area well, so it’s always a nice getaway. And since my husband grew up there, does he have more right to visit than someone from Bakersfield?
Similar to Bean, we also are aware of the many hotels and motels available, but sometimes those are way out of our budget; even the smaller more economical motels may be out of our range when all we want to do is get away and relax for a couple of days.
The short-term rentals we have stayed at have been nothing short of wonderful for us.
Even getting to know the couple during the brief periods we are around is something to look forward to. Not only are they lovely to talk with but they always give great recommendations of places to visit, restaurants to eat at, and out-of-the-way adventures.
I should point out that we first discovered Airbnb and other short-term rentals when my 80-year-old mother-in-law had a stroke and we were shuttling between Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria for the better part of five years.
The hosts and their accommodations were a godsend to us at a very difficult and stressful time. My husband would not have been able to spend as much time with his mother and help his other family members without these short-term rentals.
The fact that there are people in Santa Barbara that are completely fine with prosecuting other community members because they rent out a room does not feel like the Santa Barbara community that we love and look forward to visiting a couple of times a year.
It’s puzzling to me that Santa Barbara would want to spend so much money to police this, when from what I have seen of Santa Barbara as lovely as it is, it is definitely a city that also welcomes tourists, too. The money that we save in staying at a short-term rental, we definitely end up spending it within your community of businesses.
My husband and I would also urge the City Council to abandon this proposed pilot program and instead consider alternate ways to work with these small-business owners and contributing members of the community.
These are your people, and they have become our people, too.
Claudia & Mike Garcia
Los Angeles
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Thank you to sports columnist Mark Patton for the memories in his May 7 column, “Rounding the Bases Back to Home with Santa Barbara’s 1962 Mets Farm Team.”
I was a couple years older than Patton, but remember the fun times attending games at the old Laguna Park with friends. It brought baseball to us in such a fun and personal way.
I remember Paul Blair, Grimm Mason and the crew, and can still hear an older fan yelling “Give it a ride, Grimm!”
We also played junior baseball and all-star games at the end of the baseball season. What a magical treat to play in such a venue for a young kid.
So sad for lost promises of another ballpark!
Vernon Moore
Santa Barbara
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Thank you for publishing the May 4 article, “Legal Pot Is More Potent Than Ever — And Still Largely Unregulated.”
A copy of it should be sent to every parent and student in the public schools.
Joan Esposito
Santa Barbara
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Thank you to sports editor Barry Punzal for his May 9 article, “Santa Barbara Swim Masters Win 11 Golds at U.S. Spring Nationals.”
I’ve been involved with Masters swimming for approximately 14 years and joined the Santa Barbara team in 2021. I have to say that this team is an incredible group or athletes who are both talented and supportive of each other. I feel lucky to be a part of it.
It sounds like Punzal is familiar with the sport of swimming as the article was well written and mentioned all of the relevant points in clear and understandable ways.
I’ve never actually seen an article published about a Masters swimming group outside of Masters swimming publications. So thank you for doing it.
David Sims
Santa Barbara
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