On Oct. 14, Santa Barbara City Councilwomen Kristen Sneddon and Wendy Santamaria will introduce a proposal to cap annual rent increases at 60% of the consumer price index, which would amount to 1.62%.
If rent control moves forward, the consequences will be real for both property owners and renters in Santa Barbara:
1. Fewer Rentals Available — Many owners will shift their properties to short-term rentals or other uses if they can.
2. New Housing Will Stall — Developers will stop building, choking off future supply.
3. Investment Will Dry Up — Investors will skip Santa Barbara entirely, reducing options for renters.
4. Forced Sales and Higher Rents — Some owners will sell, and new buyers will raise rents to the maximum allowed.
5. Falling Property Values — Both rental providers and homeowners will see their values decline.
6. Less Revenue for the City — Lower values mean less property tax money for city services.
7. Rents Will Still Go Up — With fewer units and less investment, scarcity will continue driving rents higher.
8. More Government-Owned Housing — The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara — exempt from paying taxes — will grow its holdings, further reducing city revenue.
9. Loss of Local Control — Builder’s remedy projects may move forward with little say from the City Council or neighborhoods.
10. What’s Next? — Mandates on renting out spare bedrooms? A vacancy tax on second homes, commercial spaces and rentals?
The bottom line is that rent control will not solve our housing challenges — it will make them worse. The only way to stop this is for the City Council to hear directly from you today!
Loy Beardsmore
Santa Barbara
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Regarding the Sept. 24 article, “Santa Barbara County to Expand Ways to Report Unpermitted Food Vendors,” the county Civil Grand Jury report found that illegal pushcarts, food trucks and tented restaurants have become widespread throughout the county in recent years and have been an ongoing problem, posing health risks, like storing perishable food and unsanitary conditions.
No kidding.
In addition, county Public Health Department director Mouhanad Hammami described to the Board of Supervisors the adverse economic “… impact such vendors have on our local permitted businesses, such as mobile food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants.”
Agreed!
The Grand Jury wants the county to improve the ability of the public to report the increasing number of illegal vendors, presumably to take immediate action to remove them.
But the Public Health Department says its staff cannot keep up.
The Grand Jury also recommended that law enforcement accompany county health inspectors when visiting vendors in unincorporated areas.
The supervisors seemed to agree, but Supervisor Joan Hartmann said customers patronizing the vendors are bothering authorities in their enforcement. Her solution? “… consider more we can do on the public education side.”
What?! NO! Shut down the illegal vendors and better educate our kids in the classroom with math and phonetics reading.
Supervisor Laura Capps raised the issue of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and acknowledged that many immigrants sell food to survive.
So, Capps’ solution is to NOT to shut down illegal vendors and protect legal food service businesses, but to keep providing an environment in which people, who cannot afford to live here, can thrive on the streets by doing business illegally.
Our supervisors have become toothless leaders in addressing real problems on our streets. They turn their heads and talk around the issue or form a task force to study the issue when tough action in enforcement is called for, not educating the public.
J.W. Burk
Santa Barbara
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I had to laugh when I read Santa Barbara County Public Health Department director Mouhanad Hammami’s quotes in the Sept. 25 article, “County Health Reassigning Some Medi-Cal Patients Amid Federal Restrictions.”
To accommodate “undocumented “ individuals now that the federal government will not be picking up the tab, he says, “We will never abandon our patients or community.”
Right, just as long as the state government is paying.
What I didn’t read was him saying that he would be contributing his services for free. As if!
Brian MacIsaac
Santa Barbara
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The Sept. 28 obituary for author Ashley Brilliant was, well, brilliant. Just as he deserved! Thank you.
Now I know why the weather turned so gloomy and chilly. We lost a great one.
Marilyn Gilbert
Montecito
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I was very sad to read the comments made about Charlie Kirk by Thomas Edson and Alex Richard in the Sept. 19 letters to the editor.
They accused Kirk of being racist, misogynistic, sexist and homophobic. But there are hundreds of hours of Kirk’s words recorded from his podcasts, debates (here and abroad), interviews and speeches, and nowhere does he exhibit any of the traits they described.
Therefore, one can surmise that Edson and Richard are untruthful, unserious, incurious and envious. I pray that they turn their hatred into positive purposes.
Sydney Tredick
Santa Barbara
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Thank you for publishing Jon Greenleaf’s and R. Hamilton’s Sept. 26 letters to the editor refuting Paul Aijian’s Sept. 24 commentary, “Santa Barbara Faithful to Carry Charlie Kirk’s Mandate Forward.”
Kirk’s death was tragic but he was no saint as these two letters make clear.
Josie Levy Martin
Montecito
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I attended the opening photography exhibit, “One in Five, The Face of Dyslexia,” at the Santa Barbara Public Library.
The exhibition displayed dozens of photographs of a wide range of successful adults with dyslexia and a quote from each about their experiences. I found myself compelled to read and review each image to learn more about each person.
Many local people were included, like the Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, who supported many students with dyslexia. Paul Orfalea was also in the series with the quote, “If you can make it through the school system, you can make it through life.”
Images of conceptual art pieces included hand-drawn letters reaching out, called “Help!” — which was one of my favorites. One photo featured Annette, a struggling young student who spoke highly of her supportive parents who advocated for her.
The series was created by The Dyslexia Project writer Cheri Rae and photographer Monie de Wit and will be on display throughout October, Dyslexia Awareness Month.
Michael Sweeney
Santa Barbara
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Santa Barbara County is supposed to be the most progressive county for solar and alternative energy, but our current green project is not going anywhere due to inaction or delay by the county Planning & Development Department.
Our family would like to be as green as possible. We drive an EV, have solar panels on our roof, and backup batteries, electric bikes, an inductive cooktop, an electric water heater on demand and double-glazed windows.
We even built a water catchment area to feed and help replenish the groundwater aquifer.
Despite our success in improving our carbon footprint, we have encountered county roadblocks for a simple project we have been trying to get approved for two years. The project is a 16-foot-by-16-foot pergola to support additional solar panels.
The roadblocks include an out-of-date county map identifying our property as environmentally sensitive habitat, which it is not, and requiring us to hire a biologist to inspect our lot, write a report explaining that indeed it is not such a habitat, and send it to planning. That report was an additional expense and removed a number of restrictions on building the pergola.
At the end of July we submitted all the items our planner had told us were required and are still waiting for a response (phone call, email or letter) nearly two months later.
I’ve run a business of my own for 47 years and, if I ran it as the county is running the Planning & Development Department, I would no longer be operating.
I’m not giving up, but my energy could be better spent on being allowed, and even encouraged, to improve our community rather than fighting for every inch of ground on this project.
Does this sound progressive to you?
Haik Hakobian
Santa Barbara
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