Selma Rubin's 90th

[ SBN-P column, 4/27/2005 ]:

ON THE TOWN: Lorraine D. Wilson


Hats off to Selma Rubin


(Above, from left: sponsor Herman Warsh with honoree Selma Rubin, Jill Dexter, Naomi Schwartz and Maryanne Mott at the fundraiser for Santa Barbara Community Action Network)


A birthday cake centered each table -- both a decoration and dessert -- and a dozen toasts were made to honor Selma Rubin on her 90th birthday. The party was a fundraiser for Santa Barbara Community Action Network and held in the social hall of Congregation B'nai B'rith.

The event committee planned an evening of fun, spoofs, a trip down memory lane and creative singalong songs, including one with lyrics from "The Cat in the Hat," to celebrate the beloved lady known for always wearing a hat.

The "birthday girl" is well known for her involvement in more than 30 organizations in the community, including Community Environmental Council, Fund for Santa Barbara, Legal Defense Center, American Civil Liberties Union, Gaviota Coast Conservancy, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Friendship Center, Alzheimer's Association, Santa Barbara Women's Political Committee, Casa Esperanza homeless shelter, Sierra Club, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, Congress of Racial Equality, UCSB Hillel, Environmental Defense Center and Coalition Against Gun Violence.

Serving on the tribute organizing committee were Barbie Deutsch, BL Borovay and president of SBCAN George Relles, Tim Allison, Ignacio Alarcon, Jenny Benjamin, Patricia Duffy, Ed Maschke, Jill Dexter, Ruth Ackerman and David Fortson and his wife, Terra Basche.

Naomi Schwartz, retired 1st District county supervisor, was the master of ceremonies, and Richard and Mickey Flacks created and led the songs with pianist Renee Hamaty.

Hosts and patrons included Andrew and Adrianne Davis, Kathleen and Don Scott, Sara Miller McCune, Judy Bennett, Carla Frisk, George Thurlow, Tybie and Bernie Kirtman, Maryanne Mott and husband Herman Warsh, David and Kitty Peri, Ilene Pritikin, Bob and Carol Bason, Loretta Redd and Gail Marshall, former 3rd District county supervisor.

Elected officials also on the host committee included Susan Rose, 2nd District county supervisor and her husband, Allan Ghitterman; Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum and her husband, Dr. Joseph Blum; and City Council members Iya Falcone and husband Vincent, Roger Horton and wife Eileen, Helene Schneider, Das Williams; and Goleta City Council member Margaret Connell.

Ghita Ginberg was among the sponsors at the celebration as well as David and Sharon Landecker; Mary Ellen Wylie, assistant to Salud Carbajal, and her husband, Dennis; June Sochel; John and Hanne Sonquist; Judy and Rob Egenolf; Nancy Weiss and husband Marc Chytilo; and Dr. Dave Bearman and Lily Maestas.

U.S. Rep. Lois Capps led off the round of clever toasts, and among the presenters were Assemblyman Pedro Nava, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, there with husband Judge George Eskin, and Rabbi Steve Cohen of Congregation B'nai B'rith, who toasted, "To Selma, we are all proud of our long line of Jewish women heroes."

Yes!


LORRAINE D. WILSON / NEWS-PRESS

[ SBN-P online edition:
ON THE TOWN: Lorraine D. Wilson ]

Grant House in the Race

[ SBN-P 4/26/2005 ]:

Planner announces bid for council seat

4/26/05
By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Beaming with enthusiasm, longtime Santa Barbara Planning Commissioner Grant House announced his bid for City Council in front of more than 50 supporters Monday outside City Hall.

Mr. House is the first nonincumbent candidate to come forward for the November council election.

Owner of Grant House Sewing Machines and an avid alternative transportation advocate, Mr. House said his campaign is about the three "E's," economy, ecology and equity.

"Santa Barbara is strong because of its diversity," said Mr. House, who also speaks Spanish. "Everyone in Santa Barbara has a place at the table."

Mr. House, a renter, can often be seen riding his bicycle around Santa Barbara. He is a founding board member of the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation, or COAST. At his business in the Magnolia Shopping Center, Mr. House holds regular sewing classes for adults and children. He is a founding board member of the César Chávez Charter School and past treasurer of La Casa de la Raza, an Eastside Community Center.

Several planning commissioners and two City Council members, Das Williams and Brian Barnwell, attended the event.

"I can think of no better place for Grant than the City Council," Planning Commission Chairman Jonathan Maguire said.

Former county Supervisor Naomi Schwartz spoke at the event and said Mr. House is a man of "integrity and character."

"Grant knows how to reach out and be inclusionary," Ms. Schwartz said.

Mr. House, 54, throws his hat into a race where three council positions and the mayor's seat are up for grabs. He is running against incumbents Iya Falcone and Roger Horton.

Although Mr. House is the first to hold a media event, others are gearing up to run, including Dianne Channing and Loretta Redd. Mayor Marty Blum is running for re-election, but so far no one is challenging her.


[ SBN-P online edtition:
Planner announces bid for council seat ]

Economic Justice in S.B.

Living-wage activists call for 'economic justice' in S.B.

4/25/05
By MELISSA EVANS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Supporters of a plan to raise the wages paid by businesses that contract with the city of Santa Barbara rallied Sunday in hopes of convincing the City Council to pass an ordinance in the next few weeks.

Many who attended a panel discussion at the Junipero Serra Hall are activists in the religious community who called on leaders to pass a living wage increase for both moral and economic reasons.

"Church and government must promote economic justice because the . . . market certainly will not," City Councilman Das Williams said.

Organized by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, or CLUE, the panel included the Rev. Mark Asman of Trinity Episcopal Church, Patricia Sandall of CLUE, Jarrod Schwartz of the National Conference for Community Justice, Hillary Blackerby of the UCSB Campus Democrats and Miguel Azteca of PUEBLO.

Participants want the City Council to pass a living wage increase that would bring the minimum salary to $13.40 per hour, or to $15.40 for those without medical benefits. The increase would apply to about 200 contractors who work with the city and about 24 nonprofit organizations that receive city money. It would also cover about 300 city employees who hold part-time or seasonal positions.

The council has endorsed the idea, but after several years of discussion has not passed any increase. It will likely take the issue up again in about a month, organizers said.

Critics fear the increase would be bad for business and would add even more burden to a city budget that is already stretched thin. Supporters, however, said those who cannot afford to live in Santa Barbara County are already sapping tax dollars because they have no medical insurance or receive low-income assistance.

Some are forced to work multiple jobs, which leads to poor quality of life and more cars on the road, and detracts from family life, the Rev. Asman said.

"Our belief is that our common humanity is inherently good," he said. "And our common goal is to support and nurture all people."

Ms. Sandall, who has served on city committees that have studied the increase, said a worker has to earn more than $21 an hour to afford a place to live in Santa Barbara County. The living wage increase is based on Housing and Urban Development statistics for a single person renting a studio apartment.

Mr. Williams, who read passages from the Bible that speak to the need for helping workers, said the increase could affect wages paid to all workers even though it only applies to city employees. He said it would give private companies and workers a sense of what they should be paying or making.

In the changing economy, contractors who once made $20 an hour now feel fortunate making $7 an hour, he said. "Our core values, which have been handed down through generations, are very clear: You will take care of people and do justice," Mr. Williams said. "I have to say, this country is doing a terrible job at that. . . .This should make us very angry."

[ SBN-P online edition:
Living-wage activists call for 'economic justice' in S.B. ]

SBCAN

[ SBN-P, 4/24/2005, Two Letters to the Editor ]:


SBCAN seeks balanced solutions

Travis Armstrong's characterization of SBCAN -- Santa Barbara County Action Network -- from his April 17 column is riddled with misstatements. SBCAN was founded by community activists to be a unified, progressive organization for Santa Barbara County. SBCAN was never a vehicle for any particular issue, and certainly not for any political candidate, as Mr. Armstrong asserts.

The mission of the organization has attracted many well-respected board members, three of whom have been since elected to public office: Pedro Nava to state Assembly, Helene Schneider and Das Williams, both to Santa Barbara City Council.

SBCAN is the only organization in the county that strives to find a balance between much needed environmental preservation and equally needed workforce housing. These are both highly complex issues, which are not mutually exclusive or politically bi-polar.

The high cost of housing in Santa Barbara is forcing workers to spend more time on the road, which pollutes our air, guzzles our gasoline and decreases commuters' quality of life. It's vital we plan for environmentally sensitive solutions to inevitable population growth rather than ignore the options before it's too late.

Jodi Segal, Member, Board of directors, SBCAN

-------------------------------------------------------

On naysayers of SBCAN

With regard to Travis Armstrong's column of April 17:

Those who fear SBCAN

Smear SBCAN.

Ron Green, Santa Ynez


[ SBN-P online edition:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ]

Employees $6.5 M Raise

[ SBN-P, 4/20/2005 ]:

Council approves $6.5 M in raises

By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Despite budget deficits, about 600 S.B. employees will get pay boost

Amid glowing remarks about its work force, the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved $6.5 million in pay raises for about 600 city employees.

The raises are in addition to $3.5 million in salary increases the council awarded to police and firefighters earlier this year.

Although the city faces several years of multimillion-dollar budget deficits, the council said the raises are necessary to retain and recruit employees, particularly at a time when local housing prices are soaring above $1 million.

"I am in favor of supporting employees, all of them, no matter what department they are in," said Councilwoman Iya Falcone. "For me, the people come first. This is a city that values its people -- always has and always will."

The raises came on the same day that the city of Santa Barbara released its spending plan for the next two years.

The city is proposing a $216 million budget for next year.

But Santa Barbara is facing major financial problems in its general fund, which pays the salaries of most city workers.

The council is staring at a projected budget deficit of about $7.4 million next year. The city plans to spend about $3.5 million in budget reserves -- savings -- to help balance it. In addition, City Administrator Jim Armstrong is asking department heads either to raise revenues or to cut costs to save another $1 million.

Beyond that the city's finance staff, usually conservative in its budget estimates, is counting on higher revenues and lower costs totaling about $2.9 million, which would balance the budget.

The city's budget woes can be attributed to several factors, including rising retirement costs, the raises and the state's grabbing of $1.2 million to help balance its own budget.

Politics are also at play. All seven of the city's union contracts expired in the past year, forcing the council to renegotiate contracts in an election year -- when four council seats are up for grabs.

But members of the City Council say the city will somehow get through the tough times. At Tuesday's meeting to approve the raises, they often praised the hardworking financial staff and city employees.

"I am totally supportive of these contracts," said Councilwoman Helene Schneider. "I'm very proud of our staff."

Some of the council members and two speakers departed from direct discussion of the budget to criticize the News-Press for a recent editorial opposing raises for Service Employees International Union members.

Walt Hamilton, executive director of SEIU Local 620, said he was offended by the editorial's suggestion that police and firefighters were more valuable than the rest of the city's workers and therefore more deserving of raises.

"Respectfully, anyone who thinks that general employees don't put their lives at risk or that the city can respond to emergencies without them . . . does a disservice to those workers, this council and the community at large," Mr. Hamilton said.

He mentioned harbor patrol officers and maintenance workers as among those who respond to disasters.

Councilman Das Williams said there's a false perception that government workers have easy jobs and that they are actually underpaid compared with the private sector. He said the trade-off is better retirement benefits and a feeling of giving back to the community.

Mayor Marty Blum, who opposed 5 percent pay raises for police officers, said SEIU workers were deserving of their 4 percent raises.

"You do work hard," she said. "It's just really important that we pay you."

e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com


[ SBN-P online edition:
Council approves $6.5 M in raises ]

Toxic-Free City Parks

[ SBN-P Opinion, 4/17/2005 ]:

OUR OPINION: Foot-dragging on toxic-free city parks


Estelle Foster of the Pesticide Awareness and Alternatives Coalition notes that discussions to get poisons out of Santa Barbara parks began six years ago. And after this long process, "I don't understand why concern for our children's health and safety is less of a concern than a solution to errant weeds."

If the choice is between "weeds" or your health, the answer should be clear for the Parks, Public Works, Waterfront and other departments responsible for caring for city properties.

After prodding by residents, Santa Barbara in January 2004 adopted a strategy to reduce the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides, known as an integrated pest management plan.

In June 2003, city staff first proposed a resolution that was too generally worded, failed to direct workers to come back with true change and didn't guarantee public participation. The staff report at the time said: "In reviewing the current practices for all city departments it was discovered that least-toxic practices have been an ongoing practice by each department in varying degrees."

You can translate that this way: The city had been polluting nature by overly depending on chemicals.

Everyone can agree the IPM plan in place today is better because of actions by the City Council. It still, however, falls far short of what Santa Barbarans should expect.

The plan, adopted in January 2004, created limited chem-free zones in certain parks, but it allowed city workers to continue to spray toxic chemicals in more than two-thirds of the city's parks. The plan called for just 15 parks to be totally toxic-free.

In reviewing the IPM plan last week, the council only added four more parks to the list.

The city's own IPM advisory committee recommended "expanding the 'pesticide-free parks' immediately to include all parks with play structures and/or picnic tables, followed by all remaining parks."

Instead, the council adopted a go-slower approach that includes using a Pesticide Hazard and Exposure Reduction Zone system, or PHAER, to map parks and other city properties into green and yellow zones. We question the need to hire a $25,000 consultant to do this work in a prolonged process at the expense of putting personnel in the parks to make them toxic-free immediately.

The city staffers also want it both ways. On one hand they argue for a more measured approach, in part because they claim the city needs more time and personnel to make all parks pesticide-free.

On the other hand, in defending the city's program, acting Parks chief Nancy Rapp told the council, "I do believe again that when this map comes back to you, I think you will be very amazed at how much of our city parks we are already maintaining green."

If so, make them toxic-free immediately.

As it stands, staff may not come back to the council with a PHAER zone model until December, well after the November election.

Councilman Das Williams at Tuesday's meeting grasped the importance to act: "I don't want Stepford Parks," he said. "I want parks that are real or natural as possible and are safe places for our children to play."

So does the News-Press, and now.


SPEAK UP

Santa Barbara City Council
735 Anacapa St.
Santa Barbara 93102

Brian Barnwell
564-5324
E-mail: bbarnwell@santabarbaraca.gov

Mayor Marty Blum
564-5321
E-mail: mblum@santabarbaraca.gov

Iya Falcone
564-5322
E-mail: ifalcone@santabarbaraca.gov

Roger Horton
564-5325
E-mail: rhorton@santabarbaraca.gov

Dan Secord, M.D.
564-5319
E-mail: dsecord@santabarbaraca.gov

Helene Schneider
564-5323
E-mail: hschneider@santabarbaraca.gov

Das Williams
564-5320
E-mail: daswilliams@santabarbaraca.gov

[ SBN-P online edition:
OUR OPINION: Foot-dragging on toxic-free city parks ]

Restoring SB's Green Luster

[ SBN-P Editorial, 4/17/2005 ]:

Restoring Santa Barbara's green luster

Voice From Santa Barbara: Travis Armstrong


You hear a lot around Earth Day about Santa Barbara being the birthplace of the modern environmental movement, but we have a city government that doesn't do enough to live up to the legacy.

Santa Barbara is a city with a planning process that delves into the color of paint on buildings, but as planners focus on the details, the streets have grown more congested and our quality of life heads south.

What's the city plan when it comes to transportation and mass transit? How are different departments and citizen advisory panels working together on it?

As activists Harley Augustino and Ariana Katovich wrote on Tuesday: "While Santa Barbara has been a leader in opposing oil drilling off the coast, our city must do much more to reduce our dependence on oil. . . . A strong public transportation system will entice people with cars to get on the bus, thus reducing oil consumption and pollution.

"Unfortunately, the city has spent more public funds making it easier to drive, instead of supporting mass public transit."

Santa Barbarans, sadly, ought to lower their expectations that City Hall will be the leader in pushing a truly green agenda. Das Williams is perhaps the only member of the council who embodies the spirit of the environmentalism spawned in 1969. But other council members marginalize him. Just watch their body language when he brings up creative ideas or facts the staff ignored.

Environmental stewards will need to be the first ones to promote causes, as they've done in the past by forcing the city to set up creek and ocean water-quality programs and a pesticide-reduction strategy.

Some groups are leading the way. Getting the city's attention and cooperation are the Community Environmental Council through its Fossil Free by '33 program and the Santa Barbara Contractors Association through its Built Green efforts. The activist group PUEBLO vows to launch its Green Santa Barbara campaign to get the city to increase mass transit.

These are great. It's a shame, though, that we can't count on City Hall more often to lead and innovate so Santa Barbara just isn't the environmental movement's birthplace but also a continual incubator.

WHITHER SBCANT?: An outfit known as the Santa Barbara County Action Network began as a vehicle for Pedro Nava to use during his run-up to the state Assembly. It's mission also has appeared to be about getting reporters to quote its former manager David Forston and providing its favored politicians cover.

A recent report described the group as an environmental nonprofit organization. If that description is true, it's a sign of how far environmentalism has fallen in Santa Barbara. This group approves of giving developers guarantees to build denser or bigger projects -- in effect sometimes changing zoning -- on randomly sited parcels in the county. This subsidized "workforce" housing, done through piecemeal planning, benefits well-paid households and comes on the backs of the working poor.

Now that Mr. Nava has been elected and the county Board of Supervisors is controlled by a new majority that basically ignores the group, will this "action network" just wither away?


Travis Armstrong is the editorial page editor of the News-Press.

[ SBN-P online edition:
Restoring Santa Barbara's green luster ]

Alcohol on the Lower Eastside

[ SBN-P, 4/14/2005 ]:

'40 pounders' take a beating

By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Two stores take different paths as S.B. works to stop flow of cheap booze near Eastside homeless shelter

Santa Barbara's Eastside Circle K/Union 76 service station has stopped selling 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor and single cans of beer in an attempt to keep homeless people from drinking near the Casa Esperanza shelter.

Shelter officials in March sent letters to the Circle K and another station nearby, requesting that they quit selling the so-called "40 pounders" of malt liquor. This week the Circle K did so, but the other station has no intention of following its lead.

Officials believe that the sale of the cheap but potent beer leads to public drunkenness in an area where homeless people are loitering on corners, sitting under bridges and sleeping in parks.

Casa Esperanza and city officials, who have pressured the businesses to stop selling the booze, are hoping other businesses along Milpas Street will follow Circle K's lead.

"When people are choosing to do the right thing over making a little extra money, it just gives me faith in human beings," said City Councilman Das Williams. "I don't care whether you are homeless or not, malt liquor is a substance that is being used to victimize poor people. End of story."

Santa Barbara is struggling with its homeless problem. Homeless people can be seen throughout downtown Santa Barbara, beach areas and lower Milpas, near the Casa Esperanza homeless shelter.

Critics of the shelter contend that it attracts homeless people from throughout the state. A separate nonprofit organization, the Community Kitchen, serves lunchtime meals daily at Casa Esperanza. But shelter officials say that a key way to reduce homelessness is to stop sales of malt liquor.

"It is like a first step," said Roger Heroux, Casa Esperanza's interim executive director. "It's not going to curb alcoholism altogether, but it makes it a little more difficult to access for those who are alcoholics. It's a first step to try and encourage individuals to stop drinking."

But not everyone is happy with the pressure from the city and Casa Esperanza.

The other letter went to Al Loper, who owns an independent service station, formerly a Texaco gas station, near Casa Esperanza and across from the Circle K. He described the whole situation as "ridiculous."

"What they should have done is put that Casa Esperanza shelter somewhere else," said Mr. Loper, whose family has owned the store for 27 years. "It's ridiculous for them to try and tell me what to do. It's not my fault."

He said he's seen a rise in sales of malt liquor since Circle K stopped selling.

One of his customers on Wednesday was a homeless man, Ricardo Longzon. Placing a bottle of King Cobra on the counter, he pulled out change -- quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies --and slid them across the counter to the sales clerk.

"It's cheap," he said, paying $1.82 for a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor. "It's a deal."

Nearby, Janice Hull, a 45-year-old homeless woman, sat under the Highway 101 overpass. Inside her blue shopping cart were her belongings -- a blanket, a rain jacket, a water bottle and an old sandwich.

Ms. Hull, who used to buy malt liquor at the Circle K, said city officials are trying to drive out the homeless.

"They are kicking everybody out of town," she said, rubbing her hands together.

She joked that banning malt liquor doesn't matter to her because she's "moved on to wine."

She does see benefits of stopping the sales, she said.

"There's too much broken glass around," she said.

Homeless man Keith Green said he has lived in Santa Barbara for 45 years. He said it's wrong to stop selling malt liquor.

Furthermore, Mr. Green said, business owners should be more responsible when they sell the beer and not sell it to people who are drunk, rather than banning sales to everybody.

"It's different strokes for different folks," he said. "What about the people who aren't homeless? They get off work. They want to have a good time. That's not fair."

He said he buys 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor because it's inexpensive. "I buy it because it's enjoyable. But I don't get stumbling drunk. I don't get stupid on it."

Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum said it's time to stop selling malt liquor to homeless people who are alcoholics.

"This is something we have been hoping for," the mayor said. "It will make it more difficult for homeless people to find malt liquor at a cheap price. It's been a long struggle, frankly. There's still problems in that area, but generally things are getting better. It seems to be a better day for the city."

e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com


[ SBN-P online edition:
'40 pounders' take a beating ]

Measure D (Transportation)

[ SBN-P, 4/13/2005 ]:

Council turns down bid for more buses, for now

By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Meeting centers on Measure D


The Santa Barbara City Council rejected calls from activists to boost funding for bus service, but agreed at Tuesday's meeting to take another look at the issue before it adopts its 2006 budget.

Alternative transportation activists want the city to give an extra $1 million to the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District to increase bus service, but council members were reluctant to do so now. They want more time to study how the money would be spent.

In addition, officials plan to examine all possible sources of revenue to increase transit funding, including the possibility of raising downtown parking fees.

"I don't think anybody here wants to hand out $1 million to MTD," said Councilman Das Williams. "We want to know what we are going to get for it."

The City Council voted 6-0. Councilwoman Iya Falcone was absent.

Although Tuesday's meeting centered around how to spend the last five years of Measure D money, a half-cent sales tax designated for transportation projects approved by voters in 1989, the conversation quickly turned to the future of the fund.

The measure expires in 2010, and city officials are sweating over the renewal of Measure D. A new sales tax measure is set to go on the ballot in 2006. But before that, cities throughout the county will have to agree on a proposal that voters will approve. Otherwise, all jurisdictions will lose the funding.

"It is a critical piece of the transportation funding puzzle in Santa Barbara County," said Gregg Hart, spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, a regional organization that distributes transportation dollars.

Like housing and the environment, transportation is an issue that ignites passion and debate among South Coast residents.

With congestion on parts of Highway 101 starting to resemble Los Angeles freeways, people are scrambling to figure out a solution to nightmarish traffic snarls.

Some people want to widen the 101. Others believe that a commuter train service from Ventura County to Santa Barbara is the answer. Many alternative transportation advocates say faster bus services and more routes would encourage people to give up their cars and never even get on the highway.

In order to get the renewal on the November 2006 ballot, officials will decide in the next year how much of the money should be spent on roads, buses or even commuter rail.

The original measure was approved by 55 percent of voters. But this time, because of changes in state law, a two-thirds approval is required to adopt a local sales tax. Fearful that the measure might not pass, backers are looking to get it on the ballot in 2006, to allow more time to try again if it fails.

Many activists want money for buses.

"We need to get past the mind-set that public transportation is something for the transit-dependent," said Dan Milstein, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Action Network. "Public transportation is for all of us. And if we're doing it right, public transit should be convenient enough to make us want to get out of our cars."

The City Council's focus on Tuesday was on how to spend its $4.8 million allocation of Measure D money for the next fiscal year. About $1.3 million of that will go toward mass transit. The rest will go toward street repairs, sidewalks, bridge replacements, new asphalt and other road projects.

Alternative transportation advocates wanted the city to set aside an extra $1 million, but the council didn't go along. Activists said Santa Barbara's quality of life hinges on relieving traffic congestion.

"We need to be investing all we can afford to invest in public transportation," said Ariana Katovich. "Santa Barbara, if you haven't noticed, is a mess at 5 o'clock Monday through Friday."

e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com


[ SBN-P online edition:
Council turns down bid for more buses, for now ]

Oversize houses

[ SBN-P Letter to the Editor, 4/10/2005 ]:

Oversize houses a building blight | Preservation ordinance worthless

Voice From Santa Barbara: Claudia Madsen


Claudia Madsen has lived in Santa Barbara since 1930.

The author is a former president of the Foothill Preservation League and Allied Neighborhoods Association and former vice-president of Citizens Planning Association.


It's a political hot potato. Supersized houses keep popping up and poking holes in Santa Barbara's Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance. The NPO has no teeth.

On the Mesa, houses are doubling in size and invading the privacy of next-door neighbors. On the Riviera, monstrous structures mar public views of the mountains and ocean. In Las Positas Valley, bright-eyed developers want to put two-story houses in a sensitive creekside area without any comprehensive planning for rezoning or annexation of county land.

All this bloated development has set off alarm bells.

Neighborhood preservationists have called for stricter rules to regulate the size of new and remodeled homes. Investors and developers oppose any new size limits. City Council members and candidates are caught in the middle trying to split the difference. Some want to put off council action until after the November election.

The existing Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance doesn't work because it has no rules, just guidelines, which can't be enforced. Adopted in 1992, the NPO was first called the Big House Ordinance because people were up in arms about the oversized houses on Shoreline Drive. Then the city decided the problem was not size, just design, and the council caved in to the growth machine.

Now the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance doesn't preserve anything.

Even the City Council has recognized the failure of the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance and told the NPO update committee to fix it. At the first NPO work session last year, concerned citizens blasted the bloated development that's ruining our neighborhoods. A solid majority voted in favor of a maximum Floor Area Ratio to limit home size according to lot size. In plain English, floor area ratio means you can't put a huge house on a little lot. If you want a big house, you need a big lot.

FAR limits on home size are common practice in other South Coast communities including Montecito, Goleta, Summerland and Carpinteria. Now it's time for Santa Barbara to catch up.

Last year, established civic groups like Citizens Planning Association and the League of Women Voters requested a sliding-scale FAR with the strictest limits for the smallest lots.

Fighting back, a new group called the Mesa Improvement Association formed to oppose any new limits on home size. This pro-growth group has now morphed into the Citywide Homeowners, whose spokesmen recently wrote an article saying size limits are unreasonable. (See the News-Press, March 6).

Santa Barbara already has size limits regulating building height and front-yard setbacks. So it seems reasonable to limit the total square footage of home size including the garage.

FAR limits are not a substitute for design review. The city has no plans to eliminate the Architectural Board of Review or the single-family design guidelines. On the contrary, the maximum FAR will simplify the design review process by providing an objective tool for project approval. The goal is to ensure good design within reasonable size limits.

But the devil is in the details. For months, the NPO committee has been struggling to find the right numbers for the maximum FAR.

"It's like trying to catch a greased pig," quipped Councilman Brian Barnwell, vice-chairman of the NPO update committee chaired by Dianne Channing, past president of the Riviera Association.

In response to public input, the NPO sub-committee on Floor Area Ratio limits proposed a maximum FAR of 0.30 for a 6,000-square-foot lot. That would limit the maximum home size to 1,800 square feet, plus a 450-square-foot garage for a total of 2,250 square feet.

Then came the blow. The sub-committee recommended a 15Êpercent bonus FAR on top of the "maximum FAR" for certain projects. In my book, maximum means as big as it gets. How can you have a bonus on top of a maximum? It's a contradiction that sets the whole idea of a maximum FAR on its head.

The bonus idea came out of the blue with no public support. Nobody from the public asked the NPO committee for a bonus FAR in addition to the maximum FAR. Nobody from the public has testified in favor of a bonus FAR. Now, there's a new twist to the bonus buzz.

Councilman Das Williams has floated the idea of selling bonus FARs. The bonus bucks collected from builders would fund a land acquisition program to buy parks, playgrounds and open space.

Would that be a boon or a boondoggle? Why would investors get a bonus from the city for building big houses? Won't everyone want to build to the max? The mushy concept of two size limits has created mass confusion.

To discuss these questions and many more, the NPO Committee has scheduled a public meeting for 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Gebhard conference room, 630 Garden St. A maximum FAR is not a magic solution, but it is an effective tool for neighborhood preservation. If we do it right, here's what the FAR can do for Santa Barbara:

-- Provide a clear set of rules for builders, neighbors and decision-makers.

-- Ensure fair and consistent review based on objective standards.

-- Cut down endless debate over big houses on small lots.

-- Reduce the flood of proposals for oversized houses and remodels.

-- Shorten the review process so neighbors don't have to come back to ABR meetings every week.

-- Require consistency with city policies and zoning laws.


As campaign season begins, voters need to know exactly where council candidates stand on neighborhood preservation issues. Don't be fooled by empty slogans. Pin down your candidates on the precise size limits that should be enforced by the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance.

Let's send the City Council a message: Stand fast, Santa Barbara. Protect our neighborhoods from bloated monstrosities.

[ SBN-P online edition:
Oversize houses a building blight | Preservation ordinance worthless ]

Sewer Leak Ordinance

[ SBN-P, 4/6/2005 ]:

Ordinance panel backs sewer plan

4/6/05
By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


City officials on Tuesday backed a plan that would force homeowners to pay to have their sewer pipes inspected and repaired if they are leaking.

"This is a public health issue," Councilwoman Helene Schneider said. "This is something that affects the entire community."

The city's three-member ordinance committee, Ms. Schneider, Brian Barnwell and Iya Falcone, backed the idea on Tuesday. The city is proposing a series of changes that would require sewer inspections in an attempt to stop raw sewage from spilling onto streets and possibly winding up in the creeks and beaches.

Actions that would trigger mandatory inspections include: sale of a property; an addition or remodel of more than 400 square feet; a spill from a private lateral, which connects the house to the city line; or if the city's routine smoke inspections reveal leaky pipes or illegal hookups.

Members of the city's Public Works staff are working on the details and may make changes after holding public meetings in May and June. Then the matter will go before the city's creeks advisory committee, water commission and then back to the ordinance committee with any changes. If the City Council approves it, the ordinance could go into effect in January 2006.

Environmentalists say they believe the city's pipes, some of them 80 years old, are cracking and leaking raw sewage underground. People have even suggested that some homes have no sewer pipes connecting to city mains, and that the raw sewage just gets dumped into the ground.

Illegal hookups -- where people link gutter and patio drains to the city's sewer system to improve runoff and drainage on their property -- are also to blame for spills because they overwhelm the city's sewer system, officials say.

Councilman Das Williams is a big supporter of the proposed ordinance. "It is absolutely necessary for the city to prevent two things, leaking sewers and overflowing sewers, because they may play such a large role in our bacterial problem."

Not everyone thinks the ordinance is the way to go. A representative from the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors on Tuesday agreed with the city that it is important to replace defective sewer lines but disagreed with the idea of tying the fee to the sale of a home.

"Defective sewer laterals impact the entire community," said Carol Kruckenberg, who read a letter on behalf of Louis Manzo, president of the real estate agents group. "It is not fair to put the problem that the whole community shares on only a segment of the population, the home buyer and seller."

The city staff agreed to study the issue.

e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com


[ SBN-P online edition:
Ordinance panel backs sewer plan ]

Mayor vs. Police Union

[ Barney Brantingham's column in SBN-P, 3/31/2005 ]:


Marty Blum crosses the thin blue line


It was ugly.

The mayor versus the cops at Tuesday's Santa Barbara City Council meeting, over a 10 percent pay raise.

Cops packing the chambers in a display of raw political power.

Council members squabbling with one another. Mayor Marty Blum accusing others on the council of leaking confidential information to city unions from a closed session.

She didn't name names and everyone denies it, but there are suspects.

Blum accused council members seeking re-election of approving the raise, despite a looming budget deficit, pandering to win union endorsements.

"The tension was intense," one council member told me. No one remembered anything like it. The police won the vote, 5-2, but what was lost?

Will loss of police union support keep Blum from being re-elected in November? The consensus, especially since no opponents have surfaced yet: Blum will win anyway.

Has the politically active police union gained too much clout over the city fathers and mothers and alienated voters who might see it as arrogance in blue? Or is it just a case of the council not displaying fiscal backbone?

One result of the leak is that it's going to be hard to have a frank give-and-take discussion hashing out key issues at future closed meetings, one member told me. "I don't say anything at these meetings," other than absolutely necessary comments, another said.

The bloody brouhaha was rare in a town where city elections tend to be tea parties and council disagreements are usually settled in private, or muted in public.

Police officers now average $69,000 a year, a living wage perhaps, but I remember that years ago they were grossly underpaid. I wrote a series about it when I covered the police. One year they even went on strike briefly.

Relations between the mayor and the police union are probably shot for good. But the affair has also poisoned relations on the council. No one admits being the leak, though the mayor and Councilwoman Iya Falcone jawed at each other about it Tuesday.

Falcone and Councilman Roger Horton are up for re-election this year. Falcone, who is known to be close to the police union, isn't running for mayor this year, but many think she will run in four years, after Blum is termed out.

Councilman Das Williams didn't get union endorsements when he was elected, but he is said to be on good terms with city unions now.

"Between the two of them, they have all the bases covered," one member of the council joked to me Wednesday.

"It makes me sick," Blum told News-Press reporter Joshua Molina this week about the pay hikes in the face of a looming deficit. "There's fiscal irresponsibility going on here. I see people who are running for office very worried about getting the police endorsement."

But union leaders and some on the council insist that the deficit worries are exaggerated and that there's plenty of bucks for raises. "We have heard the 'sky is falling' scenario before," fire Capt. Pat McElroy said.

Ugly as it was Tuesday, public life went on as usual Wednesday. Blum was her usual cheery self at an Old Spanish Days luncheon at the Carriage Museum, also attended by Horton and Councilman Brian Barnwell. There was more talk about the proposed baseball park at adjacent Pershing Park than city politics.

Earlier, at Vices and Spices coffee shop, morning regulars were more interested in hashing about "The Da Vinci Code" but managed to crack a few jokes about the mayor-police feud.

"The mayor had better expect a lot of traffic tickets," one regular joked. "Her parking spot behind City Hall will become a big hole," laughed another.


[ SBN-P online edition:
Marty Blum crosses the thin blue line ]