Power shutoffs would mean chaos
It’s becoming more expensive and more dangerous to live here without “public utility” electricity.
I’m shopping for a gas-powered generator to use when SoCal Edison “pulls the plug” to my home — lights, refrigerator, stove, computer, etc., all shut off.
How dangerous would it be having gas cans around to fuel a hot generator, running extension cords to appliances and main electrical panels, with exhaust and noise just outside my door? What about others here? Huge diesel-powered generators parked powering up City Hall, the Police Department, lower State Street and cell towers, all spewing fumes and noise to keep us “up and running” (to receive the power cut-off warnings).
What about re-stringing the towers with thermo-insulated wires over the burn targeted areas, and/or burying the wires underground, or parking generators at the sub-stations while danger passes?
What about some leadership and solutions before I (we) blow up, burn down or short out my home and the neighborhood?
Michael C. Schaumburg
Santa Barbara
Let city voters decide
I know Santa Barbara needs a new police building, but myself and other citizens are not happy about this because of the following: (1) The best farmers’ market would be taken away and leave a lot of people with no viable place to buy fresh produce and other things at a reasonable cost with no middle man involved. (2) What is the City Council going to do about another farmers’ market if the Cota one vanishes? (3) All the beautiful old trees would be gone. (4) We need the parking, as the city does not have enough spaces available. (5) It is a totally congested area, especially getting to Hwy. 101 or other areas in the city. (6) There are better places for this endeavor, and one of them is the old Sears building.
Did the City Council even stop to think of all the problems with the Cota site? I think not.
I do not think that a building of this importance should be decided by a few people; the citizens should decide this particular issue. We pay the taxes. I hope the decision the City Council has made will be reconsidered for the betterment of the community.
J.C. Richards
Santa Barbara
Open space, local farming optional
Our City Council has voted to condemn the local farmers’ market at Cota, and now they must relocate. This treasured open space will soon be a safe haven for the SBPD.
Did we ever have a say in this decision? When will government work for us? When we get more involved and we reduce the weight of their ownership.
Richard Garrett
Santa Barbara
Where to move the market?
I would like to make a suggestion for a potential Saturday farmers’ market location. It seems to me that the lot on Victoria between Chapala and De La Vina would work quite well. The lot seems to be used only lightly on weekends, and does not become more full until the evening downtown crowds arrive. It is a large lot and perhaps just the middle could be used, with the two ends near the Police Activities League and the Senior Community Center still left open if need be. Maybe this location has already been considered and rejected for one reason or another. But if not, I do think it is worthy of consideration as a potential location.
Steve Ziemer
Santa Barbara
Politicians, get out of the shot
I must agree with the recent letter by Des O’Neill (Voices, Sept. 15) discussing the disgusting behavior of politicians appearing at press conferences held following important events and disasters. Politicians who are not on the agenda have nothing to offer the public. Rather they show up at these events for the purpose of getting free exposure to the cameras of various media outlets present there in order to report on and broadcast relevant information.
I have seen these thoughtless politicians arrive early to jockey around to assure they have the best spot to line up behind the podium and with the best camera angles to capture their serious facial expressions. It is time to eliminate this needless, calculated and egocentric pandering, which only detracts from the dissemination of important information delivered publicly by those with the knowledge of the relevant events involved.
James E. Marino
Santa Barbara
Going crazy in California
I have lived in California my entire life, and, in general, I really like living here. But it’s starting to become untenable. California has become a mess, and none of it makes any sense.
In California, it’s against the law for a restaurant to offer me a plastic straw, but it’s OK for Starbucks to serve drinks in a plastic cup and it’s OK for me to use plastic coffee pods and buy tons of plastic water bottles. It’s against the law for a grocery store to give me a micro-thin plastic bag for free, but it’s OK for them to sell me a plastic bag for a dime that is 20 times thicker.
California is going to fine citizens billions of dollars a year for not having health insurance and paying for their own medical care, but they are going to provide free health care/insurance for those in the country illegally, at the cost of the taxpayers.
In California, we provide driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally, and you can list your sex as “X,” but I have to bring my original birth certificate, Social Security card and two utility bills to get my Real ID driver’s license so I can use it to board a plane, since the federal government no longer recognizes regular California licenses.
It’s OK for a homeless person to build a house next to the river out of plywood, cardboard and tarps on property they don’t own, but I have to pull a permit and pay fees to have an inspection if I do something as simple as replacing a window or door on my own property.
California requires immunizations for its citizens but not for illegal aliens, so now we’ll have a new epidemic of diseases that used to be eradicated in this country.
Just sayin’…
William L. Hall
Santa Barbara
Doomsday predictions
Climate change, global warming, Green New Deal, 12 years left… “The sky is falling!”
Doomsday predictions lead to fear and irrational behavior, i.e., Chicken Little. Nobody on Earth knows the end time, although it has been predicted by soothsayers, cults and fools, to elicit followers for various reasons.
Predictions that don’t happen are lies perpetrated for a specific response, usually some sort of control or financial gain. In ancient history, false prognostications and prophecies resulted in death. The “Ice Age” melted because of increased global heat, thousands of years ago. Alaska-type winters in Kansas? Extremely hot and dry temperatures in Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl driving people to California? If you’re old enough, you’ve experienced it.
Just relax, Chicken Little. It is what it is, and will be what it will be.
Randy Rosness
Solvang
