Letters to the Editor
If you have something you think Montecito should know about, or wish to respond to something you read in the Journal, we want to hear from you. Please send all such correspondence to: Montecito Journal, Letters to the Editor, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA. 93108. You can also FAX such mail to: (805) 969-6654, or E-mail to letters@montecitojournal.net
Right Side of History
A
s I read the LA Times coverage of the independent SB Grand Jury’s scathing report on the unethical way our cannabis policy came to be, I had one silver lining thought: “Thank goodness the Montecito Journal had the wisdom – and guts – to be on the right side of history by endorsing Laura Capps.” Truth will tell. Bobby Shand
Say It Don’t Spray It
Recently, I believe Tuesday June 18th, my friends are I took a hike up San Ysidro Trail. About a half a mile up the trail, we saw workers in the middle of the creekbed spraying. The spraying wasn’t being done directly in the water but on islands surrounded by the creek I approached the workers and asked a man what they were doing. I was told that spraying was being done to stop plants from growing in the creekbed. I asked him if Monsanto’s Roundup was being used. He replied “no” and that the herbicide being used was completely safe. As I walked back, I stopped and looked in the cab of the truck that had the words “County of Santa Barbara” on it. There were quite a few containers which had labels clearly stating the contents were toxic to humans and animals. Dogs go to the creekbed quite a bit. Children may play down there. I saw no signs posted that pesticide spraying was going on. What if there were a heavy fog or light rain, and some herbicide was washed into the water? There are pools downstream that people go into. There’s also where San Ysidro Creek empties into the ocean, a place in which people wade barefoot across the creek. I understand the need to control growth in the creek to prevent debris flows and flooding. But there’s a better way to do it, like manually digging up the plants. The county could recruit volunteers to do this. How many other Montecito creeks is the county planning on spraying? Hikers, be careful that you, your children and your dogs don’t rub against the herbicide treated plants. Bryan Rosen
Shame on the MSD
I saw the full page ad in the Montecito Journal last week that was run by the Montecito Sanitary District. This ad violates everything about truth in advertising. I attended past MSD 9 – 16 July 2020
meetings, and there are definitely some things they’re not telling you, or outright lying about. First, “Our Recycling Program,” as touted in their ad, exists only in the MSD’s mind. There is NO recycled water facility of the sort their ad suggests. What they have done is spend $160,000 for a small test unit that processes a small amount of waste water that has so far been used to flush the MSD’s lines, not even to irrigate the landscaping at the MSD’s own facility. The excess from this small test program is mostly drained into the ocean. There is NO commercial production of recycled water. They haven’t built one, despite years of pressure from the Montecito community to do so. Second, the two elected board directors, Newquist and Barrett, object that the conceptual pilot recycling program is too small. If it ever gets built, it’s only going to recycle about 5% of the available water. Third, the Montecito Water District has signed NO contract for MSD’s recycled water, from a facility not even built yet, and neither has the Cemetery. So, this ad is just a lie. The Sanitary District is spending $100,000 for a publicity firm to run ads like this for them. What they really want is for you to look the other way while they use $6,000,000 of ratepayer money to build an expensive new building. That’s why they put in small print that they look forward to getting approval at the Montecito Planning Commission and the Santa Barbara County. Running deceptive ads like this is an egregious waste of customer money. Shame on the MSD! Montecito deserves better. Very truly yours, Edwin C. Martin, Jr.
Specializing in Fine Homes • Concept to Completion • Exceptional Home Design • Board of Architectural Reviews • All Phases of Construction Entitlement • Custom quality Construction “Santa Barbara Design and Build was fabulous. Don and his crew were the BEST from day one. He was honest, timely, flexible, artistic, patient and skilled. They understood my vision and built my dream home”. -Santa Barbara Resident
President Putz
Mark Twain’s comment that “the Populace adopts the Morals of its Monarch” resonates today as our country stumbles forward, the blind leading the blind. It is open season on bad behavior (watch your top knot on freeways) and it is somehow way cool to be crude, rude and aggressive since our screens erased social graces and distanced us, long before COVID-19. It does seem that the US has had a dumbosis pandemic for a number of decades now, although some might
Don Gragg
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LETTERS Page 274 • The Voice of the Village •
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