A Village Voice

more craftspeople than photographers and artists, they still refuse to permit the craftspeople to set up around the pier area claiming, “they cannot sell expensive art next to cheap crafts.”

Is their fear any rational reason to hold the rest of Santa Barbara hostage to “arbitrary discrimination”? I say no. What say you, Santa Barbara?

How long must we endure this black mark on our beautiful city? The city fathers should be embarrassed and ashamed to allow this to continue one more day, when someone could easily end this illegal “arbitrary discrimination” immediately, by simply ordering the removal of the word, ‘section’, from the rules.

No more sections. No more discrimination. One show. One list. Jim Koorey Member of Santa Barbara Arts and Crafts Show starting in 1970

Prop. 13?

Once again the Dems are out to tax Californians. AG Becerra got a major property tax on the ballot for 2020. It is an attempt to raise our property taxes and repeal Prop. 13. It is misleading and under the radar. Instead of presented as the repeal of Prop 13, it is relabeled “Education and Local Funding.” Unlike the original taxpayer protection of 1978, this year’s Prop 13 will put taxpayers on the hook for $27 billion. “The politicians plan to borrow $15 billion from Wall Street and then make taxpayers pay it back plus 80% in total interest. (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association) Why don’t they spend the state’s $21 billion surplus on upgrading school facilities and providing higher education?

Then too, a hidden provision of this proposition will encourage local school districts to increase their borrowing by more than 60%. Local school debt is paid back with higher property taxes. (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association) On March 3rd, vote NO on this Prop. 13 ballot. Fool me once, your fault. Fool me twice, my fault. Diana Thorn Carpinteria

Das’ Basin Vote Das Williams’ rhetoric on his post1/9 efforts should be considered in light of one inconvenient fact: on June 6, 2017 he introduced the motion and voted to remove five flood control basins including Cold Spring and San Ysidro (Agenda A-16, File 17-00421). Fortunately, the County did not implement his vote before 1/9 so one can only imagine the increased destruction had it. Facts over rhetoric. I won’t trust our community’s safety to his

• The Voice of the Village • MONTECITO JOURNAL 27 Down Our Drain? A Village Voice flawed judgment and will vote for Laura Capps. David Green Montecito Life Long Learning

I just finished reading your article “Lessons in Life Long Learning,” I like your writing; easy to read, funny but with a serious message. Learning is the space of life and a good way to live many interesting and long years. Retirement can be lethal, but also, if well managed, it is the time to give new vitality to our brain cells. It opens the opportunity to be relevant, important and healthy.

I know that when time came to hang my professor’s gown up and face thousands of hours, days and years without any idea how it will be without important professional duties and a serious schedule. I decided to teach Spanish to adults in very small groups or in one on one sessions.

My salvation! I am 91 years old and still teaching five days a week. My health is fine and I look forward to go to my office every day for thirty years. To your point. I see how older people begin learning a skill, a language, and how it gives them new energy and spikes their sense of curiosity and discovery.

Thank you, Ernie. Your words were very meaningful.

Alonso Benavides Confidential Voter Status

On page 22, the Official California 2020 Voter Guide states “...Certain voters... may qualify for confidential voter status if they are active members of the Safe at Home Program...”

https://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2020/ primary/pdf/voter-info.pdf

Is voter privacy a privilege granted by bureaucrats? Why shouldn’t all voters automatically be given “confidential voter status”?

On same page, it’s stated that “Voter info may be provided to a candidate for office, a ballot measure committee or other person for election, scholarly, journalistic, political or governmental purpose as determined by the Secretary of State, driver license and social security numbers, or your signature, as shone on your voter registration card, cannot be released for these purposes.”

Is it possible that someone could become a “candidate” or falsely claim journalistic/scholarly privilege in order to obtain opposition research for some nefarious purpose? Granted, most politicians are fine, upstanding and uncorruptible citizens, but if only 1/1024th of them abuse access to voter information, shouldn’t ALL politicians be punished or restricted?

I know that it’s nearly impossible, hardly-ever-happens, one-in-a-billion chance and totally-unjustifiable-paranoia to think that CDL’s, SSAN’s and signatures could be “leaked,” stolen or accidentally hacked. Bank, medical and businesses data is constantly being bought and sold on the black market and even the Pentagon has been hacked.

Why should we believe that personal 2020 voter registration and census information is safe and secure?

What could possibly go wrong? Dale Lowdermilk Founder NOTSAFE(dot)ORG Santa Barbara, CA •MJ N ot many people pay much attention to the Montecito Sanitary District. Neither did I.

When solicited by the Water Security Team, I learned how change in the MSD direction was needed for several vital reasons. So, I became a candidate. Woody Barrett and I were voted by you, our community, in as directors, thank you!

Our main inspiration in running was to be a “team” of directors and help Water District to recycle our waste water as part of building a sustainable water portfolio. Droughts have happened, and will happen again. We need to prepare! Instead, where are we after a year of solidly trying to serve our community on the MSD board?

1. A vote of 3-2 (Barrett & Newquist against) for a building at the cost of $6,000,000 of rate payer money. This money, your money, could be used for many more worthwhile purposes, especially recycled water.

MSD staff then contended that no permits were needed for approval. The County disagreed. The “Essential Services Building” that isn’t for essential services will be going before the Montecito Planning Commission for the Coastal Development Permit. Your opinion will count on this decision. 2. I am a member of the Public Outreach Committee with Tom Bollay. In a recent meeting, Diane Gabriel, the Sanitary District Manager, made a request for approval to hire a Public Relation Firm (Davis Public Affairs) to the tune of $100,000 annually. I submitted that the board would not approve. The request was changed to $50,000. On a vote of the Board held on 1-15-2020 of which I was absent, the $50,000 was approved with a nay vote from Director Barrett.

My question is how on earth would any Sanitary District, particularly one this small, justify this level of expense for publicity? 3. At the recent Montecito Journal hosted debate held at Hahn Hall, Supervisor Das Williams told the audience that he would be in favor of the consolidation of the Sanitary and Water Districts. For the public good, this may be a good idea. The opinions stated above are from a concerned community member. Montecito is very special; let’s keep it that way! •MJ No Strings Attached A piece of String walks into a bar and says to the bartender: “I’d like a vodka and tonic, please.”

For some unknown reason, the bartender takes a long hard look at the String and then, with a level of hostility that surprises the String and the surrounding customers the bartender says: “Sorry, we don’t serve String here!”

Dejected and humiliated, the String walks out of the bar and sits by himself outside on the curb. After a few minutes, and a rousing pep-talk from himself, the String decides he’s better than that. So the String stands up, lights himself on fire, shreds himself apart and then, with all of the self respect he can muster, marches back into the bar and up to the bartender. “I said I’d like a vodka tonic, please!” The string announces with a newfound level of confidence.

“Hey,” says the Bartender, “aren’t you the piece of string I just threw out of here?”

The String looks the bartender straight in the eye and declares: “I’m a frayed knot!”

Send us your best joke, we’ll decide if it’s funny. We can only print what we can print, so don’t blame us. Please send “jokes” to letters@ montecitojournal.net L aughing M atters by Dana Newquist