Letters to the Editor

Cameras at the Hot Springs: On Whose Authority?

you get the camera? If not, can you give me a little more info on where it was (how far up the trail)? We should be able to grab it today if it is still there. If you have it and would like to drop it off, I can meet you at my office downtown.” are likely to be wiped out by winter storms? The Chumash were creating pools at the Montecito Hot Springs long before the white man arrived on the scene. All over California, people create pools in creeks.

In response to inquiries from Public Works on Feb. 21, Lt. Butch Arnoldi of the Sheriff’s Department wrote in an email: “The primary purpose of the cameras is to capture illegal activity of various types: Being in a ‘Posted Forest Closure Area,’ constructing pools and diverting water for the natural environment, vandalism to the existing private water system, etc... A concerned citizen was authorized to install these cameras and is responsible for monitoring the activity and forwarding that information to the affected agency.” It turns out, there were five cameras.

It’s hard to believe the sheriff would do something so outside the legal process. It’s not easy to get approval to put surveillance cameras on public land, and doing so requires proper noticing. But no notices were attached to the cameras explaining what the operation was about, nor was any contact information provided in case the public had questions. It’s hard to believe the Sheriff’s Department would have told the “concerned cititzen” to affix a tag to each camera stating it was from Public Works without having first consulted that department. It’s a serious crime to

On Feb. 16, 2023, a camera was placed facing a newly restored pool at the Montecito Hot Springs. The camera bore a tag that had printed on it “County of Santa Barbara, Public Works, Trail and Creek Monitoring in Progress, Do Not Tamper or Remove, Enforced by County Sheriff.”

The Dept. of Public Works wasn’t happy after receiving information about that camera. On Feb. 17, Lael Wageneck, information officer for Public Works, sent an email to me: “I forwarded this information to the sheriff and let them know it may be some type of peeping Tom camera. I asked them if the camera is in their jurisdiction or the forest service. I’ll let everyone know if I hear back from the sheriff.”

On Feb. 17, Alex Dorman of Public Works Water Resources Division, Flood Control District, wrote to me:

“It seems odd the camera has ‘Public Works’ and ‘County Sheriff’ logos and no contact information. The ‘Trail and Creek Monitoring’ label doesn’t seem like something associated with Public Works activities.”

On the 19th, Mr. Dorman wrote, “We have reached out to all County Public Works Departments and wanted to confirm this is not one of our cameras.” On that same day, Mr. Wageneck wrote to me: “Please feel free to remove the camera and bring it to us.”

On the 20th, he wrote: “Yes, we are concerned that someone would pretend to represent Public Works in order to record residents and visitors and discourage people from removing the camera. Thank you again for taking the time to let us know about this. We definitely want to know who is pretending to act on our behalf and why.”

On the 21st, he wrote to me: “Did

Regarding forest closure, does the forest service have the right to close off the whole Los Padres National Forest consisting of 1.9 million acres? The agency needs to realize that it’s attached to the forest, that it doesn’t own it. The nature in the forest was created by God for man’s enjoyment. An old New England saying is, “The forest is the poor man’s refuge.” Yes, the agency has the right to close manmade things like unsafe campgrounds, roads, and bridges. But it doesn’t have the right to close off all trails and cross-country travel. It’s important to note that in winter, other national forests more dangerous than our local forest remain open. People go snow camping, mountain climbing, ice fishing, and cross-country skiing in Sierra Nevada forests, and face the risks of avalanches and freezing to death. Even the Pacific Crest Trail in the High Sierra is open in winter. Our forest is very safe in comparison. The order itself may be unconstitutional. Those who enter a closed forest don’t lose their constitutional rights.

Also, is it such a bad thing to create a few relatively small pools that