MONTECITO TIDE GUIDE

cyclical, everything is converging, dissipating, modifying and/or expanding, contracting and just changing. Hot, cold, hard, soft, brightness, darkness, even ignorance and wisdom. The Laws of Thermodynamics are well known. We exist in polarities, and everything forever is in a state of constant change. I exist, maybe. Or not?

Mr. Bernstein, just the facts. Neither Heaven nor Hell exists, just plain nothing, once again.

Quentin Parker Architect

Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net

President/COO | Timothy Lennon Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net

VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net

Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net

Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe

Graphic Design/Layout | Stevie Acuña

Administration | Jessikah Fechner

Administrative Assistant | Valerie Alva

Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Nadel, Bryce Eller, Bob Levitt

Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick

Copy Editor | Lily Buckley Harbin, Jeff Wing

Proofreading | Helen Buckley

Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz

Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Kim Crail, Tom Farr, Chuck Graham, Stella Haffner, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Sharon Byrne, Robert Bernstein, Christina Favuzzi, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye

Gossip | Richard Mineards

History | Hattie Beresford

Humor | Ernie Witham

Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri

Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook

Food & Wine | Claudia Schou, Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie

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Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC

Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108.

How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net argues in her must-read tome, How to Stand Up to A Dictator, are we, in reality, not so divided; and is the idea that we are a fiction that’s being orchestrated by people and platforms that are profiting grotesquely from that notion?

Ressa writes, “The very platforms that now deliver the news to you are biased against facts, biased against journalists. They are, by design, dividing us and radicalizing us – because spreading anger and hatred is better for Facebook’s business… This is anger and hatred that coalesces into moral outrage that then turns into mob rule.”

In no uncertain terms, Ressa names the evil protagonist starring in this real-life thriller. “Facebook represents one of the greatest threats to democracies around the world, and I am amazed that we have allowed our freedoms to be taken away by technology companies’ greed for growth and revenues.”

In How to Stand up to a Dictator , Ressa argues that there are three assumptions implicit in everything Facebook says and does: “First, that more information is better; second, that faster information is better; third, that bad information – lies, hate speech, conspiracy theories, disinformation, targeted attacks, information operations – should be tolerated in service of Facebook’s larger goals. All three are great for Facebook because they mean that the company makes more money, but none of them is better for users in the public sphere.”

And by the public sphere, she means us. Everyday people who get their news from social media and are constantly being riled up by the political indignance of our “friends.”

But, as you’ll read in this interview, Ressa is not without hope, or solutions, sounding a clarion call for legislation to hold technology companies accountable, for more investment in investigative journalism and more collaboration between news organizations and those who care about democracy and facts.

But the part Ressa rests squarely on our shoulders, yours, and mine, is the imperative to stand up to bullies. Because, as she repeatedly reminds us, “silence is complicity.” And as Human Rights Attorney Amal Clooney writes to Ressa in her book’s forward: “If you, a Nobel Peace laureate, can be locked up for nothing more than doing your work, what chance is there for others?”

I hope you will attend the May 18th Arts and Lecture event at Campbell Hall and that you will read this book –and when you do, that you will begin to see how we are being used and manipulated not only to the advantage of a few masters of the metaverse, but more importantly, to the grave disadvantage of ourselves.

I also hope that you will sign up to attend Arts & Lectures conversation which I will be moderating with Jonathan

Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), at Campbell Hall on May 22nd. The team at Arts & Lectures has done an amazing job of curating their speakers from a list of key players in the fight for democracy.

Gwyn Lurie (GL): I’m very inspired by your journey. And I’m so happy that you’ve gotten the recognition you have, not only because I think what you have to say is so important, but just for your safety.

Maria Ressa (MR) : Actually, that’s one of the first things that did change. I had no approval to travel. They denied travel four times, including the time when my mom was getting an operation; and post Nobel, that was the first time they gave me the right to travel again, and I still have to put in for requests to travel and it goes all the way to the Supreme Court.

American media is zooming into Ukraine, but have you heard anything about Myanmar or about Pakistan? The chaos in Pakistan early this week, I had friends there who were saying they needed to leak information to me. The world is on fire and news organizations have fewer resources, and I worry that our younger journalists coming in – they want to be influencers rather than journalists. If you want to be an influencer, you shouldn’t be a journalist.

GL : In your book you write about the difference between “objectivity” and “good journalism” and how objectivity is really a myth. But hasn’t that always been true, that by virtue of what you report on and what you don’t report on, it’s subjective?

MR : Correct. Always. But the difference between when news groups had that gatekeeping power, and now, is that you could hold someone accountable. The biggest difference in our information ecosystem today is its impunity. We now have evidence of Russian disinformation attacking America at the cellular level. And yet, neither the companies that enabled it, nor the country itself, have been held to account. I think that that’s part of it. And if this continues, our values have been eroded. These are all cascading failures. In 2018, MIT came out with the study that shows how lies spread six times faster than facts. You lace that with anger and hard data shows its effect. For example – that in 2017, women in the Philippines were attacked at least 10 times more than men.

The reason why the world is upside down, and why on the Doomsday clock for democracy we’re in the last two minutes, is because that is the incentive structure that has been created by the new gatekeepers. In my Nobel lecture, I called it a behavior modification system. It really is. We’ve seen this in the Philippines.

GL: I’m curious, did you ever consider going into politics instead of journalism?

MR: Oh my god. I would never go into politics. No, I’m a journalist. The best part about journalism is I fell into it. In 1986, I was pre-med at Princeton when I got the Fulbright Scholarship to go from the U.S. to the Philippines, largely in search of my roots.

I had deferred admission to law school. I had deferred admission to medical school... I had had corporate job offers and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that I never felt completely American. So, I thought if I go do the Fulbright in the Philippines, that would give me a year to understand where I came from and to figure out who I am.

Editorial Page 264 existing programs including a selection of recreational, fitness, and well-being programs for all age groups.

GL: Can you explain why you’ve been targeted?

MR : …journalism is under attack. We don’t have a business model like Tech companies that have not only poisoned or corrupted our information ecosystem, they’re also microtargeting. News organizations don’t do microtargeting in the same way that social media companies do… we don’t have a business model.

Back in 2013, an extensive expansion plan was submitted to the County; that former plan required that overflow parking be available off-site at Lower Manning Park, but the Y was unable to secure a long-term parking agreement with the County Parks Commission, and instead sought to revise the plans and lessen the parking need, so that all parking could be on the 4.25-acre site.

A new conceptual design was developed in 2018, which included a change in architectural style and a significant reduction in programming, including eliminating the YMCA’s preschool program. These are still the current plans, which were developed and revised after countless community meetings with concerned neighbors, that include a remodeled and slightly expanded main building, which does not include a second story as originally planned. The existing 7,416 square foot main building would be expanded and renovated, resulting in a structure of approximately 10,336 square feet. The main building will house weight training, cardio, offices, childcare, group fitness, and a flex/ meeting room. A new locker room building will be nearly the same size as the current locker rooms, and will include family changing rooms.

A new multi-purpose/gymnasium building is slated for the northwest corner of the site, requiring multiple trees to be removed. It will serve as a place for basketball, volleyball, and adult wellness classes. The current sports court area will be used for a secondary parking lot now that all parking is required to be on site; the new plan has lessened the parking requirement to 96 spaces. The pool will also be revamped and widened from five lanes to seven.

The project includes the removal of 10 native trees, which will be mitigated by planting 75 native trees onsite. The project also proposes to increase the membership level limit to 1,950 memberships from an average of 1,550 memberships. Frontage improvements for the project are expected to include construction of sidewalk, curb, and gutter, lighting, utility improvements, and removal of two native trees.

The Negative Declaration prepared for the project identifies and discusses potential impacts, mitigation measures, residual impacts and monitoring requirements for identified subject areas. Significant but mitigable effects on the environment are anticipated in the following areas: aesthetics, biological resources, cultural resources, fire protection, geologic processes, noise, and water resources/flooding.

The document is available at www.countyofsb.org/2709/CEQA-Notices-andEnvironmental-Documents. Parties may comment by submitting written or oral comments to the project planner, Chris Schmuckal at 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, cschmuckal@countyofsb.org, or 805-568-3510, prior to the close of public comment on June 19, 2023 at 5 pm. Please limit comments to environmental issues such as traffic, biology, noise, etc. Due to the non-complex nature of the project, a separate environmental hearing will not be held.

The YMCA plans will be in front of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review this week as well.

The YMCA is located at 591 Santa Rosa Lane in Montecito.

Park Lane Tree Removal

Several of the iconic eucalyptus trees along lower Park Lane in Montecito have been removed after at least three of the non-native trees have fallen, causing damage to heritage oak trees and a nearby home. We’ve received several letters asking us about the tree removal and the effect on the aesthetics of the picturesque lane.

According to social media postings, the removal of the trees, which took place on private property, did not require a permit. The trees in question had been trimmed back from overhead SCE lines, which, according to the homeowner, caused them to be weighted towards nearby properties, posing a hazard.

Statement from MWD

The following statement was requested by the Montecito Water District to be published:

Regarding the “Keep on Truckin” letter by Mike Clark published in Letters to the Editor last week (May 11 – 18, 2023); p. 10, the opinions expressed were solely those of the author and do not represent an opinion authorized by Montecito Water District.