Santa Barbara Sentinel - Volume 1 - Issue 3 - October 19 - 26, 2012 - Once a week from pier to peak

NUDE PEOPLE ON BEACHES

SOLVING THE GREAT RECESSION

THE DISH

Straight Talk About Confluence of Economics & Politics

Goleta Girl Exposes Plight of Santa Barbara Naturists

BY Jana Mackin, P. 18

Pint-sized Powerhouse Patricia Bragg Pontificates

BY Jeff Harding, P. 12

BY Wendy Jenson, P. 6

SANTA BARBARA

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once a week from pier to peak

Big BoatS Bring Budgetary Bonanza Business Booms as Coastal Cruisers Disembark

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by Matt Mazza

T

hat’s a big boat, daddy.”

My five-year-old had just made perhaps the single most intelligent comment about the Sapphire Princess cruise ship, which anchored in the channel just off Santa Barbara Harbor this past Tuesday, that I had heard all day.

“Does it have forty hotel rooms on it?” She’s five. What could I say?

“A few more than that, baby.”

Kate then proceeded to bombard me with question after question about the boat and how the passengers got to shore and what they were doing here and whether its presence was a boon for local business. (Ok, I made the last one up.) So I decided to find out.

Let’s start with the obvious. My kid was right. The Sapphire Princess is in fact large. According to Brian Slagle, an Administrative Analyst for the Waterfront Department of the City of Santa Barbara and the designated point person for cruise ship logistics and information, there were nearly 2700 passengers and approximately 1100 crew members on board, most of whom would actually set foot here in town. The Princess recently began its seven-day California Coastal voyage in San Pedro, from where it traveled to San Francisco for a couple days, then to Santa Barbara for one, followed

by Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico before heading back to San Pedro again. (Sounds like fun, actually.)

When the ship pulls into Santa ...continued p.2

SBVIEW.com PAGE 14

PRESIDIOSPORTS PAGE 16

handsfullsb.com PAGE 20

LOVEMIKANA.com PAGE 21

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MAZZA’S MISSIVE

ONTENTS

Cover

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Mazza’s Missive – The Sapphire Princess cruise ship anchors in the channel and serves up a day-long economic buffet to Santa Barbara business owners and service industry workers.

Long live the Queen… er, ah, the Princess.

by Matt Mazza ...continued from cover From right, Downtown Organization Hospitality Volunteers Philip Insalaco, Georgette Friedman (Volunteer Coordinator), Esther Velarde, Carol Mineau, Dr. Jacqueline Paver and Marlene Lentz. Thanks guys…great work!

Letters to the Editor – David McCalmont asks about competition in the local newspaper biz; Earl Brown suggests calling SB the “Silicon Coast;” Fred Hill questions the Sentinel’s content (but likes our look!); Eddie Cybulski actually gets what we are trying to do here (right on, Eddie); and smART Families and Scarlett Begonia say thanks.

The Sentinel’s Take – Incumbent Democrat Lois Capps is in a tight race with Republican challenger Abel Maldonado in the (newly redrawn) 24th Congressional District, and it looks like it’s going to be a mud-flinging festival right up to the bitter (and we mean bitter) end. Does anybody actually want either candidate to win at this point?

The Dish – Wendy Jenson dishes on foodie extraordinaire Patricia Bragg, the pending Nordstrom Café makeover and those (sometimes confusing) ads for Lucky’s. She also spends some time in the Saturday morning farmers’ market scene and even spots a celeb. Not bad for a day’s work (okay, maybe two days’ work).

It’s Crime Time with SBPD – A drunken brawl erupts at SOhO, ironically during a roots reggae show; a drunk driver expresses his happiness after his dog bites a SBPD officer; and some tough (drunk) guy challenges an entire Brazilian jiu-jitsu dojo filled with children to a fight. Oh, and homeless men pee all over our streets.

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The Weekly Capitalist – New addition Jeff Harding, a local

economics and finance blogger, talks about the causes and effects of the Great Recession, and what our politicians are failing to do (or even say) about them. (Nice work, Jeff, interesting read.)

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Barbara, passengers are shuttled to and from our fair city by approximately 6 rotating “tender” boats that can carry around 50 people each. Then our ocean-going friends have a few options after passing through the checkpoint set up at Sea Landing, including a tour of the downtown area (with frequent stops along State Street designed to facilitate and encourage shopping and eating and drinking all over our beloved thoroughfare) as well as shore

Santa Barbara View – Sharon Byrne sheds some light on very important Community Development Block Grant funds and how they are used (or not) in SB; Loretta Redd is concerned – and, frankly, we all should be – about the way in which politics, elections and opinions are covered by the new media; Tom Bird talks Winehound; and Ray Estrada sings the business-related economic virtues (as well as the environmental ones) of compressed natural gas as fuel for your car or truck.

Presidio Sports – Dons’ water polo coach Mark Walsh is named Sports Figure of the Month, and Cate School’s Quarterback Kyle Mayfield and San Marcos’ volleyballer Anika Wilson are recognized as SBART Athletes of the Week. All the local sports scores and stories of the week are here, too.

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excursions to Wine Country or Solvang.

“The focus is really to get the passengers to points all over Santa Barbara in a single day so that they can enjoy our local businesses and restaurants and everything else that Santa Barbara has to offer,” said Slagle. “Most passengers are higher-end consumers, often from various cities and towns throughout California, looking to ...continued p.10

Goleta Girl – Something is amiss at More Mesa nude beach. And Jana Mackin is going to get to the (bare) bottom of it. Naturists of the world, unite!

The More Things Change… – New columnist – well, new to the Sentinel, anyway – Hattie Beresford takes us back 100 years to show us how little things have changed in many ways. This week, Hattie reveals an old dress code ban on “out of season” straw hats. (Still makes sense today, if you ask us.)

You Have Your Hands Full – Mara Peters returns to the Sentinel with the pros and potentially catastrophic cons of childhood independence in the wake of the murder of Colorado fifth-grader Jessica Ridgeway.

LOVEmikana – Be Active bird Sarah Dodge introduces Moms Gone Zen (hell, we’re not Moms but may nevertheless go Zen… sounds fantastic) and Kim Wiseley reminds us all of Tupelo Junction Café’s terrific happy hour. And don’t forget to check LOVEmikana’s Weekend Guide before you make plans this weekend.

R esidential Real Estate – Michael Calcagno helps buyers understand the benefits of a strong home inspector and home inspection report in the course of the purchase transaction. And he and Justin Kellenberger break down the economics of a few standout properties this week.

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lands in Your neighborhood

30 Year Fixed, NO Points, 3.875 ( 3.894% APR), $1,500,0001 New Payment: Payments 1-360: $7,070 30 Year Fixed, NO Points, 3.250% (3.316% APR), $417,0002 New Payment: Payments 1-360: $1,830

Adam Black | VP, Senior Loan Officer

805.452.8393 | ablack@bankofmanhattan.com Payment examples do not include taxes and insurance; actual payment will be greater. Example #1 assumes a loan of $1,500,000 loan amount financed at the rate, APR, term noted above at maximum 80% loan-to-value, 34% DTI, with a 740 credit score and 1 year prepayment penalty may apply. Example #2 assumes a purchase or refinance loan of $417,000 loan amount financed at the rate, APR, term noted above at maximum 75% loan-to-value, 45% DTI, with a 740 credit score and no prepayment penalty. Nothing herein is or should be interpreted as a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to credit and property approval. Rate and Annual Percentage Rate (APR) stated above are as of 10/15/2012. The payments noted above are principal and interest payment. Terms may vary, conditions and restrictions apply.

Actual rate for the loan is determined at time of rate lock based upon program and terms requested. Rates and terms are subject to change without notice. NMLS# 401422 ©2012 Bank of Manhattan, N.A.

1155 COAST VILLAGE ROAD I 805.969.0442 I WWW.SILVERHORN.COM FOUR SEASONS BILTMORE HOTEL I 805.969.3167 I MONTECITO, CA 93108

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santa barbara breast care alliance presents

First annual

“Aware Fair” in honor of

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Tuesday, October 30 | 5:30 - 7:00p.m.

Cancer Center’s Courtyard, 540 West Pueblo Street

• Treatment, prevention & survivorship information • Self-exam demonstrations • 15-minute lectures by community physicians & experts • Light refreshments served www.ccsb.org/breastcancer for more info, or calll: (805) 563-5856

FREE Admission & Breast Cancer Awareness tote for all attendees!

K athleen C ooper f

Design/Production • Trent Watanabe

•

Advertising/Sales Tanis Nelson • Sue Brooks

F i n e Pa p e r s

Wedding Stationery Personal Writing Papers Calling Cards •

Letterpress & Engraving

Holiday Cards Personal & Corporate

e

Editor-in-Chief • Matt Mazza

Contributing Partners Opinion • sbview.com Sports • Presidiosports.com Santa Barbara Skinny • LoveMikana.com Columnists Goleta Girl • Jana Mackin She Has Her Hands Full • Mara Peters Keeping It All Together • Briana Westmacott The Dish • Wendy Jenson Journal Jim • James Buckley Real Estate • Michael Calcagno Commercial Corner • Austin Herlihy Published by SB Sentinel, LLC, Tim Buckley, Publisher PRINTED BY NPCP INC., SANTA BARBARA, CA

La Arcada Courtyard

Santa Barbara Sentinel is compiled every Friday

805 • 886 • 5482

133 EAST DE LA GUERRA STREET, #182, Santa Barbara 93101 How to reach us: 805.845.1673 E-MAIL: matt@santabarbarasentinel.com

1114 State Street • 17 Santa Barbara

KathleenCooperFinePapers.com

Letters

Although you might not believe it, we actually want to hear from you. So if you have something you think we should know about or you see something we've said that you think is cretinous (or perspicacious, to be fair), then let us know. There's no limit on words or subject matter, so go ahead and let it rip to: Santa Barbara Sentinel, Letters to the Editor, 133 East De La Guerra Street, No. 182, Santa Barbara, California 93101. You can also leap into the 21st century and email us at letters@santabarbarasentintel.com.

Raising Eyebrows

I

spotted something in one of the news boxes on State Street called Santa Barbara Sentinel just before boarding the ‘Hound to Las Vegas around the outset of October. Like a suspicious, routineaddicted Norwegian rat, I didn’t go near it the first few times despite my curiosity. I’m conservative in ways that go way beyond politics, religion and culture. My agenda and schedule – the source of my happiness and great contentedness – is practically etched in rock.

I’ve been back in the Barbara now for a couple days, and while waiting for the MTD bus at State & La Cumbre this morning, what turned out to be Volume One Issue Two of the Sentinel was opened to pages 14 & 15 on the bus bench. I dispensed with my rodent-like suspicion of anything new and began reading some of the columns on the first and third pages.

I was pleasantly surprised with the general light-heartedness of the prose and subject matter; with the occasional self-deprecation, I actually sensed some humility – a character trait in short supply in Santa Barbara County. And political endorsements that aren’t a carbon-copy of the Democrat Party slate card. Wow! Whipped cream on top of my frappucino!

While browsing through the rest of the publication, I came across “Journal Jim’s” two-page spread – the actual pages the Sentinel was opened to when I found it – given over to his musings-about-town. Aside from the fact that this new publication is not a clone of the Montecito Journal – it seems as if its intent is to be more competitive with the Independent – my first reaction to seeing James Buckley writing for another local paper (“Journal Jim”) is: Why? I don’t need to tell you how fragile newspapers are in this day-and-age.

Somebody tried to compete head-on with the News-Press and the Journal and eventually went belly-up. Now, someone with greater newspaper skills and a healthy wit has come along and is trying to go toeto-toe with Nick Welsh and Marianne Partridge.

How many subscription-free publications can 200,000 people support? Only the News-Press collects anything from the readers (not counting the few hundred out-of-town people who pay subscription prices for the MJ and Independent). Without looking at anybody’s books, I can surmise nobody’s making much money informing and entertaining the people in Santa Barbara.

Is there a precedent for the publisher and founder of one publication writing a schmoozy, lighter-than-air column for a partial-potential competitor who’s operating in the same area in the same genre: free weekly? Perhaps you’re on board so as to steer

the Sentinel away from saying much that is topical to Montecito and Summerland.

Your new paper is raising a lot of eyebrows across the South Coast!

David S. McCalmont Santa Barbara (Editor’s note: Thanks for your very wellwritten piece, David. (Are you looking for an outlet?!) First and foremost, please know that we do not see the Sentinel “competing” with the Independent. Tim Buckley and I feel we are going after an entirely different audience. For example, we don’t expect to be covering much in the way of entertainment, and will certainly not be covering local music or bands (except for the occasional outlier, I suppose), and basically plan to go where the Independent does not. Tim and I like and respect the Independent very much, but we also believe that there actually is room for a pro-business, (nearly) pro-growth paper aimed at young professionals and families in the 30- to 50-year-old demographic. And note that I personally appreciate the comment you made about not being a “carbon- copy of the Democratic slate card.” Those of you who know me or my prior writings understand my own personal political leanings but know also that I won’t simply “toe the line” without at least some principle or reason. I’m proud of that, even if it sometimes makes me unpopular with hard-line party affiliates. Oh, and two more things, quickly: (1) There is no precedent that I am aware of for what we are trying to do here at the Sentinel and (2) it’s not ALL about money (as I’m sure you already know). I’m glad you wrote, David, thanks again.—MSM)

Silicon Coast?

Matt - love the rag; it combines news with a bit of human touch. I especially like Ray Estrada’s Santa Barbara Business Beat.

There are tons of entrepreneurs here in town, most of whom remain tucked away in their caves without anybody knowing about them. Perhaps Ray should interview a new one every week. Another good idea would be a local business bon mot stemming from all the internet-related activity around here. For example, there’s Silicon Valley up north, “Silicon Beach” down south… perhaps Santa Barbara should embrace the title Silicon Coast to attract and retain more business. Just a thought.

Looking forward to the next edition.

Earl Brown, CEO ValueLeads Pay Per Call Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Thanks Earl; I agree that Ray does a terrific job in the Business Beat column. In fact, I really enjoy reading all of the SB View contributions each week. With ...continued p.13

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take

It’s All Over: They Both Win… They Both Lose

A

t this point, we’re pretty sure everybody knows that (gasp) Republican Abel Maldonado is giving longtime U.S. House of Representatives incumbent and stalwart Democrat Lois Capps a run for her money in the race for the 24th Congressional District. In fact, the contest is now officially tighter than a duck’s… well, you get the idea. It’s close.

Real close.

So what gives? Why is Santa Barbara favorite Ms. Capps being forced to fight so hard for a seat that, frankly, she’s pretty much had in the proverbial bag for the last decade?

Some would argue that this key race with national implications is a toss-up because of the recently redrawn boundaries for the 24th Congressional District. (24 now includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, as well as a bit of Ventura County too, whereas it previously only included mostly heavily liberal coastal areas, thereby earning it the title “Ribbon of Shame” from many Republicans.) Others might say that it was bound to happen sooner or later; Ms. Capps had her run and it’s time for a new face from the Central Coast to tackle Washington politics. We’ve even heard that Mr. Maldonado has youth and popularity on his side – although Ms. Capps herself is clearly no slouch on the popularity front.

We think, however, it’s none of that. In fact, we don’t even think it has anything to do with where the candidates come out on the “issues.” (Does anybody actually know the issues in this race, anyway?)

We think the neck-and-neck contest stems from the fact that both sides are launching quite compelling attacks on each other.

And they’re working.

r e s t a u r a n t unique mexican dining experience

Deadbeats In A Dead Heat They’re working so well, in fact, that the voting public really has no desire to vote for either candidate. That, coupled with the fact that the “issues” that (might) differentiate the candidates are presently buried under a mountain of negative crap with only a couple weeks before the election, gives nobody a clear reason to vote for anybody. And so we’re in a dead-heat with two people characterizing each other as dead-beats. Ironic (or something).

It’s unclear who threw the first turd in the punchbowl here, but it is clear that it had something to do with taxes. On the one tax-evading hand, Mr. Maldonado, who prides himself on being a Santa Maria farmer and growing a small family business into a successful large one, has been accused by the IRS of deducting more than $4 million worth of inappropiate business expenses. (Anecdotally, we can think of lots of businesses that might succeed if they didn’t pay taxes; General Motors and Chrysler come immediately to mind, so this may be a strategically sound move for companies in our capitalist paradigm…in the short term, anyway.) Ms. Capps is on him and riding him hard about this, especially since Mr. Maldonado did in fact provide the sole nonpartisan vote under Governor Schwarzenegger in support of California’s highest tax increase – ever. (Apparently, we are not the only ones who see this as antithetical to Mr. Maldonado’s status as a tax-sensitive Republican – he was given the “Backstabber Award”

by Americans for Tax Reform back in 2009.) So, for example, Ms. Capps asks in a recent television ad – well, that’s not accurate, let us start again. A politically-inclined nonprofit organization that supports Ms. Capps asks in a recent television ad whether we can “really trust someone who doesn’t pay his own taxes but raises yours.” Fair enough.

Probably not. (We note that Mr. Maldonado denies the charges against him and his business and is in the process of challenging them.)

On the other tax-evading hand, Ms. Capps failed to report and pay taxes on around $40,000 – more than many among us make in a year – of rental income she received from a staffer over a five-year period. To be fair, Ms. Capps did report the oversight when it was discovered back in 2006, although it was only recently resolved with the IRS. Nevertheless, just as Ms. Capps is riding Mr. Maldonado about his alleged tax shortcomings, Mr. Maldonado has been riding Ms. Capps about her (admittedly much smaller and already resolved) issues with the taxing authority. [Insert similar rhetoric here about the untrustworthiness of Ms. Capps.]

But, it turns out that was only the beginning.

Ms. Capps – oh, excuse us, the House Majority PAC – recently put out a new ad that decries Mr. Maldonado’s blatant discrimination against nearly 160,000,000 women in the United States due to his purported position supporting higher medical insurance rates for women. (This is confusing, however, given that Mr. Maldonado voted in favor of prohibiting gender-based pricing.)

And today, we received in our mailbox two anti-Capps ads, in which Mr. Maldonado – ...continued p.9

unique mexican dining experience

805.564.2626 600 n. milpa s, santa barbar a m o n - f r i 1 1 a m – 9 p m • S at - S u n 9 a m - 9 p m

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by Wendy Jenson Fan of meats and sweets and a former magazine

editor, Wendy has worked at Santa Barbara Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and Us Weekly (the latter three in NYC). Currently a public relations consultant, she’s concerned about getting plump while working on this column.

Waving the Bragg Flag Patricia Bragg sits in the sun as storm clouds hover over the nearby mountains

S

et scene: The fountain between Renaud’s Patisserie and Gelson’s Market in Loreto Plaza, corner of State Street and Las Positas Road. Pintsized powerhouse Patricia Bragg has the attention of everyone in her orbit. She’s there promoting her then-upcoming October 17th talk, “Health, Longevity and

Beauty,” at the Montecito Public Library.

Publicist in tow, the health crusader hands out Bragg books, Bragg live food products, and reusable green Bragg shopping bags.

Unsolicited health tips are offered too.

A whirling dervish of activity, it’s easy to see why Bragg’s company is so successful.

Bragg Liquid Aminos spray seasoning

and other products are staples of health food stores and restaurants, among them Lazy Acres, Whole Foods, Tri-County Produce, Pierre Lafond, and the Natural Café.

Much can happen in 45 minutes with Patricia, who’s like a former beauty queen running for public office. (Only she speaks the truth!) According to Patricia, this reporter has to “sit up straight” and “stop crossing your legs.” (True and true.)

The latter is followed by an unpleasant description of what could happen if leg crossing continues. Fortunately, she doesn’t notice the decadent Renaud’s Croque Monsieur sandwich ($9.25) on the table. It’s not a healthy choice with Béchamel sauce, Swiss cheese, and ham on a thick slice of homemade bread. But yum!

(Renaud’s serves lunch from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm.) Patricia then tries to set me up with the dashing Errol Flynn lookalike at the next table, but I have a boyfriend and I’m guessing Errol does too. Lastly, she invites Errol and me to visit her 120-acre organic ranch in Goleta, together.

Patricia refuses to disclose her age, but says she’s old enough to be my grandmother.

Whatever she’s doing, it’s working. Patricia has more energy than Honey Boo Boo on go go juice.

Terrace Talk Makeovers aren’t limited to the cosmetic department at Nordstrom in Paseo Nuevo.

Nordstrom Café’s terrace is undergoing a facelift, receiving new floor tiles, wood beams, and light fixtures. Located on the store’s third floor, the al fresco aerie offers four-star views of the shops below, tiled roofs, the Riviera, and the mountains.

Dining is indoors until the hidden gem of a terrace reopens at the end of October.

Who’s That Guy? Lucky’s is known for their upsidedown ads that run on the back page of the Montecito Journal. The ads are always black

“Formidable ”

LUCKY’S steaks /chops /seafood /cocktails

Dinner & Cocktails Nightly, 5 to 10 pm. Brunch Saturday & Sunday, 9 am to 3 pm.

Montecito’s neighborhood bar and restaurant. 1279 Coast Village Road Montecito CA 93108 (805)565-7540 www.luckys-steakhouse.com

Photography by David Palermo

Sander Vanocur, a Lucky’s regular, seen here on the back page of the Montecito Journal

and white portraits of a Lucky’s regular with no mention of the person’s name.

“We feature folks who we see here a lot and with whom we have a kind of connection beyond that of customer,” says Lucky’s Leonard Schwartz. Sometimes the person is so famous it’s obvious, as in the case of Carol Burnett. Other times, readers may be stumped at the person’s identity. The Dish is here to help.

The most recent Lucky’s ad featured Sander Vanocur (pictured above), one of the country’s most prominent political reporters during the 1960s. The Montecito resident served as White House correspondent for NBC News. Timely this: Sander moderated the Vice Presidential debate between George Bush and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. Not an easy job. Past Lucky’s subjects include writer T.C. Boyle, streetwear originator Shawn Stussy, doll collector and entrepreneur Nina Terzian, founder of Westwood One radio network Norm Pattiz, and attorney Robert Lieff, who led one of the country’s premier plaintiffs firms.

Tips: If you have any juicy restaurant tidbits (openings and closings, key staff changes, celebrity sightings, and the like) please contact me at wendy@ santabarbarasentinel.com.

LEGACY LEGACY 1137 Coast Village Road Montecito, CA

1137www.legacy-montecito.com Coast Village Road Montecito, CA 805.845.3300 www.legacy-montecito.com 805.845.3300

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Saturday Morning Scene T

Photos and story by Wendy Jenson

he Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market is the place to be on Saturdays from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, downtown at Santa Barbara and Cota Streets. Dress is comfortable.

Denim is a do, with the ironic exception of farmer’s overalls. The must-have accessories are eco-friendly reusable bags, shopping carts, baseball hats for men, and shades (often worn atop the head).

It’s come as you are here. Some shoppers sport yoga and workout attire. Budding ballerinas wear tutus from earlier dance classes. Boys are often in costume, Halloween or not. Professional and amateur chefs, tourists and locals, flock here to find the freshest and finest. A local swami, dressed head to toe in orange, is trailed by followers. Everyone carries cash, rare in these debit card times.

This time of year, apples and pumpkins are in; heirloom tomatoes and corn are on the way out. Always, the produce and people make for a colorful scene.

Suzanne and Bastian Wrede, 11 months, came to S.B. for the day from L.A.

Kristin Chuang offers samples at the Burkdoll Farm stand Luke Walters and Brit-born Emma Narachi (with Logan Griffin) arrived via Vespa

Shauna Mistretta (with mom Sarah Kane) just returned from working with the Masai in Kenya

Emily Gaulden (18 weeks pregnant), Kyli Sessions, Jessica Taylor, and Rachel Wietbrock

Montecitans Alison and Glenn Leopold are market regulars

Bowen, Odin, Teo, and Kanoa Lee

Elizabeth Clendenen and Eli Cole work the San Marcos Farms honey stand Interior designer Sonya Takasaki shops for fresh flowers Anne and Michael Bernard with their 8-year-old twins Harry and Jackson (in bat wings)

Davey and Mackenzie, 2 and three-quarters

Actor Michael Imperioli (Christopher in The Sopranos) moved to Santa Barbara just four months ago

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It'sCrimetime...

...with the SBPD

A variety of crimes are committed every day in Santa Barbara; most of these crimes are petty but they do offer a window into if not the soul of the perpetrator, at least his or her thought process. Our following (and totally unsolicited) thoughts, observations, and comments are put forth for your consideration.

Maggie’s at

State and A

SOhO No-No

CRIME: Police were flagged down last week by several “screaming people” running out of

local favorite SOhO around midnight after two 23-year-old Mammoth Lakes residents (one male and one female) caused a pretty darn big fight involving fists, broken bottles, broken expensive cameras and “visible facial injuries.” Both were arrested on multiple charges.

(Guess if they were drunk.)

OBSERVATION: A deeper look into the incident reveals that the young woman actually hit a local gentleman on the head with a beer bottle many times until it broke, thereby causing quite a bit of collateral damage, and that the whole melee happened smack-dab in the middle of a Bamboo Station show, featuring Inna Vision and The Kicks. Bamboo Station self-identifies as being part of the “Virgin Island roots reggae renaissance.”

COMMENT: Really? A full barroom brawl during a roots reggae show? We can understand

broken bottle battles at punk or ska or metal shows, but at a roots reggae concert? Aren’t those types of shows full of chillers and cruisers? Wow… talk about a bad vibe. We don’t know how they reggae in Mammoth Lakes, but here in Santa Barbara we reggae easy, man, passively.

So, as Stevie Wonder might say, boogie on back to Mammoth Lakes, reggae woman, and don’t come back. Ever.

Drunk Driving Dog Bite Debacle

CRIME: A male 60-year-old Santa Barbara resident was found passed out in his car in

front of his residence just after 9 pm on October 14 by an off-duty SBPD officer. A Good Samaritan neighbor told the officer that the suspect had in fact been driving before parking and falling asleep. Suddenly, the man sleeping behind the wheel stirred, opened the driver’s side door and “staggered into his house” as the off-duty officer watched. When on-duty cops showed up, they knocked on the front door but the drunken suspect only opened it enough to let his dog out, which, in turn, proceeded to bite one of the officers and run back inside.

It was only then that the drunk guy said that he was “glad” his dog bit the officer. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was arrested shortly thereafter.

OBSERVATION: Here’s that booze rearing its ugly head again. If the guy had just kept his mouth shut after drunk driving, passing out behind the wheel and letting his dog attack an officer, he might have actually gotten off. But we’ll never know. Telling a police officer that you are “glad” your dog bit him or her while you are hammered and suspected of perhaps many crimes will likely never end well.

Serving

California/French Cuisine in an

Elegant, Relaxed Atmosphere

1201 State Street Across "om the Granada

?

Open Tuesday through Sunday Lunch 11:30am-4:15pm Dinner 5:00pm-9:00pm Cocktails "om 11:30am-10:00pm

805-770-2700 www.maggiesatstateanda.com

Tough Guy

CRIME: A 56-year-old drunken transient was arrested last week after challenging an entire Brazilian jiu-jitsu dojo to a fight. (Great call.)

OBSERVATION: Not only did the bum challenge the entire dojo to a fight, but he repeatedly

used vulgar profanities and called the 10- to 16-year-old children inside “bitches.” Yeah, that’s right, this guy wanted to fight a bunch of kids in a jiu-jitsu dojo. Wow. And this wasn’t the first time he’d laid down such a gaunlet. (Guess if there was booze involved. Oh forget it, I already told you he was drunk.)

Can You Spare A Square?

There was a significant amount of urine flooding our fair city’s streets this week. Here’s a couple cases taken from two main community and tourist thoroughfares: • A 45-year-old transient male was found urinating in front of a popular Coast Village Road business at 10:45 am last Thursday. Shockingly, he also had a half-full bottle of vodka in the hand that he was not using to hold his, um...thing.

• A 23-year-old transient male was found urinating on a plant “in plain view” on the 600 block of State Street in the middle of the day last week. When he realized that SBPD was watching him, he quickly tucked his utensil back into his pants and out of view of the women and children walking by and staggered down the street. He was caught and arrested on resisting and public nuisance charges.

OBSERVATION: Frankly, there aren’t many open toilets on Coast Village Road at 10:45 in the morning, so we’re going to have to side with our 45-year-old transient friend on this one, although if he looked hard enough he could have found the porta-potty near

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...continued from p.5 sorry, the Spirit of America PAC – proffers a National Taxpayers Union Report Card that saddles Ms. Capps with a dreaded “F” each and every year since 2001. (How could the widow of a beloved former UCSB prof get an F? We don’t believe it.) She is also accused of voting with Nancy Pelosi “96% of the time” and bailing out Wall Street and increasing the federal debt load and lots of other overused buzzwords that pollsters think will enrage constituents into voting one way or another. The flip sides of the two mailers have terrific quotes about Mr. Maldonado, such as “A GOP Maverick” and “A fierce independent who famously broke party ranks when he was in the state legislature.” Hang on, sorry, is being a “maverick” a good thing this time around? Wasn’t John McCain the original maverick? Didn’t he lose? And we assume that Mr. Maldonado is “fiercely independent” because of his aforementioned vote to raise taxes – which also just so happened to net him California’s Lieutenant Governorship – but we can’t be sure.

So, The Key Issues Are… While we anticipate a steady increase in political and personal attacks as November 6 approaches, we hope the candidates prove us wrong. We assume that both Mr. Maldonado and Ms. Capps are reasonably intelligent individuals, but the name calling is counter-productive. Period. And, frankly, we think it is hurting both of them. How can we trust either to lead at this point? Isn’t there more to getting elected than just disparaging the other guy with overheated rhetoric and strategically placed bad pictures?

Come to think of it, here’s what we would like to see: A simple recitation before November 6 from each candidate of the five issues that define this race and how each candidate differs from his/her opponent, supported by a few reasonably intelligent arguments with enough detail to give them some actual substance and provide fodder for reasonable debate. Wouldn’t that make a decision clearer? Wouldn’t knowing what the candidates see as the key issues and where they actually stand on them make you want to get out and vote for the best representative of your beliefs and politics rather than feel forced into voting for people and issues that remain opaque and undefined?

We sure think it would.

But maybe this is the point. Maybe there is no real difference between the candidates, so all there is to talk about is who did what wrong and who pulled whose pigtails on the playground. Maybe it really just doesn’t matter who wins anymore. (It does indeed appear that we are in the oxymoronic age of tax-raising “Republicans” and smallbusiness hating “Democrats,” but we digress.) Maybe it’s all the same. Unprincipled career politicians saying and voting for whatever they think will get them re-elected or rich when they inevitably jump back into the private sector (only to later return to the public one somewhere down the road). Is this really what the founding fathers intended?

Is this what the purportedly greatest system on the globe boils down to?

Who knows. But we’re sure interested to learn what aces the candidates think they have in their deep dark pockets over the next couple weeks. Maybe some illicit drug use thirty years ago or a little infidelity to a high school sweetheart. Or maybe one of them hired an undocumented worker twelve years ago to clean their garage or, or, or…

In any case, campaign managers for each should be congratulated; they’ve managed to make us hate both candidates.

We don’t know about you, but at this point, we’re not voting for either of these taxavoiding, mealy-mouthed, unprincipled, tax-raising, women-hating political hack low-lifes.

So there.

...It'sCrimetime (continued) the 101 overpass. He also could have asked the friendly guys at the Chevron for a key to their men’s room, or gone into Starbucks at one end of Coast Village, or the 76 station at the other end. As for a 23-year-old peeing on the 600 block of State Street in the middle of the day, well, all we can figure is that he is probably an out-of-work botanist whose recent degree in horticulture informed him of the plant’s ill health. Either that, or there was alcohol involved.

(Editor’s Note: Admittedly, the Sentinel hasn’t been doing a crime blotter for very long. But even so, we feel compelled to say something about our experience so far. It is absolutely astounding how many crimes committed in Santa Barbara involve alcohol in one way or another. Public intoxication, public urination and defecation, drunk drivers, resisting arrest, fights, domestic disputes, assaults, batteries, date (and other) rapes… the list is endless. And our beloved booze is right in the middle of all of it.

We spoke with SBPD Public Information Officer Sergeant Riley Harwood and, while there are no particular statistics on alcohol involvement in the broad spectrum of all crimes committed, he agreed that alcohol is indeed a partner in many SB incidences. Frankly, it is just amazing to us that we, as such a vibrant community, spend so much time and effort and money and other resources battling the drunken amongst us. What a waste. Come to think of it, how many potsmokers beat their wives or pee on State Street at noon on a Tuesday or vomit in kids’ parks after passing out in the sand? We’re not heavy marijuana legalization advocates, but we’d be willing to wager that if we swapped the legality of alcohol for the legality of marijuana, we would probably save a whole lot of time and money, even despite undoubtedly having to significantly increase police presence around ice cream trucks and donut shops.

We’re just saying...)

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...continued from p.2 Kerry Bennett (right) and Ashley O’Brien enjoyed yet another busy day up at Brophy’s.

Woof

stays down the road.” So, for example, “hospitality volunteers” from the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization and Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce were out in force in a designated area on Cabrillo Boulevard, providing maps and information and pamphlets and smiles to ensure a strong guest experience. It was terrific to see so many working so hard and having so much fun, all to benefit Santa Barbara—hell, I even learned a few things about our community and was (and am) proud to call this great place home.

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enjoy arts and culture and other uniquely Santa Barbara experiences in the typically short time they have here.”

Accordingly to Slagle, and given that many passengers are in fact Californiabased, there is a coordinated effort— sometimes taking as long as six months to adequately plan—by numerous local organizations to “really show Santa Barbara off and get the folks visiting for just a day to return again and again for longer

October 20 & 21

All the time and effort planning and plotting really paid off. I stopped into Brophy’s (yeah, I know, Brophy Bros.) and found proprietor Kerry Bennett and (always friendly) bartender Ashley O’Brien smiling widely behind the bar. “Great day,” Kerry told me, “we saw a real uptick in business due to the Princess out there.” Harrison Daly, a server at Sambo’s, responded with a single word when I asked him how business had been on Tuesday. “Booming,” he said, grinning.

While it is indeed true that local restaurants see a fair share of additional business when these ships pull into town—Brian Slagle attributes that to the potential that passengers are tired, already, of boat food—retail and

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Rebecca Kaye (left) and Pamela Roehrig— visiting from mysterious faraway lands called “Montecito” and “Los Angeles”—enjoy a beautiful autumn day in Santa Barbara.

other businesses see increased traffic (and sales) as well. I went as far up as the 800 block of State Street and talked briefly between customers with manager Kelsey Johnson of the Goorin Bros. Hat Shop. “Tuesdays can be slow for us here,” she shared, “but we were packed all day today.” (Anecdotally, I love your hats, Kelsey and Goorin Bros., and must come in soon to get fitted and fixed up real nice and tight.)

The bottom line is that there were people— many clearly non-Santa Barbarans— everywhere. State Street was jammed, and so was Stearns Wharf and the Harbor (which, by the way, just had a fantastic turnout for the Santa Barbara Harbor Festival this past weekend…my daughters and I went and indulged in some seafood, touched a few live fish and danced to the sweet sounds of Spencer the Gardener, who is soon coming out with what I anticipate will be a great new record). So thanks to the Princess and its passengers for getting out and seeing SB and supporting the local economy—we hope you enjoyed our town and all it has to offer.

Through the month of October!

reasonable to believe that we have started well (enough, anyway). Not only is the proof in the advertising demand and letters we are seeing, but also in the solicitations by potential writers and other contributors around town. People seem to want to be a part of the Sentinel, and we, in turn, want them to be. So please be on the lookout for new columnists and photographers and others in the coming weeks (especially those willing to work for a pittance. Oh, wait, that is the writing business!). And if anybody out there is interested in covering community happenings and current events for any of our “boroughs” (e.g., the Mesa, San Roque, Upper State, the Westside or anywhere else) then please do reach out. We’d love to hear from you.

Stuff I Like

Looks like I will also be attending Boocara! this year with the kiddies on Sunday October 28, from 4-7pm. Bacara Resort and Spa basically transforms its property into a Halloween bash with tricks and treats for all ages. I’ve never been but it should be fun. Although guests of the resort and local residents are admitted for free, reservations are required. Email rsvp@ bacararesort.com and save your spot.

Finally, I’m looking forward to Atelier, Drinking with the Moon, at Santa Barbara Museum of Art on Friday, November 16, from 5:30-7:30pm. There will be dance, brush painting demonstrations, live music, poetry and specialty food and cocktails, all inspired by SBMA’s latest exhibit, The Artful Recluse: Painting, Poetry and Politics in 17th Century China. I had a sneak peek of the exhibition a few weeks ago at the smART Families event mentioned previously in my column and am excited to see more.

Reservations are required, and tickets are $25 for SBMA members and $40 otherwise.

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Sorry for the late notice but I’m planning on checking out Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin’s talk at SBCC on Sunday, October 21, 2012, entitled “Visions of a 21st Century Food System—Inviting Food and Agriculture Back Into Our Cities.” I garden, occasionally (my wife does most of the heavy lifting in that regard), and I love to cook with (and eat) fresh and healthy ingredients sourced as locally as possible. So how could I go wrong listening to Conlin talk about Seattle’s Local Food Action Initiative? Come check it out. (SBCC Fe Bland Auditorium, 6309pm, $5 at the door.)

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The Sentinel is off and running. But please don’t take that the wrong way—we know that there’s room for improvement, for sure, and we fully intend to put out a better paper each week as we move forward. With that said, it does indeed seem

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As I was walking back to my car after yet another tough day of playing SB reporter (I’m kidding, I already love this job), I came across a couple women—Rebecca Kaye and Pamela Roehrig—smiling and chatting and clearly enjoying the afternoon.

When I asked whether they hailed from the Sapphire Princess, they said yes and continued grinning and chatting. So I asked them where they were visiting from.

“Montecito,” Rebecca said. “My friend Pamela here is from LA and we thought it would be fun to cruise the coast.”

“That’s fantastic,” I laughed with them, “did you spend any money in our local shops?”

“Not really,” Pamela replied, “we got lunch to go from Via Vai and ate it in my friend’s beautiful gardens. It was a wonderful afternoon.”

Shhhh, Rebecca and Pamela. Don’t tell anybody, but that may just be the best way to visit Santa Barbara for a day. And those of us lucky enough to live here don’t even have to board a big boat to do it.

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The Weekly Capitalist

by Jeff Harding

Jeff Harding publishes The Daily Capitalist, a blog on economics and finance. He is the president of Montecito Analytics, LLC. He is a real estate investor and lives in Montecito.

The Road To Stagnation

T

his is the Game of Thrones season, the every four-year binge when our politicians pay billions to stay in power or to get power. Drive around our fair city and count the lawn signs. Turn on your TV and be bombarded with Capps and Maldonado. The last three debates are enough to turn one’s stomach. In fact, my wife refused to watch Tuesday night’s latest campaign of lies from Obama and Romney. They both lie big lies. They both say they have the answer to our economic woes and that they will transform America to that bright new future.

Don’t count on it.

Listening to them hem-and-haw their way through the debate, not answering questions, avoiding the really important issues, and heaping as much mud on the other as they could required a strong stomach. I still insist on voting but, unfortunately, it comes down to whomever you think is the lesser of two weasels.

My thing is economics. I’ve been writing a popular economics blog, The Daily Capitalist, since 2007. My readers are mainly financial types, and, in full disclosure, our popularity is based mainly on the fact that our macro forecasts have been quite accurate. My detractors would say “dumb luck.” Whatever.

I think about things like: What caused the Great Recession? Who’s to blame?

Why haven’t we recovered? Are we on the right economic track? What would bring about a full recovery? My answers usually infuriate all sides of the debate.

I’m going to try to get around the Democrat vs. Republican framework of

these issues. Let me say that I have great distaste for both parties and their policies.

There is enough blame to go around. So please don’t write back accusing me of being a “knee-jerk” whatever (Republican, Democrat, radical, fat cat, idealist, etcetera).

In brief, the cause of our economic woes wasn’t greed; it was the Fed. Unless you have a different view of the human race than I, then you would have to admit that greed is ever-present. The proper question is “Why did this happen now?” Is greed just some spontaneous virus that all of a sudden appears, people go nuts, some asset class explodes (housing this time), and then collapses?

Actually there is a very excellent correlation with the money supply that the Fed always inflates to get us out of the last mess they created. Every time they blow up the money supply a new bubble takes off a few months later. As we see the easy money inflate some asset class (this time housing), it looks pretty easy to make money. Your neighbors see the value of their condo skyrocket and they start buying condos, flipping them for easy profit. Don’t tell me you didn’t see this and were never tempted to do the same. If this is greed, then it is part of our basic nature.

Of course it’s never real and as the funny money goes first into things that are over produced and then discovered to be unwanted (again, housing), the whole credit bubble collapses. Boom and bust.

Suddenly we return to sanity and aren’t greedy anymore. Fiat money makes us crazy.

Wall Street didn’t cause boom or the bust, but they certainly were major players in creating complex investments that expanded the bubble many-fold. They based their game on the premise that housing would never go down – “never did, never will.” (Oops, as Rick Perry would say.) Let us say that Wall Street had some pretty stupid ideas about risk (see, The Black Swan).

Did regulation have a major role in this?

Yes. Did deregulation have a major role in this? Yes. Here is how crazy our system is.

The government had a huge apparatus to stimulate housing, well beyond market disciplines (it was about politics, not economics). They actually guaranteed these crazy mortgages! That’s why Fannie and Freddy went bust. Yet on the other side of the coin, they deregulated the banks, allowing them to play with the funny money, but guaranteed they would bail them out if they failed. It’s something economists call “moral hazard.”

The crazy thing, and this is typical human behavior during these bubbles, is

“It was the biggest boom and bust the world had ever seen and until we sweep away all the bad investment and related debt, we aren’t going to recover.” that no one thought it would ever end. I should say that economists who think like me saw it coming and shouted warnings, but were drowned out by the stampede of the herd.

Crashes are like an economic cleansing process. Sorry folks, but that McMansion you bought and overleveraged isn’t going to come back any time soon. This isn’t your father’s recession – it was the biggest boom and bust the world had ever seen and until we sweep away all the bad investment and related debt, we aren’t going to recover.

What has been the government’s

response? Both W. Bush and Obama thought that bailing out their cronies was a good idea. (More moral hazard). Now the Big Banks are doing the same stuff as before. Both administrations thought that propping up inflated housing was a good idea rather than letting the system right itself. And the new regulations?

Dodd-Frank, like most laws born out of indignation, uses a bludgeon on the entire financial system while ignoring the real problem. Their attempts to require banks to have higher capital to loan ratios was weak and now the Big Banks are fighting those weak requirements tooth and claw.

The Fed is even worse. What are they doing? They are trying to ignite a new bubble by “printing” more money (technically they create money out of thin air and credit the accounts of the major banks). We are now at QE3, yet QE1 and 2 didn’t work. QE∞ is a very bad idea.

Folks, we have the same players doing the same things that brought about the crisis in the first place, yet they don’t have a clue what they are doing. If government could regulate our way to prosperity we would already be there. If the Fed could print our way to recovery we would all be rich. Why do they think that doing what they did before will work this time?

Answer: they don’t know what else to do.

Here is what they should do to bring a recovery: They need to let the bankrupt go bankrupt and wipe out the bad investment and related debt. Greenspan did that back in the savings and loan bubble and we recovered relatively quickly. We need to raise interest rates to prevent the destruction of capital and the dollar and to encourage savers to fuel a recovery.

Volcker did that back in 1979 when we had stagflation and it worked. We need to reduce regulations on those who would invest in America and hire workers.

Reagan did that and it worked. We need to reduce federal spending and cut back the national debt before it sucks the life out of the economy (see, Europe).

Did anyone hear Romney or Obama say those things in the last debate? Oh, excuse me; they both said that they would cut spending, balance the budget, and free employers to create middle-class jobs.

Does anyone believe them?

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...continued from p.4 that said, I’ll leave it to Ray—a seasoned vet when it comes to business writing—to decide the parameters of his column (although I will make sure he sees your suggestion). As for a witty biz-related pseudonym for SB, I’m an advocate of these things happening organically.

Who knows, though, maybe your “Silicon Coast” moniker will stick…thanks again for the letter.—MSM)

Looks Nice But… Hey Matt, nice layout and graphics in the Sentinel, generally a good job. But perhaps the publication might consider a smaller format to save paper and ensure that smaller local retailers have the rack space. Contentwise, well, you’re new...thought the Funk Zone event coverage was not particularly comprehensive, focusing on the very minor rather than more major events (e.g., the Michael Kate Gallery show). And hey, just saying, not sure whether anyone cares so much about all the petty crime BS around town? The last local paper focused on that a lot and, well, where are they now? Perhaps a review of the Furthur (not Further) show would have been a more positive use of real estate? Look at it this way...many picking up the Independent and the Sentinel are perhaps new to town, (especially compared to yours truly), and want to know what’s happening, where to eat, where to visit (etc) and not so much about drunks and bums. Not very positive, leave that to the News-Press or whoever.

Good luck with the new venture ~ Cheers.

Fred Hill Fred Hill/Design • FhD Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: A number of good points, Fred, glad you like the layout. We are pretty happy with the format and size of the paper but are always looking for new ways to get our content out there effectively and efficiently.

It may sound funny but I (we) actually agree with your initial assessment of the Funk Zone coverage—it wasn’t particularly comprehensive. But we viewed the column as a bit of a second introduction and ultimately went the direction we went, for better or worse. (We did have a number of positive responses, anecdotally.) With that said, we did indeed purposefully focus on some of the more minor events that day, and will likely continue to do so in addition to covering the more major ones. The bottom line is that there are many stories to be told here in town, and we are looking for all shapes and sizes.

(No disrespect to the Michael Kate Gallery, of course.) As for the blotter, well, let’s just say that we will see how it goes. My feeling is that it is already morphing and changing and I’m excited to see where it will end up.

And kudos on the typo, we did have it right at first (I swear) but fell victim to the whims of an overly-aggressive spell check feature. It’s on me, though, and I will keep a closer watch as we go to print this week and beyond. Many thanks for the note.—MSM)

Congrats and More Just wanted to say I’m excited about your addition to the local community. I’ve

enjoyed reading the first two issues and want to thank you for adding a bit of controversy simply by having an opinion! Regardless if I agree or disagree with your choice for certain issues, I am more than pleased that your conviction raises constructive discourse. In comparison, I read recently a competing paper’s endorsements that seem to never change or challenge. Using mental shortcuts like these places too many “easy buttons” in life and disallows, in my opinion, the real freedom of choice. Thanks for the good work!

Eddie Cybulski Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Well, Eddie, I really think you hit the nail on the head here and appreciate the honest note. We don’t mean to stir up controversy but do indeed want to facilitate a thoughtful dialogue (your “constructive discourse” put it better, I think) about the issues facing us here in Santa Barbara. And if that dialogue breeds the “controversy” you mentioned, then I hope it is not viewed through a negative lens but rather through one that recognizes the need for open and honest discussion about the issues on their merits. I hope you’ll keep reading and writing.—MSM)

Thanks from smART Families Hi Matt – I thought I’d write to let you know that I and others really enjoyed the article you wrote endorsing smART Families. We are so pleased that your family has joined our group and I know you will all enjoy the events immensely. Thanks again!!

Jen Markham, Chair of the Steering Committee smART Families Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: It’s a great program, Jen, and my family and I are thrilled to be a part of it.

Thanks for reaching out.—MSM)

The Triumph of the Pig Hi Matt – I read your article on Scarlett Begonia and loved it; thank you for such a well written piece. You gave the restaurant a ton of words and space and I sincerely appreciate the effort. By the way, we sold out our whole pig dinner last Friday and actually (unfortunately) had to turn away ten walk-in guests…quite a difference from the Tragedy of the Lamb! With that said, though, seafood night is looking slim with only ten reservations so far…regardless, much gratitude.

Crista Fooks, Proprietor Scarlett Begonia Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Really happy to hear that whole hog night was a success, Crista, I’ve actually been stopped by two people in town who are eager to come to dinner at your place after reading the column. Hopefully, they and other readers (and, ok, even non-readers) will come for seafood night! Bon appetite, and thanks for the note.—MSM)

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Opinion, stories, events, and people that shape Santa Barbara

CDBG Discussion Highlights

sbview.com

3. 15% of the money can be used for social services, and Santa Barbara further adds uesday’s City Council meeting featured monies from the General Fund to shore “Review of Fiscal Year 2014 Human up human services significantly.

Sharon Byrne is execServices and Community Development What gets funded is decided by the utive director for the Block Grant Funding Priorities, Application Community Development and Human Milpas Community Services Committee.

Release and Funding Process.”

Association, and currently serves on the Cities’ allocation of CDBG funding Magic Decoder Ring for the governmentAdvisory Boards for the ese: the Council discussed priorities for reflects their prioritization of community Salvation Army HospiCDBG funds, a rapidly shrinking oasis for needs. Lancaster, PA put a third of its money tality House and Santa municipal infrastructure funding. into fixing roads. Syracuse and Evanston Barbara County Alcohol The Community Development Block allocated for crime prevention programs

by Sharon Byrne and Drug Problems. and neighborhood revitalization projects.

Grant (CDBG) was enacted in 1974 by president Ford. Here’s one for biSome cities spend money on economic development and small business incubators. partisanship: liberal legislators supported fixing “urban blight” and conservative Santa Barbara prioritized 51% of Human legislators appreciated the control it placed in of special value for historic, architectural Services funds for the homeless, to meet basic human needs. the hands of local communities, reducing the or aesthetic reasons. role of the US government.

–A lleviation of physical and economic Non-profits compete with Public Works In order to receive CDBG funds, distress through the stimulation of private for the capital funds: a roof repair for a applicants must outline urgent community investment and community revitalization. non-profit, or installation of lights for a needs, and submit projects to address them. crime-ridden city park, and so on. Here’s where the shrinking-pie picture crystallizes.

Some of the objectives of the CDBG program include (taken from the U.S. Department of With the state seizing RDA monies in a futile effort to shore up education, as Housing and Urban Development website, the administering federal authority and Councilman White pointed out Tuesday, captioned for brevity): 1.

85% of the money must be used for city funding for basic infrastructure is rapidly disappearing. Forget neighborhood ‘shovel-ready’ brick-n-mortar projects.

2. 20% can be set aside for public housing, revitalization and economic development.

White bemoaned roads the city can no as our city does. longer maintain, buildings we can’t afford to keep up, etc.

That emerging reality heralds – Conservation and expansion of the a need for a serious priority nation’s housing stock in order to provide discussion, and some of that a decent home and a suitable living Total CDBG from HUD: $938,819 environment for principally those of low Less 20% for public housing: $238,456 happened Tuesday.

Frank and moderate income.

Hotchkiss and Bendy White led Less 15% for social services: $118,842 a change to the guidelines for the – The expansion and improvement of the CDBG Funding – Capital Projects: $581,521 Human Services Committee to quantity and the quality of community include addressing the impacts to services for the development of viable Human Services Funding: the rest of us from homelessness. urban communities.

15% of CDBG for services from above $118,842 – Revitalization of deteriorated Add City General Fund component: $628,256 They inserted language aimed at gang intervention, and sought more neighborhoods.

Total Human Services Funding: $747,098 effective measures of performance – Restoration and preservation of properties for non-profits. Grant House reflected the current philosophy: Spread Delicious Desserts & Dinner. Extensive Wine & Beer List. the shrinking pile around to as many nonprofits and projects as possible. Try to stop the bleeding.

When funding shrinks, competition for funds heats up. There’s opportunity here: less money forces the clarification of city priorities, which then requires higher performance from any funding recipients.

Programs need to move from meeting basic needs to actually successfully curing their targeted social problems. As for capital projects, if we can’t adequately fund basic city infrastructure, then federal CDBG money becomes that last panacea, albeit still insufficient. Maybe it’s time to tell a nonprofit we can’t fund their ADA-compliant bathroom because we need to install sidewalks in under-served neighborhoods.

In the wake of young Sergio Romero’s tragic death on Milpas last October, the Eastside began urging for updated street Breakfast Lunch Dinner High Tea Events Room Happy Hour infrastructure in the area for basic safety.

COAST played a huge role, with studies, 1106 State Street 805.962.5085 AndersensSantaBarbara.com walks, and lobbying efforts, joined by the

T

sbview.com

There is some math particular to CDBG

Elimination of slums and blight

Our city’s totals from last year:

Milpas Community Association. Public Works admitted that the Eastside had long been de-prioritized for inadequate infrastructure investment, so the council considered prioritizing the area in its Sept 18 meeting for CDBG funding in 20132014.

The Human Services Committee did not support that, but even if they had, Public Works’ need for lead time was too great. To line up scoped-out, ‘shovel-ready’ prioritized projects required community hearings that have yet to occur. Further, all CDBG monies to be allocated this December must be spent by next April. The timing was just seriously off.

Cathy Murrillo, realizing the opportunity for Eastside infrastructure funding was in jeopardy, tried valiantly to get it prioritized for next year’s round. Public Works has some small-scope projects in the pipeline, for sidewalks and streetlights, not funded in previous years, after losing out to nonprofits.

Maybe at least those will get funded this year.

Entertained to Death Loretta Redd’s diverse background includes being a psychologist, business owner, non-profit director, Air Force officer, writer, speaker, and executive coach. Loretta has served on several Santa Barbara city committees and has been a candidate for public office.

by Loretta Redd

sbview.com

B

ack in the 1950s, in the early days when there were three network channels to select from and each was heavily regulated, television was politically pretty neutral.

More like the Newshour of today. Each station needed to appeal to a broad audience to capture viewer loyalty and earn a sense of legitimacy as a vehicle of some opinion, but mostly factual information.

Today, there are hundreds of cable channels, millions of websites and uncountable numbers of social media deliveries hoping to influence our thinking.

Our once broad-based exposure to many points of view has disintegrated into tiny slices of search engine individualism, mirroring our own thoughts and echoing our own voices.

According to the Borrell Associates research firm, an article in Ad Age projected that Super PACs and political campaigns (including 13,000 state, municipal, congressional and Presidential races) will expend $9.5 billion this year. Cable television is the main beneficiary of that tidal wave of campaign spending.

But you’re not likely to watch a cable program that delivers opinions that vary widely from your own, are you? I don’t know many Glenn Beck fans that watch MSNBC or Maddow-ites that can’t get enough of FOX news.

Today, we rely on pundits and anchors to not only give us their opinion, but to tell us

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what our opinion should be about the very thing we just saw and heard.

Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, writes, “Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice.”

Debates are presented as smack-down wrestling events, where more attention is paid to smirks than content, to eye rolling than policy. Rather than a source of information into the philosophies and intelligence that drives a particular candidate through asking complex questions and multi-layer follow-ups, most campaign directors see debates as three lost days of fundraising and media control.

Campaigns have become play-by-play entertainment, designed purely to draw money to the media source, with post-game analysis and endless chest thumping over wins and losses. What is driving politics today, in addition to mountains of money, is the speed of delivery and its competition for attention. The content must change at least hourly, along with satisfying our expectation of drama and live action.

Before television, there were a few radio commentators, but most political information and even opinion was delivered in newsprint. It was designed to be lasting; it enabled the reader to digest the information.

To even lay the paper aside and come back to it for a second read. But that was before news became simply entertainment.

Nowadays, we are looking for the ‘win,’ not the content. In fact, thoughtful, cogent and complex answers to life and death issues like nuclear weaponry or medical care insurance actually work against the candidate, as the viewer awaits the ‘zinger’ line.

Again, from Postman, “When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious conversation becomes a form of babytalk, when, in short, a people become an audience, and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk…”

Elections are the absolute bedrock foundation of our freedom. The process of selecting a President should require us to study, to pay attention, to learn, compare and contrast, and dare I say, to think for ourselves, not to sit in front of our wide screens with popcorn, and expect to be entertained.

In Business

by Tom Bird

The Winehound on the Move

S

anta Barbara is not only home to over 100 wineries, but there are some great wine shops in the county as well. One local favorite is The Winehound. Santa Barbara View caught up with owner Bob Wesley, who said that he opened The Winehound because he saw a need for a wine shop in Santa Barbara that carried a broader range

The Winehound owner Bob Wesley is moving his wine shop to La Cumbre Plaza, nestled between See’s Candies and Chipotle

of selections, both domestic and imported.

“We love local wines and have the broadest selection of them in town,” said Bob. “The same is true for imported vino. We taste a lot and we love steering customers to a good bottle, at any price range they have in mind. Like we always say, we’ve got plenty of space for wine, but no room for snobbery.”

The Winehound is moving from its hardto-find location on Chapala to La Cumbre Plaza this fall – across from Macy’s, right between See’s and Chipotle. Bob is excited about the move because of the unlimited parking, visibility, and the smell of See’s Candies next door!

So the next time you visit La Cumbre Plaza, are looking for a great wine selection, and/or want help choosing the right bottle, visit The Winehound and support local businesses.

Santa Barbara Business Beat

by Ray Estrada

Ray Estrada is a writer, editor and media consultant who has worked for newspapers, radio news, wire services and online publications for the past 40 years. He has taught journalism at the University of Southern California and now runs his own consulting business based in Santa Barbara.

sbview.com

Entrepreneur Uses CNG Fleet to Tame Fuel Costs

W

hile South Coast motorists and business owners are paying about $5 a gallon for unleaded gas, David Sullins pays less than $2 per gallon of fuel for most of his fleet of a dozen vehicles.

Eight of Sullins’ vans, trucks and sedans are powered by compressed natural gas, or CNG. That puts him ahead of the game since state law soon will mandate much cleaner fuels such as CNG. Sullins said his CNG vehicles run on fuel that costs between $1.50 and $1.95 a gallon.

“CNG is powerful and smooth running,” he said. “It’s seventy percent cleaner than gasoline.”

CNG is clear, odorless and non-corrosive.

Although vehicles can use natural gas as either a liquid or a gas, most vehicles use the gaseous form compressed to pressures of more than 3,100 pounds per square inch, according to the California Energy Commission. Unlike regular internal combustion car engines that use unleaded gasoline, CNG cars, trucks and vans only need oil changes about every 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Most gasoline-powered cars call for oil changes after 3,000 miles of driving.

“The oil is still clean and yellow when it is changed, but we do it to replenish the chemicals and lubricants that come in fresh oil,” Sullins said.

At the Peppers Estate in Montecito, where Sullins operates a residential care facility for the elderly, a “Fuel Maker” is used to gas up his fleet. However, he also can put CNG into his vehicles at a downtown Santa Barbara fueling station at the Southern California Gas Co. as well.

“There are so few CNG vehicles that there is never a line and always an empty pump waiting. It takes about four to five minutes to fill a car, the same as a gasoline pump,” Sullins said. “The Fuel Maker fills about 1.1 gallons an hour, so it is often put on for an overnight fill at the Peppers. It is simply hooked up to the natural gas line coming on the property. CNG is the same gas that runs everyone’s hot water heater and stove, but pressurized to fit in a tank and

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hooked up to your car’s engine. Most people don’t know it is that simple. After some carburetor and engine computer changes, CNG runs the same engine in a car that was used for gasoline.”

Sulllins’ fleet of cars, trucks and vans are used to service his two senior residential care facilities (peppersestate.com) and the student housing (activestudenthousing. com) he owns on the South Coast. Recently, he opened the Peppers Estate ballroom as a Day Center where seniors are transported in CNG-powered vehicles.

“I bought the first one, a Dodge Caravan, in 2005,” he said. Prior to that year, many Ford and Dodge vehicles had the option to be powered with conventional fuel or CNG. “Only carbon dioxide and water come out of the tail pipe,” Sullins said.

Sullins touted CNG as safer than gasoline.

If a CNG tank ruptures, the fuel rises and disperses, being lighter than air. A regular gasoline spill poses a fire or explosive threat and contamination into the ground.

The downside of using CNG now is that there are few filling stations on the South Coast. “If it catches on, there will be more,” Sullins said. “And, I think it will.”

Oil industry analysts estimate that 100 years of America’s energy needs are available in currently existing domestic natural gas. Almost all of the natural gas used in the United States comes from domestic or other North American sources, according to the California Energy Commission.

A Santa Barbara view photo by Bill Heller.com

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W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M Mark Walsh, Dons water polo coach and Sports Figure of the Month

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Santa Barbara Sports Figure of the Month: Mark Walsh

by Randy Weiss

ReMarkable

H

e’s been the Dons water polo coach since ‘BC’ – Before (it was a) CIF sport!

Now, 20 years later, he’s a distinguished veteran of the local aquatics scene. His service to the community as a highly respected Santa Barbara High School teacher, a rare three-season-per-school-year varsity head coach (plus club in summer), and a truly life-saving swim instructor, role model, mentor, and friend, has not gone unnoticed.

His coaching resumé is golden: 700+ victories (& counting), 77 teams (51 school, 16 club), 13 CIF crowns (8 girls, 5 boys), seemingly year-after-year top national rankings for any team he’s coached, and two Olympians (so far).

He has nurtured numerous studentathletes to the point where they were able

to secure college scholarships, plus cultivate many more for further success in life, and is The Man in establishing our Santa Barbara region as a water polo mecca in Southern California’s wide world of uber-competitive water sports.

For this and more, Mark Walsh has been named Presidio Sports’ Sports Figure of the Month, a community award made possible

by American Riviera Bank.

“He’s very deserving – he’s a force on our coaching staff and amongst the best I’ve ever seen,” says John Becchio, SBHS Principal in his second year. “One thing that especially strikes me is his always calm and meaningful presence – he is definitely a leader and just a great staff member.”

“A fantastic coach totally dedicated to his kids … who puts in tremendous hours and personal time … and who could easily be a D1 coach but, instead, chooses to stay

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here at Santa Barbara High,” chimes Joe Chenoweth, the Dons’ first year Athletic Director.

“Mark has established a dynasty of water polo excellence … and what I like most is his kick back attitude in life and his intensity and fire on the pool deck,” adds Rich Hanna, President of the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table.

“You couldn’t have picked a better honoree – he’s like that Ford F150 truck commercial: doing all the work and with a Cadillac engine!” embellishes Cathy Neushul, SB Water Polo Club Co-Director & UCSB Women’s Water Polo Coach.

“I was in eighth grade and my friends played so I tried it,” Mark says. “Well, it was so hard I wanted to quit. My dad said it was okay – I’d just had to tell the coach… something I could never do.”

Instead, it forever shaped the life of this Orange County kid…

Walsh soon made the varsity team at Capistrano High School and played two years at Saddleback JC where he pursued dreams of being a history teacher.

He then traveled up the coast to UCSB where he passed on a Gaucho water polo career to work and pay the bills, while concentrating on his studies.

He arrived here in the summer of 1992 and ‘got by with a little help from his friends’ – the Kittredges. It led to an assistant water polo coaching gig at the SBHS pool that paid $5 per hour in two-hour increments.

To make ends meet, he flipped a zillion burgers at Carpinteria’s The Spot and got some restaurant shifts at Acacia (now Cava) in Montecito.

Times were not easy… but he juggled.

And kept his focus – ultimately earning his BA in Business Economics (1995) and with new sights set on being a stockbroker.

A local internship in this financial field confirmed it wasn’t really for him, and that’s when a friend recommended getting his substitute teaching credential.

Walsh quickly did so, driving twice weekly (in addition to working and coaching) to Chapman College’s satellite program in Santa Maria, and was soon subbing on the prestigious SBHS campus.

Throughout it all, he found his love in coaching…

In ’93, he served as assistant SBHS boys water polo coach and became head coach in ‘97.

In ’96, he additionally assumed head coaching duties for the Don’s girls team.

Then, when teacher Dave Kent took a

sabbatical three days before the Fall ‘97 semester, Walsh was “at the right place at the right time” and legendary SBHS principal (the late) J. R. Richards offered him a fulltime teaching position.

Walsh hasn’t looked back.

Since then, it’s been a full load with teaching and coaching boys water polo (fall), girls water polo (winter) and swimming (spring). Weekends were games, practice, grading papers and preparing lesson plans.

A teaching shift from Economics to Physical Education six years ago provided some relief to his exceptionally heavy load.

Also in ‘97, he took his girls team to Orange County to test their skills against the high-octane powerhouse teams there and they ended up winning the whole thing – inaugural champs in this new CIFsanctioned sport. (They won the tourney the year before, too.) Along the way, the championships rolled along with some incredible teams.

Some incredible players…

“I always felt safe playing for Mark,” says Thalia (Munro) Ormsby (Olympic Bronze, Athens 2004), who, like Walsh, was on the way to a volleyball career until she “heard all the fun and laughter coming from the pool deck below the gym.” From the moment she jumped headfirst in the pool, she claims it was great fun and knew it was the right place to be.

“Mark’s leadership and coaching philosophy brings out the best in his players.

Everyone has roles. It’s all about ‘team,” says Ormsby, who is using a similar style in coaching young club kids with her husband, Brett, in San Diego. It’s her way of giving back for all Coach Walsh has provided for her.

Further… “[Coach] Walsh always made sure I had the opportunity to do more, if I wanted it.

He would find a way to make it happen.

He’s always been there for me and I just love coming back,” offers Kami Craig (Olympic Gold, London 2012; Olympic Silver, Beijing 2008), who played for him in club and in her SBHS junior (’04) and senior (’05) CIF championship seasons.

And speaking of family…

Coach Walsh endured some trying times with his parents’ divorce when he was a young boy and his dad’s passing just as he was graduating high school. His mom died a few years later in 1994.

“Family has always been important to us,” shares his sister, Michele Grisham.

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Mark and Wendy married in 2008. Their son Mason is three years old and a baby sister is anticipated early next month or sooner.

“My new challenge is having a balance in life – trying to be a great dad and husband with every free minute that I have… and trying to be a good role model,” he says.

He credits the great parents and families of his teams who do so much – there’s “no way” he would be able to do it with his teams without all their assistance and support.

And for the many whom he’s touched along the way, well, there is no shortage of accolades here…

“As a friend, he is loyal to the end. As a person, he is sincere and caring. And as for water polo, he’s arguably the best high school coach in the nation,” says Brian ‘Chuckie’ Roth, Mark’s post-college roommate (along with Walsh’s SBHS colleague, John Gannon), Best Man at his wedding, SMHS teacher and varsity & club water polo coach.

“So many people have come out of Mark’s program and been successful in life,” Ormsby adds.

“Mark is the most dedicated student of the game that I know. He is the Don of the water polo community,” Neushul exclaims.

“We are all exceedingly proud of Mark, especially when we learn of his amazing success with a new crop of athletes,” says big sis, Michele.

It’s safe to say that in the classroom, on the pool deck, spending time with family and friends, and making the most of every opportunity, our September honoree is truly one reMARKable guy!

SBART Athletes of the Week: Anika Wilson and Kyle Mayfield

By John Dvorak

Cate’s Kyle Mayfield and San Marcos’ Anika Wilson were recognized as Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athletes of the Week at Monday’s press luncheon.

The pair came through with prime-time performances last week to lead their teams to victory.

Mayfield scored five touchdowns as Cate’s quarterback in Saturday’s win at Thacher.

The Toads were ranked as the No. 1 team

San Marcos’ Anika Wilson collected a game-high 35 digs in the match against Dos Pueblos Thursday

Cate’s Kyle Mayfield scored five touchdowns as quarterback on Saturday against rival Thacher

in 8-Man Division 1 until Mayfield and the Rams pulled out the rivalry win.

The senior, who also plays linebacker, rushed for three scores and threw for two more.

Anika Wilson was a key player in the Royals’ five-set triumph at Dos Pueblos on Thursday. Wilson collected a game-high 35 digs in the match, a big help in San Marcos’ successful effort staying in the hunt for a league title.

Honorable mentions included: Nico Bornand, Dos Pueblos Football; Kian Chachi, SBCC Soccer; Axel Bouillin, UCSB Tennis; BJ Murillo, Bishop Diego Football; Bianca Castro, SBCC Volleyball; Leah Sully, UCSB Volleyball; Cecilia Instebo, SBCC Cross Country; Aolani Rueff, Westmont Soccer.

Presidio Sports’ Best Bets for the Weekend

By Barry Punzal

Whether the teams are in contention for a league title or not, the Big Game always brings out the best in the players who participate in it.

In Friday night’s 53rd edition of the Santa Barbara-San Marcos football rivalry at Santa Barbara’s Peabody Stadium, the men who lead the teams hope to have everyone playing at their bests.

Kickoff is at 7 pm. Santa Barbara, which has won the last two Big Games, leads the series 29-23.

Santa Barbara enters the game with records of 5-2 overall and 0-1 in Channel League. San Marcos is 1-7, 0-2.

Doug Caines of Santa Barbara and Anthony Linebaugh of San Marcos will be making their Big Game head coaching debuts.

Caines is no stranger to the Big Game.

He played in two for the Dons (going 1-1).

Linebaugh is new to this city rivalry, but he’s not a rookie to coaching in cross-town games.

“I have coached in several rivalry games,” he said. “In Stockton, the Big Game takes place between Lincoln High School and St. Mary’s. There are several high schools in Stockton but those two are always head and shoulders above the rest. It gets pretty crazy. Even the frosh game is almost a

Shawn Ramos, the Santa Barbara High quarterback who will be starting his 3rd Big Game as QB

sellout.”

He recalled an incident when he had a middle school student who was not doing well in his class, and the kid was the son of the offensive coordinator at St. Mary’s.

Linebaugh was the head JV coach at Lincoln.

“The dad calls me and asks if his son’s grade had anything to do with the fact that I coached at Lincoln,” Linebaugh said.

Before coming to San Marcos, Linebaugh coached at Liberty Ranch High, a new school in Galt. In its rivalry game with the old school, Galt High, “We got thumped 50-14 in 2010, our first year as a varsity program,” he said. “Then we tuned the tables and won 65-0 last year. The game was termed the ‘Dairy Bowl’ since there are several in the area and the winning high school wins the right to have this chrome-plated milk jug for a year. The fans are wild. There is a lot of tension because the teams are so close and

the kids all know each other.”

The Dons and Royals play for a Big Game Trophy. The closest thing to a dairy is that cow statue above the old McConnell’s Creamery on Milpas Street, near Santa Barbara High, where San Marcos students have been known to paint over the Dons’ olive gold with Royal blue and red.

Linebaugh said crosstown football games are like no other.

“When you have an event that really charges the community, that makes it special,” he said. “It’s truly like a holiday – Thanksgiving, Christmas, something special that comes once a year.”

From his experiences of playing in the Big Game, Caines said part of his job as coach will be easing the pressures of playing in the game.

“There is a lot of drama, especially being a home game,” he said. “There’s a lot of ...continued p.22

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W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M

by Jana Mackin

A journalist and a poet, Jana has lived everywhere from New Orleans and Butte, Montana to Saudi Arabia, where she taught English to children.

Her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including The Washington Post and San Francisco Examiner. She now lives in Goleta.

Shrewd, Nude But Definitely Not Lewd

The Untold Story of the Slow Death of More Mesa Nude Beach

I

’m a writer, a journalist, and a poet. And though well educated and well traveled, frankly, I’m surely not part of the ivory tower crowd. If the shoe doesn’t fit, then don’t wear it, as they say, and the $400 pair of wingtips just isn’t for me.

Instead, as an adherent of the shamelesshussy school of journalism, spawned from an orgy between Hearst newspapers, New Journalism and the gutter press, I thirst for the lowdown most when the story is scandalous, salacious even. You know, the sort of thing those ivory tower types won’t touch with a ten-foot martini stirrer.

So when I sniffed out a story about local naturists’ heartbreaking loss of accessible nude beaches, I sprang into action, researching, investigating, and scrawling notes on my trusty yellow pad late at night.

(I knew I had to move quickly with recent weather patterns suggesting optimal nude beach volleyball conditions in the short term.) My efforts quickly revealed a threat of the most grievous kind – one to my First Amendment right to run around as naked as the day I was born, skinny dipping and diving and sunbathing to my heart’s content.

And so I was off, a rabid nudist hound, chasing the story across the 300-acre More Mesa coastal bluff west of Hope Ranch and a couple miles east of Goleta Beach Park. I reached the edge of the bluff and scrambled down nearly 200 steep steps to the sand below. Talk about sweat equity, I thought, dripping and breathing heavily as I reached the beach, but the payoff will be that glorious vision of the full-moon glow of naturists’ cheeks frolicking au naturale, en masse in the Pacific Ocean on a beautiful and hot Indian summer afternoon.

Not. Something is amiss at More Mesa nude beach. Some void had blackened the sun’s gaze upon what that day was a paltry few naturists. Apart from the ubiquitous fishing boats or pleasure craft filled with giggling coeds cruising for an eyeful and a couple incoming choppers – potentially housing police in SWAT gear, poised to rappel down ropes and storm the defenseless nudists (no guns in these pockets) in an uncomfortable ticket-writing Normandy remake – only about a dozen mainly mature nudists had staked their claim to a small piece of this beachfront Garden of Eden.

“The vibe is gone. It’s just not here anymore,” said Dale, 35, a writer and Santa Barbara resident. An LA Dodgers’ cap shaded Dale’s head. He had a large jug of water and a book nearby. He was in his

This says it all

“It may be the American Riviera but it ain’t the south of France.”

–Anonymous

CENSO

RED?

An unnamed but mature More Mesa nudist soaks up the rays

birthday suit.

“It’s not like it used to be,” he remarked, wistfully.

Where once there were throngs (no, not thongs) of naked people at More Mesa swimming, body surfing, sunbathing, picnicking and playing Frisbee and volleyball and other nude beach standards, the beach that afternoon was naturistnada on what seemed a perfect clothingoptional day.

Bummer.

It turns out that many of the county’s best nude beaches have been shuttered.

Summerland, North Rincon (Bates Beach), and Cemetery beaches are reportedly closed or no longer nudist friendly. In fact, what was once a half-dozen or more known naturist sanctuaries county-wide have dwindled to More Mesa all by itself: the sole remaining, somewhat nudist-tolerant beach.

Gaviota Beach, once a recognized festival of naked beachgoers, is not recognized as such anymore. Indeed, nudists warn that if you go nude at Gaviota, you do so at your own risk because you are likely to get cited. And since Gaviota is a State Park, someone cited for nudity can receive a maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and/or $1,000. (Talk about the full-monty, wow.)

Factoring into the dwindling population of nude beaches are certain political, moral, social, cultural and land development agendas coupled with strict laws and ordinances, beefed-up citizen complaints and over-aggressive law enforcement professionals. (Sorry guys, but it’s true.)

Naturists – who are uniformly non-violent and generally law-abiding (at least as much as the rest of us) – observe that there is also a persistent, anti-nudity stigma that exists, and they fear anti-nudity police sweeps with tickets and fines and other penalties that could result in their names appearing on some anti-nudist blacklist. They worry about politicians using anti-nudity rhetoric and naturists’ identities as planks in their political platform. (A nudist conspiracy theory? I think not.)

What results, ultimately, is the erosion of clothing-optional beaches and my constitutional right to get buck-naked. And I think that’s just wrong.

“I have nothing against it,” said Thomas, a 41-year-old French resident of Santa Barbara and avid jogger. He is not a nudist but understands the meaning of au naturale.

“In America,” he says, “women do not go topless, whereas in France it is no big deal.”

Nude Is Not Lewd So I’m there on the beach, basking in the sun, wearing only a smile. Seated on a towel to my left is Rick James – no, not the Super Freak of Bad Boy Funk but a naturist Thomas Paine who often visits the beach on weekends from Thousand Oaks to hand out flyers to nudists, informing them about their legal rights in wake of the county’s nudity laws and ordinances. To my right, James Bond stretches out in the warm sand,

looking cool in his wrap-around sunglasses (and nothing else).

(In case I didn’t mention it, nudists often use pseudonyms to avoid being identified and potentially stigmatized by those who believe it is their mission to shut down these beachfront Sodom and Gomorrahs. But I digress.)

As we discuss the finer points of nudists’ rights, the fact that we are in the buff becomes irrelevant. Apparently, “don’t tread on me” transcends T&A. James argues (fairly eloquently) that the county’s anti-nudity laws are flawed because they defer, within their ordinances, to the authority of the State Penal Code, which actually allows nudity if there is not lewd behavior. For example, says James, the Santa Barbara Nudity Ordinance (1977) states “... and nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit any act or acts which are expressly authorized or prohibited by the Penal Code of the state.” And State Penal Code 314 (Indecent Exposure) and related case law does indeed allow nudity if no lewd behavior is involved.

Hence, James argues, nude is not necessarily lewd. (So leave us peaceful nudists alone!)

Go Home and Buy a Magazine The October sun is setting in the west. A faux summer warmth lingers, but soon the rains will come. As I near the bottom of the cliff to climb the stairs back up to More Mesa, I spy Dale tucked away at his usual spot.

At the same time, I see Mr. White Hat, a fully clothed and infamous More Mesa beach cruiser-voyeur, walking the sand heading west and staring blatantly.

“That guy in the white hat, he’s the worst,” said Dale. “I can’t stand him. I mean, I come here to read and lay out, not to bother anybody. That guy should go home and buy a magazine.”

I agree whole-heartedly. Nude is in fact not necessarily lewd… and this guy is just plain rude.

But even with that said, I’d probably be friendly to old Mr. White Hat in an effort to ensure that he doesn’t call the cops and doom Santa Barbara’s last nudist refuge.

Naturists of the world, unite!

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The More Things Change…

By Hattie Beresford Former teacher and long-time resident of Santa Barbara, Hattie Beresford writes a history column for the Montecito Journal and has contributed two Noticias to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. In addition, she wrote supplemental text and co-edited My Santa Barbara Scrap Book: A Portrait of the Artist Elizabeth Eaton Burton.

The old proverb says, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nowhere is that more true than in print. Take a look below at a local newspaper from 100 years ago and note a weary similarity to issues and events of today. East Coast sensibilities still dictate West Coast rules of behavior. I mean, try finding a pair of white capris in October or buying a bag of charcoal after Labor Day at Costco. Influenced by similar East Coast customs, the superintendent of the tramline invoked a dress code ban 100 years ago.

Morning Press: Oct. 6, 1912

In October, Mr. Cooper (right) and his brakeman are fashionable in cloth hats (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Society)

S

traw hats have been declared out of season by A.B. Wells, superintendent of the street railway. Mr. Wells yesterday informed the motormen and conductors they would have to discard the uniform straw caps and commencing with Monday wear those made from cloth.

In other words the streetcar service of Santa Barbara is going to fall into style. Not that it makes much difference as far as the weather is concerned. Pretty much the whole year around the same clothing may comfortably be worn here, but there is the eternal fitness of things as they relate to the styles of changing seasons where seasons mean something.

In the east a man seen wearing a straw hat at this time would be sized up as mentally deficient. Out here one does not always note the fleeting months and such a thing as a straw hat may linger along. It isn’t everybody that keeps informed or reads the “gossip of the well dressed.”

Now that Mr. Wells has issued his proclamation, … a person wearing [a straw hat] henceforth may expect some kind friend to come along, snatch from his dome and then utterly destroy the unseasonable tile.

J. I. Eisenberg’s White House clothing store for men was still advertising straw boaters in October of 1912. The ads stopped after Wells’ ban.

(Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

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You Have Your Hands Full

by Mara Peters Former editor for the fashion/lifestyle section of the New York

Post, Mara moved to London and worked as a contributing editor for the Daily Mail’s You Magazine, freelancing for Look Magazine, NY Post and the Style Magazine for The Sunday Times. To remain sane during diaper years she writes a mommy blog, You Have Your Hands Full – www.handsfullsb.com.

A Tough Choice

F

ifth grader Jessica Ridgeway was walking just a few blocks by herself in Colorado to meet up with a group of girls to finish her walk to school. In that short, five-minute stretch, every parent’s nightmare happened: She was abducted and killed. Her dismembered body was found just a few days later, seven miles from her house.

The chatter on the mom blogs is clear, pointed, and critical: How could Jessica’s mom let her walk by herself? Well I have a question of my own to those so quick to blame for this horrendous crime. Do you have a fifth grader? I do. Jackson is 10, almost 11, and suddenly the 7 o’clock bedtime doesn’t really work. Neither does the, “because I said so,” retort. He babysat three kids this summer ages 7, 5 and 3, alone. He fights over sections of the Sunday paper, wants to eat dinner with the adults and is generally desperate for independence.

As a parent, I feel it is my responsibility to give him that. If I hover all the way to college, I am certainly sure he’ll be safe, but wonder if he will be capable. Last year he asked to start walking or riding his bike to school alone. He was in fourth grade and our house was five blocks from Roosevelt in the Upper East. It was an uncomfortable decision to say yes, something Alpha and I struggled with mightily. But then rationality kicked in: We live in Santa Barbara, and if we can’t let our kids walk to school here then there is in fact no place for them to be able to develop that much needed sense of personal reliance.

Ultimately we let him go. We mapped out the safest route (the one that forced him to cross the street only with stop signs in all directions). We discussed the importance of not veering off track. We talked about how to never engage with people on the streets (no eye contact, no talking to strangers), how to scream or run if something doesn’t feel right, how to stop in houses of people

preventive

|

Kids need some freedom, some time to be kids, even if it isn’t always the easiest decision as a parent.

Jackson, 10, ready for another solo ride – on the safe route, of course

we know along the way if in need of help.

He took all this in, nodding at the most appropriate times, and then, joyfully, left out our front gate alone.

Pretty soon, he had friends walking or riding home with him after school – that was the extra perk to having a play date with Jackson. Most parents were uneasy and followed them in the car the first few times. But eventually they saw what I saw: Total and complete bliss. They’d chatter and strut. They’d wave to friends and point out that they were alone, without parents.

He took this hard won independence very seriously. And never once, for a year, did Jackson veer off course and arrive home late.

We have since moved and are now driving to school. But around every turn there is opportunity. We now live across the street from a park, and my kids descended on it like an oasis in the desert this past summer.

In groups of all ages, they caught lizards, built forts and played capture the flag.

restorative

|

My brother was down from San Francisco and we crossed the street to locate his son, my nephew. After calling for 10 minutes, he finally emerged from some reeds, with Jackson, both of them covered in dirt and smiling from ear to ear.

“This is what their life should be like all the time,” he said wistfully.

And I got that all summer. Whenever I went across the street to call for lunch or dinner, dog walkers would smile broadly,

pointing in the direction they were playing, openly commenting, “It’s so nice to see kids play like that again.”

So when I read the story about Jessica, I get an extra shiver. Because once I made that choice to let Jackson walk to school, I can’t go back. I see all the great things that come with independence and I refuse to let fear rob my kids of a true childhood. But that doesn’t mean it is a decision that I’m all together comfortable with.

Peters’ Pick Lane Farms has its pumpkin patch, corn maze, petting zoo and tractor rides in full swing again this year, so head over to 308 South Walnut in Goleta (on the corner with Hollister) for a couple hours of fun. The pumpkin patch is open from 9-9 everyday and the rest of the action goes down from 9-8 on weekends and 3-8 on weekdays. See you there!

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weekend guide

Active

Be

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by

• LOVE IS FREE What: You go to Yoga Where: Better Days Yoga, 7433 Hollister Avenue, Goleta When: Saturday, October 20th and Sunday, October 21st, 9am-3pm Why: Celebrate the new yoga studio’s grand opening with a sampling of free halfhour sessions all day long. It will also be offering special “super savings” on upcoming classes.

How: Have a better day by adding a bit of Vinyasa, Hatha and Slow Flow.

.com

By Sarah Dodge

Your Zen Fix

What’ll It Cost Me: Relax, it’s free!

• LOOSE CHANGE What: Pick out a Pumpkin Where: Quacken Farms, 2921 Ontiveros Road, Santa Ynez When: Saturdays and Sundays thru October 28th, 10am-5pm Why: Why not? “One little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by...”

How: Choose from hundreds of pumpkins in the organic pumpkin patch, take a tractor or a pony ride, pick some apples and simply fall in love with this festive season.

What’ll It Cost Me: $5 - $15

• HEY BIG SPENDER

Y

eah, we know, it may not be the New Year quite yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get started working on a new you. Go ahead, seriously… you deserve it.

The truth is that if you are anything like us, we know you do it all (or quite a bit, anyway). We also know that sometimes your own well-being can get lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And while a little R&R (remember, rest and relaxation?) seems unimaginable at times – well, we’ve got a fix for that!

Touch therapy and wellness expert Michelle Ebbin and professional chef-food blogger-TV personality Michelle Karam are co-founders of the new wellness website, www.momsgonezen.com. Launching earlier this week in conjunction with National Spa Week, Moms Gone Zen is all about stress relief for moms and working women alike.

You’ll find wonderful wellness remedies on their site that show you, for example, how to de-stress your face with acupressure, revive dull hair in minutes and make a “healthy” margarita. (Did you know limes are good for your skin? We’ll take another!) They’ll even show you how to make a detoxifying body wrap right in the comfort of your own home.

Combine their tips and use them regularly (or as regularly as possible) and we think you’ll be feeling more fabulous in no time.

We know you deserve the royal treatment, so go ahead and give yourself a Zen fix today.

What: Host a Sushi Night Where: Your house, your friend’s house, anywhere with a kitchen, really.

When: Let’s get this party started. Chop! Chop!

Why: From prepping the perfect rice to cutting the perfect veggies to rolling etiquette and beyond, Sushi Chef Fukiko Miyazaki will teach you and your friends how to make your own Sushi.

How: Grab some sake, maybe a few Sapporos, and roll with it.

Michelle Ebbin (left) and Michelle Karam go Zen with a couple healthy martinis – who knew going Zen could look so good?

Wine & Dine

By Kim Wiseley

The Happiest Hour in Town

What’ll It Cost Me: $35 per person.

Visit www.LOVEmikana.com for more information.

W

ell we’ll be damned! All this time and we’ve been missing out on a happy hour that is sure to comfort your soul.

Everybody knows about Tupelo Junction Café for some good ‘ole southern comfortstyle breakfast at the very least. But did you know that every Tuesday thru Sunday the good folks at Tupelo Junction are offering up a $5 happy hour from 5-7pm?

Sip a Farmer’s Market Blackberry Mojito or a Margarita with fresh lime, mint, cucumber and tangerines (both served in mason jars!), specialty martinis like the Southern Belle or the Rajin’ Cajun and local wines by the glass.

Chow down on small plates like fried green tomatoes with herb buttermilk dressing, deep dish mac n’cheese with bacon, collard greens, southern fried chicken with sweet potato fries… and we’re just getting started.

So come on Santa Barbara. Rise to the occasion and celebrate the happiest hour of your day with a drink or two and some great southern grub at Tupelo Junction Café. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it… aren’t yours?

ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL 1114 state street no. 22 la arcada courtyard santa barbara, ca 93101 805.722.4338 encantosantabarbara.blogspot.com

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...continued from p.17 electricity and there’s the fact we’re doing relatively well. What I can bring to the table is some sense of normalcy and how to deal with distractions.”

Caines said his team was bothered by its performance in its last outing, a 27-17 loss to Buena in the Channel League opener.

The Dons have had an extra week to think about that defeat and prepare for the Big Game. Caines said the combination will have his players extra motivated on Friday.

“We’ve got to come out and do what we do,” he said. “If we do that, we can be successful.”

Linebaugh’s Royals gave Buena a tough battle last week in a 27-14 loss. But the coach said his team can play better.

“I have and continue to believe that my team has not played their best football to this point,” he said. “With only two games left, the team is running out of time to show everyone how good we can be. I can’t think of a better time to play our best game of the season than this Friday night.”

Other events worth checking out FRIDAY High school football: Nordhoff (7-0, 2-0) at Carpinteria (4-3, 0-1), 7:30 pm – The Warriors host the No. 1-ranked team in the CIF-SS Northwest Division in this Tri-Valley League clash. They’ll need to play solid defense because Nordhoff has a very balanced attack, averaging 189 yards rushing and 203 yards passing.

High school football: Bishop Diego (7-0, 2-0) at Oak Park (4-4, 1-1), 7:30 pm – The No. 2-ranked Cardinals will face their biggest opponent this season. The Eagles’ line averages about 225 pounds. Oak Park took top-ranked Nordhoff down to the wire last week before falling. The Bishop secondary figures to be tested as the Eagles appear to be more effective moving the ball through the air.

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College men’s soccer: Cal Poly at UCSB, 8 pm – The Central Coast rivals have drawn some of the biggest crowds in the history of college soccer. This is a critical game for both teams as they try to overtake Sacramento State and UC Davis in the Big West Northern Division. The game will be nationally televised on the Fox Soccer Channel.

SATURDAY College men’s water polo: UCLA at UCSB, Noon – The Gauchos look to rebound from last weekend’s conference-opening loss to Stanford at home. Two weeks ago, they defeated the Bruins in the semifinals of the SoCal Invitational.

Benefit Walk Organized in Memory of Sam Wopat

By Barry Punzal

Never in a million years did Paige Craine imagine losing anyone in her circle of friends.

Even when everyone went their separate ways after high school graduation, Craine knew they would reunite and enjoy each other’s company like old times.

Then came the unimaginable.

On March 25 of this year, Craine’s friend and former Dos Pueblos High volleyball teammate, Sam Wopat, died at Stanford Hospital from an injury following an attempted suicide. She was just 19.

The reunion of old friends wasn’t supposed to be at a funeral.

The devastation and pain Craine felt that day and the days after have been channeled into something positive.

She is organizing an Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Santa Barbara to increase awareness about depression and suicide, to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and to honor her friend.

The 3- to 5-mile walk is set for Saturday, November 3 at 8 am, at Leadbetter Beach.

“My main motivation is keeping Sam’s spirit alive,” said Craine of her reason to put

the event together. “This was a sudden and unexpected tragedy in everyone’s lives and I not only feel strongly about being educated, but also about others being educated when it comes to suicide and mental awareness. I aim to bring the topic of suicide out of the darkness, changing it from being categorized as a hushed issue into a knowledgeable topic of everyday life.”

Carly Wopat, Sam’s twin sister, participated in a similar event in San Francisco in June. Carly was joined by her and Sam’s Stanford volleyball teammate, Karissa Cook, and moms Kathy Wopat and Suzy Cook on an 18-mile Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk through the city.

“We walked eighteen miles through the city to provide hope for those who suffer with mental illness, addiction, or depression,” Carly wrote on the website Volleywood.net.

“We endured the night to help strengthen those who see no way out and want to put a period at a place where God puts a comma.”

Craine and the Wopat girls had been best friends since junior high. They played volleyball together and were part of a CIF Division 1 championship team at DP in 2009 and a runner-up finisher in 2008.

The Wopats received scholarships to Stanford. Craine accepted an offer at Loyola Marymount. She returned to Santa Barbara after one year.

“We went through six years of school together, into high school, and were never apart. We were so close and always together that we were even sometimes confused as triplets in junior high... until they grew, of course,” Craine said with a laugh.

The Wopat twins grew to 6-foot-2.

Craine says she has countless memories of doing things with Sam and Carly.

“If I had to hold onto one memory of [Sam] I would remember her laugh. It was wild and free spirited. It had the ability to make me feel alive and will always be a piece of me,” she said.

Organizing the walk is a labor of love for Craine. “I felt strongly about bringing this event to Santa Barbara.” she said. “I wanted to be able to participate in something that could make a difference in many people’s lives. This is one of the ways my friends and I have found to make a difference and begin to heal as we bring this topic to the forefront of conversation.”

Craine has received the support of several

ADVERTISE

people in the community, including the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club and the Santa Barbara Response Network.

“I am a part of SBRN; it is a psychological trauma response team in Santa Barbara, and now in Santa Maria, for tragedies in the community – mostly suicides. They respond when they are called or asked for and provide psychological first aid to those affected by a tragic situation,” she explained.

Craine has learned a lot in the last few months and she’s inspired to use this knowledge to serve people.

“No one expected this tragedy to touch our lives,” Craine said. “I have learned that there is a choice when tragedy comes. You cannot control the tragedy, but you can control what happens afterwards. You can either sit with it and be sad or you can use it as a catalyst for something greater. There is always a little bit of both. However, I want to keep Samantha’s memory alive.

“I have learned many new things about mental illness and suicide along this journey that I did not know before. The main lesson: suicide can be prevented if people are given the right knowledge. Therefore it has become my goal to bring information to people and encourage them not to hide pain or fear about this hushed topic. More people die from suicide each year than from car accidents. To me that is shocking and should not be a fact or study to begin with.”

“I will be twenty in November,” she added. “I would never have thought I would be dealing with losing someone I love so much so soon. When I used to imagine my future, Sam was always going to be a big part of it. She still will be, just in a slightly different way.”

OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK Date and Time: November 3, from 8 am to about noon Where: Leadbetter Beach What: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is at the forefront of suicide prevention and mental illness awareness.

The Out of the Darkness Walks were created to bring more awareness to communities while also helping the foundation’s mission of understanding and preventing suicide, education, and reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide. The walk in Santa Barbara is 3-5 miles.

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REAL ESTATE

estored by a local architect, this R mid-century modern 3-bedroom, 2-bath home has all new wiring,

top 1% of Sotheby’s agents worldwide. Shortly after joining Sotheby’s, he partnered with Nancy Hamilton to form one of the most successful real estate teams in Santa Barbara.

Michael can be reached at Michael@HomesinSantaBarbara.com

M

ost people are aware that the “next step” after finding the property of their dreams is actually sitting down and writing an offer with their realtor. In a perfect world, this offer gets accepted right away. But more likely is a series of rejections and counter-offers and more rejections together with some negotiation and posturing that ultimately result (hopefully) in an acceptance and consequent joyous celebration.

But don’t celebrate too much (yet, anyway). This is where the real work typically begins.

An accepted offer marks the beginning of a buyer’s contingency period for home inspections (among other things), and the clock starts ticking with deadlines and contingencies looming larger and larger as each day passes. A home inspection is a seriously critical step in the purchasing process and it needs to be scheduled as soon as possible.

A thorough home inspector is an invaluable tool to any buyer and agent.

The bottom line is that a detailed home inspection report allows a buyer to make an informed decision prior to closing the transaction and may provide an agent with powerful negotiating information (i.e., a well-done report can arm savvy buyers and agents with knowledge that may help on price and other negotiation points even after the contract has been signed).

But who do you call? This is typically where most buyers draw a blank and rely on the knowledge and experience of their chosen realtor to make suggestions. But

23

30 South Soledad Street

By Michael Calcagno Michael has consistently been ranked in the

The Next Step

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what if you prefer to do your own research?

Below are some pointers on how to select your home inspector.

The Internet can be a great place to start your research for a local inspector since most reputable inspectors have comprehensive websites. It is vital to verify their credentials, understand their personal liability insurance and review testimonials from previous consumers. It also makes sense to assess examples of prior reports to ensure that they are easy to read, have pictures of found problems and, perhaps most importantly, outline what the problems are with a reasonable amount of detail rather than simply state “needs further evaluation” or something similarly unhelpful. My favorite type of report always starts with a summary page and categorizes all of the findings into user-friendly sections such as “Health & Safety Issues,” “Defect or Functional Concerns,” “Routine Maintenance” and “Recommended Upgrades.”

Making the right choice on a home inspector is hugely important in the purchasing process, and the inspection report, if done right, can be a key asset for any buyer to determine whether that “dream property” is as great as initially thought – not to mention a useful tool to negotiate price, repair and maintenance and other issues before closing the deal. Choose your inspector wisely, my friends, or risk the uncertainty of buying a home about which you might not know as much as you think you do.

Below is a breakdown of three properties that you might want to make an offer on this week – but make sure to talk to your realtor about inspection issues before closing!

water lines and drains as well as a new gas line to the street. Kitchen by Cuccina Design, Miele, Thermador, Cesarstone, Kitchenaid and LED. New membrane roof, and built-in surround sound. All new thermo windows, new doors and new sliding automatic gate.

List price: $624,000 Down payment (3.5%): $21,840 Loan amount: $602,160 Loan payment: $2,620 (30 yr fixed at 3.25% (3.29% APR))

Mortgage insurance: $627 Property taxes estimate: $572 Home insurance estimate: $75 Total Monthly Payment:

$3,894

340 Woodley Court

his San Roque property has T a smart floor plan and is located on a quiet cul-de-sac.

With 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths, this home is in close proximity to shopping, restaurants and schools.

901 Cheltenham Road his home sits above the fog T with views of sunrises and sunsets, as well as the Channel

Islands and Santa Barbara coast line. Cathedral ceilings enhance the open floor plan of this light-filled 3-bedroom, 2-bath property.

List price: $749,000 Down payment (20%): $149,800 Loan amount: $599,200 Loan payment: $2,649 (30 yr fixed at 3.375% (3.43% APR))

Property taxes estimate: $686 Home insurance estimate: $75 Total Monthly Payment:

List price: $897,000 Down payment (20%): $179,400 Loan amount: $717,600 Loan Payment: $3,222 (30 yr fixed at 3.5% (3.61% APR))

Property taxes estimate: $822 Home insurance estimate: $75 Total Monthly Payment:

$4,119

$3410 Mortgage statistics provided by Justin M. Kellenberger, Senior Loan Officer at SG Premier Lending Group, Inc. Justin can always be reached at justin@sgpremierlending.com.

Note: The foregoing economic breakdowns do not include potential tax benefit analyses since that will ultimately depend upon a number of additional factors. But home ownership can indeed have tremendous tax-savings potential and should be considered with your realtor and/or tax accountant as part of the ownership decision.

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