Santa Barbara Sentinel #1/4 10/26/2012

THE WEEKLY CAPITALIST

REAL ESTATE

FREE TRADE IS GOOD FOR THE U.S., SO EAT YOUR NOODLES AND BE QUIET

THE DISH

Not Too Late to Own a Piece of the Mesa

BY JEFF HARDING, p. 14

The French Have Arrived: Le Relais de Paris opens

BY MICHAEL CALCAGNO, p. 23

BY WENDY JENSON, p. 6

SANTA BARBARA

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once a week from pier to peak

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The Curious Case of Propositions

+ 30 38 t get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we don t get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we don t get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we don t get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we don t get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it we don we dont get it we dont get it we dont get it ( story begins on page 5 )

SBVIEW.com PAGE 10

PRESIDIOSPORTS PAGE 16

PLAN B PAGE 20

LOVEMIKANA.com PAGE 21

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MAZZA’S MISSIVE

ONTENTS

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Mazza’s Missive – A huge and well-deserved thank you to Santa Barbara County Fire and other local, state and national agencies that responded to the Lookout Fire, and a few of Editor-in-Chief Matt Mazza’s favorite things next week.

L etters to the Editor – Bruce Anderson gives us an energetic earful on The Damaged Republican Brand; School Board incumbent Edward Heron seeks the Sentinel’s endorsement; Bryan Rosen stumps for the passage of Prop 37 (labeling GMOs); and The Dish’s Wendy Jenson’s gaydar malfunctions.

(Hmm, sounds like a personal problem.)

T he Sentinel’s Take – What’s really going on with California’s public labor unions and their (purported) support for education funding? See if you can figure it out in The Curious Case of Propositions 30 and 38.

T he Dish – Wendy Jenson sits down with GM Skye McGinnes for a world-class steak and a glass of red wine at recent addition Le Relais de Paris on State Street (our Editor-in-Chief is drooling over this place); then she talks with urban farmer, beekeeper and pumpkin carving savant Jason Banks and dishes on recent openings and closings.

It’s Crime Time with SBPD – ZOMBIES IN SANTA BARBARA! Pregnant people drink too much; drunk people fight too much.

Smoke pot instead? (We’re kidding. Seriously.)

S anta Barbara View – Our streets are getting too damned crowded (and dangerous too), and Sharon Byrne wants to do something about it; Loretta Redd gets cyber-screwed by the Tea Party (no comment); and Ray Estrada brings us entrepreneurs in SB for the impending Startup Weekend Santa Barbara.

Journal Jim – Last chance approaches to pick a pumpkin and wend your way through the corn maze at Lane Farms.

T he Weekly Capitalist – Our favorite straight-talking local economist, Jeff Harding, recommends wearing that t-shirt manufactured in China with pride in China Bashing. (Two in a row, Jeff, really enjoying your stuff.)

P residio Sports – SBART Athletes of the Week are Dos Pueblo’s hard-charging cross-country phenom Bryan Fernandez and Carp High’s perfect tennis sophomore Kelsie Bryant (53 sets without a loss!); SBHS Dons make it three Big Games in a row; and former Gaucho hoopster Greg Somogyi is cut by the Lakers (there goes the season). All the local sports scores and stories of the week are here, too.

by Matt Mazza

Safe and Sound Santa Barbara

F

irst things first. As we were going to print last week, a fire was burning up on Highway 154 at Painted Cave.

It was a sweltering day, with temperatures in the 90s and winds expected to increase dramatically that afternoon and evening.

Approximately 100 homes were being threatened with consequent evacuations in the Painted Cave area and other safety precautions taken around the Trout Club and Hidden Valley communities.

We’ve all lived through a few nightmarish firestorms in recent years and this was a real scare for everybody. We all know that the last thing we need is another Jesusita or Tea fire—the amount of pain and anguish endured by the Santa Barbara community, whether emotional, economic or otherwise, remains incalculable.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department, assisted by Santa Barbara City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County

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Sheriff’s Department, Montecito Fire Department, Vandenberg Fire Department and state and federal agencies, responded quickly and effectively and ultimately stifled the flames of what had become known as the Lookout Fire before any extensive damage to property or—more importantly—persons was incurred. (Two firefighters were injured, however, and we hope that they are recovering quickly and completely.)

I had lunch with an old friend, one I grew up with many years ago, this past week, SB County Fire Engineer Daniel Bertucelli. When I asked about the Lookout Fire, he was modest (most or all firefighters I know are), and explained that the reason for the successful firefight was the efficient and effective coordinated and aggressive response of all participating agencies. (He even credited the reverse-9-1-1 call that went out with being particularly helpful.) This was a team effort, one that saved perhaps dozens of our friends’ and neighbors’

oleta Girl – It’s a Dead Man’s Party at Alpha Thrift Stores on G Hollister, so go buy your costume and everything else you need for Halloween and support a great local tradition and cause. Boo!

T he More Things Change… – Hattie Beresford takes us back 100 years to a time when men killed ducks—lots of ducks—at the Guadalupe Duck Club and then ate them with friends at parties. Sounds like something Sentinel Publisher Tim Buckley might enjoy.

Plan B – Briana Westmacott is back, this time using the catharsis of the She.Is.Beautiful run to come to grips with what can sometimes seem like a dark and malevolent female psyche in Girls, Girls, Girls.

L OVEmikana – Courtney Dietz has fun with pickles in this week’s Green Scene, and Kim Wiseley gets you your French fix with something called la guillotine (ooo la la). And check out LOVEmikana’s Weekend Guide as we head into a busy Saturday and Sunday around town.

Commercial Corner – Radius Group Commercial Realtor Austin

Herlihy returns to the Sentinel and breaks down cap rates and the drivers behind their current compression. Is commercial real estate a good buy in SB today?

esidential Real Estate – Sotheby’s agent Michael Calcagno R brings us a few properties on Santa Barbara’s Magnificent Mesa, and Justin Kellenberger runs the numbers. Can you actually afford to buy a house in town? (The answer might just surprise you.)

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The Lookout Fire rages in the dry canyons above Painted Cave.

SBCFD Captain Dave Zaniboni plots his next move to help protect our town on a classic SB autumn day.

homes and belongings (and even lives), and it was executed flawlessly.

I wanted to personally take the time and effort on behalf of the Sentinel to say thanks to all the SB County Firefighters and other public safety workers and agencies that responded to the Lookout Fire and kept our community safe and sound. Hell of a job, guys, hell of a job…you are appreciated and we’re a better place because of you.

Stuff I Like I lived in Isla Vista for the better part of four years, and had some of the best times of my life in that damned student-ghetto by the sea. I even partook in a few Halloween celebrations back in the mid-1990s and, if they remain anything today like they were 15 years ago, then IV partygoers are in for some fun. But be smart and be careful

out there, Gauchos, and when it’s all said and done, go on out and help clean up after your slovenly selves. IV Recreation & Park District is seeking volunteers for the Annual Halloween Community Cleanup from Saturday, October 27 through Thursday, November 1. Come on, get off the couch, pop a few Advil and make it happen. It’s your town, after all, and it’s a very cool place that you’ll remember well (mostly, anyway). So keep it clean, know what I mean? Contact IV Recreation and Park District at 805.968.2017 to get details.

Traditional altars will be on display at SBCC next week in celebration of El Dia De

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Los Muertos from October 27 to November 2. There are lots of related events, and everything is free to the public. Go to www. sbcc.edu/newsandevents/2011october%20 21_day_of_dead.php for information.

Should be very cool.

Finally, on Saturday, November 3, bring your doggie down to Chase Palm Park and march a couple miles to raise awareness for canine cancer and help fund research to find a cure. Pledge to walk a dog for $25 or just head down and participate in the fun…I’m bringing Bucky the 90-pound lap-dog (and the kids and the wife) and hope to see you there. Details at www.2milliondogs.org. Woof.

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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.

The Damaged Republican Brand

I

’ve seen aerialists work without a net. But I had never seen a politician campaign without a political party before, until I saw Congressional candidate Abel Maldonado in a recent debate with incumbent Congresswoman Lois Capps.

Throughout the debate, Maldonado seemed anxious to avoid mentioning his party (Republican) or even admit that it existed at all. Abel kept offering comments like, “I don’t belong to a party,” and “I’m not going to Washington to be a Republican.” This was such a consistent theme that Lois Capps was moved to remark, “I think Mr. Maldonado wants to switch parties!” Maldonado ignored or contradicted much of his party’s platform, particularly including the right-wing gut check issue of reproductive choice. Abel came right out and said, “I wouldn’t change Roe vs. Wade.” (Really, Abel? You’d tell your party to stick their signature issue?)

Maldonado’s debate performance was puzzling, but it makes a kind of sense in the context of politics in the 24th District.

Lois Capps has a huge advantage in the otherwise tight Congressional race, one

not often recognized—the Democratic Party is united behind her. Not so for Maldonado. The GOP in this district is fractured along ideological lines. Chris Mitchum, despite a big disadvantage in money and organization, polled more than 20% of votes in the open primary. Mr. Mitchum is a Tea Party Republican. The far right dominates the Republican Party in the district, and Maldonado didn’t receive the endorsement of the Santa Barbara Republican Party until July 9. Maldonado is thus in the unenviable position of having to ride two horses at once. He has to have the Tea Party Republicans to get elected. But he also has to have the moderate Republicans and a big share of the independents. How does he do that?

For a candidate in this position, the only real strategy is to court the middle and ignore the far right, to trust that the Tea Party voters will come out to vote to defeat Obama, and vote for him while they’re there. The plan must be to embrace the center, to say whatever needs to be said to win moderates and independents.

While Maldonado was running away

Editor-in-Chief • Matt Mazza Design/Production • Trent Watanabe Advertising/Sales • Tanis Nelson • Sue Brooks 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 The More Things Change • Hattie Beresford The Weekly Capitalist • Jeff Harding Published by SB Sentinel, LLC, Tim Buckley, Publisher PRINTED BY NPCP INC., SANTA BARBARA, CA Santa Barbara Sentinel is compiled every Friday 133 EAST DE LA GUERRA STREET, #182, Santa Barbara 93101 How to reach us: 805.845.1673 E-MAIL: matt@santabarbarasentinel.com

from his party so fast that I feared a sonic boom, I was learning that this dash to the middle is happening in contested Congressional districts nationwide.

Republican candidates for Congress are finding that they can’t let voters know exactly what the GOP stands for these days, or what it’s doing, because the moderates and independents who decide elections would be aghast.

This is all happening because the radical right wing has hijacked the Grand Old Party. It reminds me of a tugboat steering an ocean liner. There aren’t that many of the true believers, but they are vociferous and persistent. Through constant pressure, like the tug pushing the liner, they’ve steered the party away from the middle.

A political party is, before anything else, a brand, like Coca Cola or Marriott.

When we get a room at a hotel chain, we know what we’re getting, what the quality of the room will be, what the service and surroundings will be like.

It’s the same with a party.

If a candidate is a Republican or a Democrat, we have some idea if we’ll like him or dislike him, and whether or not he will likely agree with us on issues that are important to us.

The problem now, for Maldonado and others like him, is that the Republican brand has been damaged. The shrill aggressiveness, the intolerance and downright meanness of the far right has changed voters’ perception of the party.

Moderates and independents find it more difficult to identify with the GOP, because the party’s values are not their values. And voters are deserting the party. The recent controversy over polling is really over evidence of the party’s decline— random samples are turning up fewer Republicans all the time.

What can Republican candidates do?

What Maldonado has done—make a charge for the center and hope the voters won’t catch on.

But that tactic amounts to a baitand-switch. GOP candidates can’t really become moderates, because the power and money in the party won’t allow it.

Maldonado, for example, declared that, “I’m not going to vote the way John Boehner (Speaker of the House of Representatives) wants me to vote.” But Boehner came personally to Santa Barbara to campaign for Maldonado, and Abel’s campaign benefited from $250,000 in television ads purchased by the Congressional Leadership Fund, Boehner’s unofficial super PAC. The current Republican House is tightly controlled by the conservative leadership. If freshman Congressman Maldonado defied the Speaker of the House, he’d find that his Congressional office would be a janitor’s closet. He would have no money, no support from the party, and no future. It would be the same for all the other center-hugging candidates, and they know it.

The democratic process needs to be an honest conversation; it needs two sides, two voices. If one side can’t speak, can’t admit what it’s really thinking, that’s not good for democracy. And if the moderates

of the GOP can’t take back their party from the far right, Republicans might find themselves to be the 21st Century Whigs.

Bruce Anderson Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Thanks for the note, Bruce, I guess my reaction is that your position really underscores the need for an actively thinking and educated electorate. If our friends on the right side of the aisle really do as you say— run to the middle to sway voters in election season only to turn back hard right once elected due to the pressures of the Republican establishment—then it is up to us, the voting public, to recognize the political theater and gamesmanship going on and vote for the more appropriate candidate. Unfortunately, in the specific case of the Maldonado/Capps show unfolding in all of our mailboxes and on all of our televisions with much focus on disparaging the other guy rather than on the issues themselves, my feeling is that concerns like the ones you raise above are brushed under the proverbial carpet and intelligent conversation on the issues is effectively stifled.

Who knows, if more people were actually thinking through what is going on instead of worrying about whether Ms. Capps paid a few thousand dollars in taxes seven years ago then we might actually elect people who represent the interests of their respective constituencies. Our collective record is not particularly strong in that regard. Appreciate the thoughts.—MSM)

SB Unified School Board Endorsement?

Matt—first off, thank you very much for your endorsement of Measures A and B, it is very much appreciated. As you may know, I am the incumbent running for re-election to the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board. Our District covers Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta, and includes the public elementary schools in Santa Barbara and all the secondary schools in those areas. I’d be happy to provide information on myself and a list of current endorsements, which, I am proud to say, are purely bipartisan and inclusive of the Santa Barbara School Community. If you do decide to make any endorsements, then I would very much ask for your consideration. By the way… my wife and I have enjoyed your first three editions and look forward to many more.

Best of luck.

H. Edward Heron-Candidate for Reelection Santa Barbara Board of Education SB Unified School District (Editor’s Note: I appreciate your letter, Mr. Heron, and am pleased to have endorsed Measures A and B—even if a bit begrudgingly.

The Sentinel will not be endorsing individual candidates in connection with the impending election for a variety of reasons—not the least of which is the fact that we are a newcomer to the print media scene in Santa Barbara and think it inappropriate for us to jump immediately into the political fray in such an intimate respect—although, as you know, we did set forth our positions on State Propositions ...continued p.8

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take Props 30 & 38: What Are We Voting For (or against)?

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n the past few weeks, it has become exceedingly clear that public labor unions of all shapes and sizes have spent significant time, effort and money not only to support Proposition 30 but also to defeat Proposition 38. Why? Props 30 and 38 both purport to raise money that will directly benefit California’s State school system, supposedly to the benefit of our children, ensuring they continue to learn about all the things we Californians keep saying we care so much about. (If both Propositions pass, then the one that receives the most “yes” votes will become law.)

Prop 30 raises around $6 billion per year by increasing the State sales tax for the next four years as well as raising income taxes on earnings over $250,000 annually for the next seven years. (This is the “tax the rich” approach we hear so much about these days.) Prop 30 is endorsed by a long list of public unions from the teachers to the firefighters to the healthcare workers (and the various institutions they control), as well as former President Bill Clinton and a host of others.

Prop 38, conversely, uses a progressive tax increase across the board, raising taxes on all taxpayers in a graduated fashion (i.e., the less fortunate among us pay a little bit more and the more fortunate among us pay a significant bit more). It raises around $10 billion annually for the next ten years. Interestingly, 38 is endorsed by the California State PTA, as well as a variety of school districts (like Prop 30) and a host of education advocates. It also happens to be supported by billionaire siblings Charles (Jr.) and Molly Munger— which is an interesting bipartisan political marriage for a variety of reasons and has led to (predictable) calls from Prop 30 advocates to vote against “the billionaires.” (We’re not quite sure what that adds to the discussion—aren’t some billionaires quite philanthropic and good? How does this play into a discussion about the issues that are before the public this November?)

So, again: we don’t get it. If it’s all about education and children and music classes and physical education, then why do the public unions, perhaps the most powerful unified voice in California politics today, back 30 and not 38? Ultimately, Prop 38 appears to raise more money for education from a broader base of taxpayers over more time and in a reasonably equitable progressive approach. So what gives?

Sorry to Ask But What Does Prop 30 Actually Say, Anyway?

If one listens carefully to the banter going back and forth between the proponents of each proposition, then it seems reasonable to believe that the money raised by Prop 30 (aka “The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012”) may not all go to the students directly. And in fact, reading both Prop 30 and information disseminated by its advocates, it appears there may be at least some truth to that.

For example, Prop 30 begins with the following finding:

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Over the past four years alone, California has had to cut more than $56 billion from education, police and fire protection, healthcare and other critical state and local services. These funding cuts have forced teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, increased college fees, reduced police protection, increased fire response times, exacerbated dangerous overcrowding in prisons, and substantially reduced oversight of parolees.

Wait a second, hold on. We thought Prop 30 was all about education and the children and music classes. That’s certainly all anybody is talking about. Better keep reading: The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012 will make California’s tax system more fair. With working families struggling while the wealthiest among us enjoy record income growth, it is only right to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

Oh boy, get out the torches and pitchforks. Here’s that “only tax the rich people because it’s more fair” mob again. But, hey, is it unreasonable to at least consider that it’s potentially “more fair” to ask everybody to contribute on an equitable and progressive basis in an effort to solve the education funding problems that affect everybody benefits from here in California?

Why is it “more fair” to only jack up taxes for one constituency, especially one that is frankly more likely to send its (admittedly fortunate) sons to private school? (Note that none of us here at the Sentinel is a billionaire or would be affected by the increased tax on the rich people—in fact, we would be some of those poor unfortunate souls paying increased taxes under Prop 38—so please don’t stab us with that pitchfork.)

The new tax revenue is guaranteed to go directly to local school districts and community colleges. Cities and counties are guaranteed ongoing funding for public safety programs such as ...continued p.12

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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.

Imported From France Executive Chef Jake Reimer of Le Relais de Paris, now open at 734 State Street (photo by Wendy Jenson)

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he international restaurant chain Le Relais de Paris has a loyal, almost cult-like, following. Now it’s arrived stateside, opening its first U.S. outpost in Santa Barbara. French-born owner Lilia Ladjelate searched for a cozy downtown space as Relais de Paris restaurants are always on the main strip. In Paris, it’s the

Exposed brick walls behind the bar at Le Relais de Paris (photo by Wendy Jenson)

Champs-Élysées. Lilia has created a 19thcentury bistro with a modern twist at 734 State Street. Red-topped stools line the zinc bar. One-of-a-kind chandeliers hang from the high ceiling. There are exposed brick walls, rich banquets, and plenty of mirrors. Édith Piaf is heard.

The eatery’s flagship does not have a

The signature dish at Le Relais de Paris: Entrecôte steak “Montparnasse” and twice-cooked fries (photo by Wendy Jenson)

menu. Diners are asked two questions: Red or white? How do you want your meat?

When an eatery serves only one entrée, it better be spectacular, and the natural prime Entrecôte steak “Montparnasse” ($26.95) delivers. The sirloin is a French cut, lean with

no marbling. It’s dressed with the famous Sauce Originale, a recipe so secret even General Manager Skye McGinnes doesn’t know exactly how it’s made. He has a list of the ingredients as they were needed for the FDA, but the proportions remain unknown.

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Jason Banks decks his house out each year with some 25 jack-o’-lanterns (photo credit: © AArthurFisher. com)

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

It arrives dry to the restaurant where it is finished with ingredients including butter.

Sauce Originale is sublime.

“We thought it was way too risky to have such a limited menu in a small town,” says Skye. Executive Chef Jake Reimer “knows French cuisine, but he understands we’re not in Paris. He’s not making a classic French dish and putting an avocado in it.”

Salade d’Endives et de Roquefort ($13.95) and Salade Niçoise ($16.95) were added for the California consumer. The dressing is basic vinaigrette, but it’s made fresh every day. Pavé de Légumes ($17.95) is a hearty vegetarian dish. The classic French dish Moules Marinières is made with Santa Barbara mussels, garlic, shallots, parsley and white wine; ($11.95). It’s all in the details. The French fries are twice cooked.

First they’re blanched. Next they sit until returning to room temperature. Only then are they fried.

Open only three weeks, Le Relais de Paris already has regulars. “We’re close to having a permit for outdoor dining,” says Syke.

There’s also a patio in the back, which can be used for private parties. There are plans to open three more locations in California, possibly in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Bon appétit.

The Pumpkin King Private chef, urban farmer, and beekeeper Jason Banks is all in for Halloween. Each year, his house is bedecked with some 25 jack-o’-lanterns. A professional chef (formerly with Stella Mare and Café Luck), Jason is good with knives. The Dish asked the expert for pumpkin carving tips.

Jason recommends getting creative when thinking of instruments. “Raid your toolbox and kitchen drawers. An apple corer makes great small, round circles. A melon baller creates dots by taking off just the top layer for added dimension,” he says.

“Surprisingly, giant pumpkins are easier to carve than smaller ones. There’s more room to scoop out the insides and surface area to create.”

Design-wise, Jason recommends exaggerating facial features, or turning the pumpkin on its side and using the stump as the nose. A small pumpkin can be stuffed in the mouth of a large one and two small pumpkins can be the eyes in a bigger one.

Pillar candles are used in the big pumpkins.

Real candles are preferred to the battery operated ones as they emit a brighter, prettier

Urban farmer, beekeeper, chef and expert pumpkin carver Jason Banks with Petunia (photo by Wendy Jenson)

light. To avoid pumpkin splatter, transport large pumpkins by placing them in the center of a blanket and then lifting with a strong friend. Save the seeds to plant the following year.

The spooktacular display will be lit up Halloween Eve and night, on Chapala Street between Junipero and Quinto. Jason is also an urban farmer and beekeeper, making jams, jellies, honey, and kosher dill pickles. His Chapala Farms (www. chapalafarms.com) products are sold at the regular artisans market at WilliamsSonoma in La Cumbre Plaza. The next artisanal event will be in January 2013.

unique mexican dining experience

Healthy Choices Backyard Bowls may be thriving with three local locations but Epic Bowls in Paseo Nuevo closed last week. Equipment and furnishings have all been removed from the small space. Meanwhile, Earthbar just opened at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club at 520 Castillo Street. Earthbar serves organic pressed juices, smoothies, wellness shots, nutritional supplements, acai and quinoa bowls. The L-carnitine shot ($2oz.) is promoted as a natural fat burner, and Brain-On ($3oz.) is said to elevate mood and increase focus. Drink up!

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.

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...continued from p.4 and County Measures and will recap them next week. With that said, we are well aware of your incumbency and wish you and the other candidates the best of luck on November 6. We, like other voters around town we’ve talked with, are anxiously awaiting our turn at the ballot box and are eager to see the results.

A lot depends on them this time around, for sure. Please keep picking up the paper and do write again. Thanks.—MSM)

A Different Take on Prop 37 The recent article on Patricia Bragg (October 19, 2012) didn’t mention her strong support of Proposition 37, which requires labeling of genetically engineered food. Ms. Bragg was active in the Prop 37 rally which occurred a few weeks ago, in which she walked up to cars on State Street and handed out literature. Only KEYT Channel 3 covered this event, in which so many people showed up and held up signs on all four corners of Anapamu and State Streets.

There seems to have been a media blackout on this issue, except for the recent huge amount of ads sponsored by Monsanto and other chemical companies and agribusiness against this initiative. But it’s important the other side is heard, that the many supporters of Prop 37 like Patricia Bragg are included in a public forum on this issue.

First, before voting it’s important the public know what a genetically modified organism or GMO is. It is when genetic material of unrelated species is combined using molecular DNA technology, which would never happen in nature. For example, a fish gene could not be inserted into a tomato until recently, about 15 years ago.

Nor a bacteria. Nor a virus. It’s done to produce certain properties in crops, and has been very profitable to agribusiness.

A common genetically modified crop is soybeans, which have been engineered to withstand herbicide, allowing the whole fields to be sprayed with weed killer (aka

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Roundup Ready Soybeans). Another crop is corn which has been engineered to contain a built-in pesticide.

Are GMO’s safe? Even scientists from the FDA warned of possible health dangers, like allergic reactions, from eating GMO foods, and urged long term safety studies before releasing them to the public. This concern was ignored by their bosses, who were FDA appointees from Monsanto and other chemical companies, and it took a lawsuit to uncover their testimony. To hear their testimony and of other scientists concerned about the safety of GMOs, go to geneticroulettemovie.com, and find out about the effects on lab animals and humans of eating GMO foods.

All Proposition 37 does is require a simple label if food’s been genetically engineered, because we all have the right to know what we’re eating.

We’ve been bombarded with lies from Monsanto et al against this initiative. For example, it’s claimed our food bills will go up $400 a year if Prop 37 passes. How could a simple label do this? The companies change their labels all the time, and this initiative doesn’t stop anyone from eating GMO foods. Besides, most produce isn’t genetically engineered, and wouldn’t be affected.

They also claim farmers oppose it. Not the farmers I’ve spoken to at the farmers’ market. Patricia Bragg said at her lecture at the Montecito library, as she waved the Yes on 37 sign, organic farmers are demanding labeling.

Another claim is there will be all kinds of lawsuits, that it will be a bonanza for trial lawyers. Actually, under the law, companies not in compliance will have 30 days to correct their labels, and unlike Prop 65, there is no bounty hunter provision. And it gives companies plenty of time to prepare.

It won’t start taking effect until 18 months have passed, and will be phased in over a six year period. Actually, the bonanza for attorneys has been Monsanto, which has sued organic farmers right and left.

When GMO corn pollinates the organic fields, Monsanto is there to sue, claiming

the small farmers are stealing its genetic material. Thousands of farmers, I hear, have committed suicide, especially in India, due to Monsanto’s actions.

Then the opponents claim there are too many exemptions, using the example that soymilk will have to be labeled while beef won’t. Soymilk is genetically engineered, while cows aren’t. Yes, cows eat GMO food, as humans do, but should we be labeled “genetically engineered”? In any case, a second generation GMO is another issue, and under the California Constitution, an initiative can only cover one issue.

Fifty countries around the world require labeling of GMO foods, including those in Europe, Australia, Russia, China, and Japan. Monsanto, which created DDT, and other chemical companies claim GMO food is safe, and argue it shouldn’t be labeled.

Prop 37 isn’t about whether GMO foods are safe. It’s just about labeling them so we can know what we’re eating. What’s the harm in a label, except it might affect their corporate profits if people choose not to purchase GMO foods?

Bryan Rosen, Director Concerned Citizens For Environmental Health Montecito (Editor’s Note: Thanks so much for the letter, Bryan, I agree it is important that all sides of this (and any real) debate are heard. The fact is that I also agree with very much of what you write, but still firmly believe the answer to the (disgusting) GMO riddle lies with our federal legislature and that individual State mandates will only complicate and make federal action even more cumbersome and unlikely. (That’s one reason I’m voting No on 37, believe it or not.)

We need uniform laws that clearly mandate common-sense labeling that in turn tells us about what, exactly, we are eating so that we can make a reasonably informed decision in the grocery store on an issue that affects our public and individual health and, ultimately, our freedom of choice. Frankly, to me, this is a particularly egregious case of our federal representatives NOT doing what

is clearly wanted and deserved, even needed, by the public, undoubtedly due in no small part to the Washington lobbyists who represent the interests of Big Food. Demand action by our federal legislators here. And until action is taken, eat local and organic, know as many of your food producers as possible, and talk with your kids about and include them in the joys of cooking with and eating great fresh ingredients. Plant a garden. Have a glass of wine. And in the words of my friend Spencer the Gardener (aka the Organic Gangster), “don’t eat genetically modified foods.”—MSM)

Manual Malfunction Hi Matt, I enjoyed the recent issue of the Sentinel, and want to encourage your viewpoints for the community. I specifically enjoyed the piece on Patricia Bragg. In fact, I was there and met Wendy Jenson. It was a sweet article Wendy wrote; it kind of read like a diary. But, for the record, I don’t have a boyfriend, far from it. Ask Wendy to get back to me. Patricia is waiting, and there’s much more story to tell.

Errol Santa Barbara (P.S. My last film, ‘Cuban Rebel Girls,’ filmed on site in 1958, is a must see.)

(Editor’s Note: Um, hmmm…well, Errol, I guess I’m not sure what to say about this one. Thanks for writing and, ah, correcting the record. And thanks most of all for being a good—no, a terrific—sport. I think I’ll leave the substantive response to the lovely and talented Wendy Jenson. She writes: “Now I know why I was single for so long… my gaydar is broken! He’s handsome, well-dressed, and apparently watches old Hollywood movies. What was I to think?

Hey, there are worse things than being compared to swashbuckling Errol Flynn.

Now I’m thinking of single girlfriends with whom to fix him up. In friendship, Wendy Jenson.”

I’ll leave it at that. And if Wendy’s single girlfriends are something in which you might be interested, just let me know and I will do what I can. Thanks Errol.—MSM)

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It'sCrimetime...

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...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.

Zombies in Santa Barbara

CRIME: A male transient was arrested late Monday night after he pushed a female transient down and bit her face (no blood was drawn). SBPD was called after passersby heard the woman yelling “stop biting me.”

OBSERVATION: Despite suspicion to the contrary, SBPD’s investigation revealed the man was not a zombie (or a vampire); truth be told, the all-American pair had been dating.

COMMENT: Um, ah... We can think of lots to say here. But all of it is totally inappropriate .

If You’re Pregnant, Please Pause

CRIME: On Monday, October 22, 2012, at around 8:30 am, SBPD found a 41-year-old female Santa Barbara resident just off State Street with “reduced logic and reasoning skills, poor balance, an odor of booze” and an inability to “care for her own safety.”

OBSERVATION: That, frankly, is not a particularly interesting detainment or arrest report.

Any long weekend or early Monday morning binge can result in the foregoing symptoms.

But, alas, this was not the end of the officer’s report. The full finishing phrase reflected that the woman was unable to “care for her own safety or that of her unborn baby.”

COMMENT: Wow. Really? No real joke here, just shock and awe at what’s happening on

the streets of Santa Barbara. It is disconcerting to see this type of stuff in print, in dozens of arrest reports each week, sitting in SBPD. These are serious problems that we are clearly not adequately addressing and there needs to be some meaningful conversation about what to do in connection with the addicted and homeless among us. And, eventually, there needs to be some action, too. We are making this a priority around here.

Fight Club

CRIME: SBPD responded to a 9-1-1 call late last week after a fight between two transient males broke out. The winning party, 51, was found near the scene of the brawl but said he didn’t know where, exactly, the fight had been because he “drank too much.” (Talk about an admission against interest.) He was arrested for public intoxication.

OBSERVATION: In a related story, a 72-year-old transient male who lost a fight and called

9-1-1 was arrested for public intoxication after slurring to responding officers that the aggressor was “dumb” but that he himself was also “out of control.” (Again, another unwise admission against interest.)

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COMMENT: Good call, SBPD. Let the courts figure this one out. Or just leave them on the streets since we doubt jail time is having much positive impact on them, or society, or Santa Barbara’s budget or…well, you get the idea.

A Drunkard’s Dream If We Ever Did See One Last week, we made an impassioned though thinly veiled and frankly academically and perhaps socially reckless suggestion that swapping the legalization of marijuana for that of alcohol might drive down time and money and other resources spent dealing with the drunkards among us. (We were only joking. Seriously.) This week, as we sat and scoured police record after police record, we couldn’t help but take note of a distinct pattern that actually tends to support our inadvertently and potentially clever position. See if you can connect the dots in this random sampling of police encounters with your friends and neighbors last week:

SBPD detains a very drunk woman found passed out in a planter on State Street.

SBPD discovers and detains a very drunk man passed out in his neighbor’s bushes.

SBPD detains a very drunk person after he tells his mother that he wants to jump off a cliff.

SBPD detains a very drunk person after he tells officers that he has had too much to drink and is going to sleep in a children’s park down the street.

SBPD finds and detains a very drunk person passed out behind JJ’s Liquors.

SBPD finds and detains a very drunk person passed out across the sidewalk on State Street.

SBPD finds and detains a very drunk person passed out across the sidewalk on Milpas Street.

SBPD arrests a very drunk man after he tries to fight Harry’s bartenders. (Come on, man,

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Harry’s? That’s a favorite haunt for at least one of us here at the Sentinel.)

SBPD arrests a very drunk man after he passes out in someone’s house (not his own).

SBPD arrests a very drunk man after he beats his girlfriend.

Ok, all right. Mercy. We heard you say it. But trust us, we can go on like that for days; what’s there is just the tip of the Martini.

So, you ask, what’s the pattern? Yeah, you guessed it. All drunks, no stoners. We’re not recommending legalization of marijuana or, conversely, criminalization of booze (far from it), but we are saying that alcohol sure can’t be a less dangerous drug than marijuana. So let’s stop the ridiculous blaming of all drug use on pot (remember, the “gateway drug”) and start having a more serious conversation about the actual pros and cons of regulating all this stuff.

My guess is that we’re probably ready for an honest debate.

And you have our word. We’ll step down off of the soapbox next week for a cold beer or two (like we always do before sitting down to write the blotter). Be good out there this week, folks.

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

Crowded Streets

by Sharon Byrne

D

rivers complain pedestrians jump out, jaywalk, and ignore cars. Pedestrians complain drivers try to mow them down. The pedestrian crossings hearings for Figueroa at De La Vina, and Milpas at both Yanonali and Ortega illustrate that traffic (vehicle and pedestrian) has increased to a point that existing configurations of these intersections are no longer sufficient to adequately handle it.

People note that cyclists run red lights and stop signs, ride on sidewalks, and cluster together on a road, hindering traffic.

The police did a bicyclist sting this month, as the most recent Office of Traffic Safety data ranked Santa Barbara #3 out of 103 similarly sized cities in the state for bicycle collisions.

The police have done stings as well on the above-noted intersections to raise driver awareness of the need to stop for pedestrians.

Some comments on online forums claimed that the stings weren’t done fairly, that the police tried to trap drivers. Pedestrians aren’t immune from being found at fault, either. A lady hit in the Ortega crosswalk in March was given a citation as she was purported to have stepped out right in front of the car that hit her on Milpas.

So what’s going on with the ‘share the road’ philosophy we are supposed to live by? Is everyone that inconsiderate? Are the police really that arbitrary in their stings, or is it more the case that these stings reflect pain points, indicators of an emerging problem of over-crowded roads, built long ago, now jammed with multiple modern uses?

That rings like over-congestion…

When cities hit the first-world problem of over-crowded roads created by a plethora

of affordable cars, they employ various strategies. We’ve seen some of them here: one-way streets, lane reductions, bike lanes, sidewalk widening, hardscape solutions like bulb-outs, and pedestrian-only malls.

In high-density areas, further measures are often required to reduce traffic congestion.

Paris is closing some roads to car traffic, and allowing only bicycles. London has sealed off their downtown core to vehicles, unless it’s vitally necessary, like a water main repair unit, or the like. They’ve got a substantial transportation system of trains, subways and busses to get you downtown.

We’re not London or Paris, obviously. But over the years, we’ve seen increasing density placed into the downtown core. On-street parking is a tight squeeze these days: Pedestrians and bicyclists are more populous, while car traffic is not shrinking.

One possible solution is to reduce the speed limit. It varies from 25-35 downtown on various streets. We could create a zone from Canon Perdido down to the beach, and the freeway west of downtown over to Milpas, and set the speed limit throughout at 25 mph. Call it the Safety Zone. Or Multiple Use District. Or Shroad Zone (share the road). Something preferably catchier than what I’ve listed…

A downtown 25 mph zone would create a uniform speed, and slow traffic. We know people drive faster than the speed limit. If it’s 30, then they drive 35-40, as we see on De La Vina, Chapala and Milpas. Even a 5 mph reduction in speed might make a substantial difference in safety, and reduce collisions. One can get across town on Haley in 5 minutes at 25 mph, with the signal lights. Reducing the speed from 30 to 25 adds what, a minute?

For the tourist set, it would be nice to have a uniform speed and put them on notice that downtown driving in Santa Barbara

sbview.com

Sharon Byrne

Sharon Byrne is executive director for the Milpas Community Association, and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the Salvation Army Hospitality House and Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Problems

sbview.com is an exercise in heightened awareness of multiple uses of the same roadway. I’ve seen some close calls and behaviors from drivers on State and Cabrillo that indicate some visitors from cities with big boulevards with higher speeds could use some hints in this direction.

It’s an idea, and ideas around neighborhood identity could be implemented within it.

Layering a walkable modern arts or Funk Zone or Historic Victorian district within a Downtown Safety Zone becomes an easier prospect.

Whatever we do, it’s certainly well past the sell-by date for finger-pointing, sniping, bickering, and clinging to bulb-outs and curb extensions as panaceas. Are pedestrians really iPod-wearing drones traipsing into traffic, blissfully unaware? Does every driver really live to mow us down when we’re walking? Are bicyclists really clad in such tight spandex tourniquets that they blow through intersections from circulation constriction? I’ve had those days and thoughts…everyone has.

Maybe it’s time to look at our roads as what they really are: a grid laid out over a century ago. In 1900, the population was 6,500.

Today it’s near 90,000. Our downtown roads were built before there were this many people with cars, and people bicycling and walking as lifestyle choices. Let’s face the reality that there are now multiple uses on these old streets in this modern era. Widening old roads to accommodate them all is clearly not an option. We must instead find a way to handle all these uses without the current polarization tactic of putting some other group (we don’t like) at a disadvantage just so we can have our own way with the road.

Cyber-Screwed by the Tea Party

by Loretta Redd

A

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.

ny governmental body whose ultimate game plan appears to be inefficiency and failure is doomed to accomplish just that.

The problem is, you and I are going down with this Senate Ship of Fools.

A bill designed to protect critical infrastructure in the United States was killed by its own Republican cyber attack this month, as S3414, the Cyber Security Act of 2012, stalled when cloture vote (52-46)

Loretta Redd

sbview.com

failed to end debate.

Even though the House of Representatives passed the bill in a rare bipartisan vote, and Secretary Panetta, the US House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers (R-Mich) and the head of the CIA have all declared “inaction is not an option,” the Tea Party started serving their infamous brand of Jonestown Kool-Aid on the Senate floor and effectively killed it.

John Reed, writing for FP National Security, explained that the opposition by Republicans was because the minimal cyber security standards it establishes could create an unfair cost for business, and the private sector should provide cyber security on its own.

Joining in the insanity of opposition is the ever-vigilant ACLU, stating that some evil future administration could use the Act to abuse our civil liberties. Of course, we won’t have power to read by or safe water to drink, and access to our money will be forever lost, but we’ll be “free”! Some of the corporations opposing our government’s efforts to protect our systems of energy, transportation, finance, nuclear and water include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation (Firefox), and Tim Berners Lee (one of the founders of the Internet.)

Forgive me if I doubt their altruism a teeny bit.

Their objection is primarily that the Act creates an unfair cost. But as the FP National Security article points out, compliance may be onerous, but the threat is real and it isn’t just a threat anymore.

Google disclosed in a blog post that it had been cyber attacked by China in mid2009. To give you a sample of what the Chinese are chasing, hackers went after Yahoo, Morgan Stanley, Dow Chemical, Adobe and Northrop Grumman as well. The cyber attack, known as Operation Aurora, had as its primary goal, “to gain access and potentially modify source code repositories,” more or less known as the crown jewels for data mining.

The other objection – that the private sector should be encouraged and allowed to find its own sources of cyber security because the government just gets in the way, assumes that all major energy, banking and industrial corporations will voluntarily and effectively make this their number one priority.

Message to the Tea Party proponents: not every effort by government to protect its citizens is a power grab intended to bankrupt the nation or score points with voters. Sometimes, regulations are written to compensate or prevent private industry from continuing to do things that are harmful or risky or stupid. Remember AIG? Enron? Bear Stearns? Deepwater Horizon-

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BP? Exxon Valdez? We don’t privatize the security of our nuclear weapons or our missile defenses for damned good reasons.

Establishing information technology security standards for major industry is of major importance to our country’s future, and to allow some pointy-headed politician to stand in its way is traitorous.

But not all Republicans are impeding progress in this area or against the government role is cyber security. In researching Romney’s thoughts and policy recommendations, I’ve found little in way of specifics – no ‘shock and awe’ here – but there is reference to the importance of protecting our nation from cyber attack in his White Paper of October 7, 2011, “An American Century,” page 38.

In light of the failure to pass the Senate bill, Harry Reid has joined forces with Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Collins to bring it back to the floor for a vote in November. It isn’t that the conservatives (plus four Democrats) have suddenly seen the error of their ways, or that someone hacked some sense into their brains… it’s that President Obama has now threatened to promote the Cyber Security Act through Executive Order.

Here’s some of the White House statement from October 5, 2012 “We believe that cyber security best practices should be developed in partnership between government and industry. For decades, industry and government have worked together to protect the physical security of critical assets that reside in private hands, from airports and seaports to national broadcast systems and nuclear power plants. There is no reason we cannot work together in the same way to protect critical infrastructure cyber systems upon which so much of our economic well-being, national security, and daily lives depend.

Our intent is to focus on and address the nation’s critical infrastructure, whose incapacitation from a cyber incident would have grave national security and economic consequences. Since most companies aren’t critical infrastructure, we are only looking at a small subset of the companies in the U.S. We believe that companies driving cyber security innovations in their current practices and planned initiatives can help shape best practices across critical infrastructure. Companies needing to upgrade their security would have the flexibility to decide how best to do so using a wide range of innovative products and services available in the marketplace. We remain committed to incorporating strong privacy and civil liberties protections into any initiative to secure our critical infrastructure.”

Let’s hope the Senate doesn’t again load the cargo of Senate bill 3414 onto another Ship of Fools with political clowns on deck this November. It is significant and clean enough legislation that the President should not be forced to take over the role of Congress. With the increasing connectivity of our utility grids and our globally interdependent financial systems, this bill really should be a no-brainer.

In Business

by Ray Estrada

SC Biz Forum Backs Second Startup Weekend

S

outh Coast Business Forum members on Oct. 18 expressed overwhelming support for the second Startup Weekend Santa Barbara this year planned for Nov. 2 to 4 at Citrix Online in Goleta.

The forum is a coalition of South Coast business organizations, including chambers of commerce, SCORE counselors and government economic agencies.

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

“Startup Weekend Number 2 demonstrates that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well here in the Santa Barbara region,” said Michael Holliday, South Coast Business Forum chairman. “We were honored to host the first event at Synergy Business & Technology Center and are excited to see Startup Weekend becoming a regular event here on the South Coast. This gathering of business leaders, designers, web developers, programmers and venture capitalists all focused on innovation and entrepreneurship is the heart of what Startup Weekend is all about and part of the TechTOPIA vision many have cast for our community.”

The first Startup Weekend Santa Barbara, where more than 100 entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to judges, was held June 1 to 3 at the SYNERGY Business & Technology Center near Santa Barbara’s East Beach. The 54-hour event is an all-volunteer effort to bring together entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Organizer Kyle Ashby, of Kaldera Marketing, said the opening and closing events on Friday and Sunday night June 1 and 3 had about 200 people in attendance and 54 pitches were narrowed down to 21 teams by Friday night. “We’ve reshuffled a few things around,” he said, noting that the public is invited to the opening and closing events.

Another event organizer, Jim McGaugh, a RightScale engineer, told the forum, “Startup Weekend is a great way to weed out business ideas.” For more information, see santabarbara.startupweekend.org.

The first Startup Weekend yielded 18 businesses that were launched with five of them continuing today, Ashby said. While 118 men and women paid to attend, 40 were on a waiting list at the June event, he said.

During the first event this year, the Synergy business incubator resembled a collaborative beehive of entrepreneurial

activity, with men and women hunkered over their laptops sharpening their business plans while free food, refreshments and a ska band played in the background.

Synergy and Rusty’s Pizza are among the November local event sponsors while Google, Cloudmine and Microsoft are global partners for the Startup Weekend.

As at the first event, business teams will be created and then they will act on their ideas and conduct market research, market validation, business model development, and design and develop mobile and web

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applications. Prototypes will be presented the night of Nov. 4.

Also at the Oct. 18 South Coast Business Forum meeting, EmpowerSBC Program Manager Angie Hacker announced her office has a new web portal: countyofsb. org/business.aspx?id=40174. The portal lists information on the county’s economy, business vitality services and other data.

Also introduced at the October forum meeting was Scott Erickson, new membership director for the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce.

A Santa Barbara view

photo by BillHeller.com

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Journal Jim

Four-year-old Justin (he attends the YMCA Pre-School) is learning how to drive – or at least how to sit upon – a farm tractor at the Pumpkin Patch

by James Buckley Jim founded the Montecito Journal some 17

years ago. He is an avid golfer who currently sports a 12.1 SCGA handicap index. His goal in life is to get that index into the single digits, even if for only a two-week period

Last Chance For Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch

T

hey’re wrapping things up at the Pumpkin Patch. Lane Farms has been farming locally since 1868; its popular pumpkin patch has been around since 1974 and John Lane has been creating his cornfield maze for the past thirteen years, but it’ll all be over – until next year – after this weekend. The Pumpkin Patch will remain open from 9 am to 9 pm through Halloween, October 31. The corn maze, however, closes at the end of the day this Sunday, October 28.

If you have little ones, farmer John says you needn’t worry: they haven’t lost anyone in the maze – yet – as there is only one way in and one way out. There are actually two ways of getting out, he says: “You can get caught in the middle and then go back out the way you came in,” or you wend your way through to the exit.

As for a kids’ failsafe exit to make sure they really don’t get lost – or worse, panic – John says he has someone going in and out all the time to make sure that doesn’t happen. “The little kids can kind of squirt through the walls” too, he adds.

Lane Farms “grows about thirty different items throughout the year,” John explains,

including strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, and string beans. John Lane’s grandfather opened his first produce stand on Walnut Lane in 1939. They have another stand on Hollister and sell their products four times a week at farmers’ markets throughout the Santa Barbara area. John and his crew now cultivate 40 acres but “it’s been as big as 300 acres,” he says.

John and his wife, Ruth, have two daughters, and both live in the Santa Barbara area: Rebecca Penrose, a teacher at SBHS and Elizabeth Checketts, who does the same at La Colina.

As for the pumpkins, they range in size from two inches in diameter to 200 pounders and cost as little as $2 up to $50.

••• Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch 308 Walnut Lane Santa Barbara, CA 93111 805-964-3773 Pumpkin Patch is open every day from 9 am to 9 pm until October 31.

The Corn Maze is open from 3 pm to 8 pm through Sunday, October 28.

...continued from 5 local police and child protective services. State money is freed up to help balance the budget and prevent even more devastating cuts to services for seniors, working families, and small businesses.

Everyone benefits.

That’s a lot of guarantees for a lot of apparently disparate interests. Some don’t really seem to relate to education at all, frankly—but we suppose that those guarantees explain at least some of the broad public union support for 30. (Additional support likely stems from the fact that 30 won’t likely result in increased taxes on teachers, for example… unless their salaries are raised to over $250,000 per year, we suppose.) Does the money raised by Prop 30 guarantee teachers’ or public employees’ salaries? Pensions? And how does the money raised

by Prop 30 “free up” other State money to balance the budget? Are we somehow replacing existing funds with the new money raised?

These are tough questions, we think, and we don’t hear much being said about them.

We thought that maybe some of our elected officials might be talking turkey about them, though, so we decided to check in with Governor Jerry Brown to get a better read on the situation.

Governor Brown Talks Education And…Well, That’s It Although there is some discussion of the “public safety” and “budget balancing” aspects of 30 on the proposition’s main webpage, www.yesonprop30.com, we were surprised to find that not even Governor Brown’s endorsement of Prop 30 mentions any of these “other” issues, instead focusing only on the education piece of the pie: A MESSAGE FROM GOVERNOR BROWN A strong economy for the next generation.

The California Dream was built on a system of public schools and colleges that gave every Californian access to the education needed to get ahead.

Today, I’m asking you to join me in supporting Proposition 30 because we can’t keep cutting our schools and still keep the economy strong for the next generation.

With your YES vote on Prop. 30, we can:

(from left) Alex, Lyla, Dilyn (center) and Katie Clyne load up with pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks at Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch on Walnut Lane in Goleta, as they do every year; Alex was born and raised in Montecito and is the son of noted real estate agent Sally Clyne

John Lane’s family has been growing things in the Goleta Valley since 1868; the Pumpkin Patch was first created in 1974 and the corn maze came along thirteen years ago

-Stop another $6 billion in cuts to our schools this year.

-Prevent steep tuition hikes for college students and their families.

-Invest in our schools and colleges so we can prepare the next generation for the jobs of the future.

Let’s work together to invest in our children and a strong economy for California’s future.

Join me in voting YES on Prop. 30.

—Governor Jerry Brown Apparently, Governor Brown hasn’t read Prop 30 in its entirety. Why else wouldn’t he mention the numerous guarantees of funding to public safety and budget balancing aspects it contains? Could it be that those issues aren’t quite as popular as education and children and music classes? (Ok, we’ll stop with the rhetorical questions.)

Do Prop 38 Proponents Really Want to Cut Education Funding?

While we thought we found some answers regarding unions’ support for Prop 30 in the text and application of the measure, we were admittedly still unclear about the reasons behind unions’ allegiance to defeat Prop 38 (aka “Our Children, Our Future: Local Schools and Early Education Investment and Bond Debt Reduction Act”). So we took a look at the text of that bill, too.

Prop 38 begins with findings that relate strictly to our State’s education system and the disservice being done to California students and their families in many cases. In fact, we found 38’s declaration of purpose to be crystal clear and generally consistent with what we are hearing from advocates of 38: To strengthen and support California’s public schools, including charter schools, by increasing per-pupil funding to improve academic performance, graduation rates, and vocational, college, career and life readiness.

To strengthen and support the education of California’s children by restoring funding, improving quality, and expanding access to early care and education programs for disadvantaged and at-risk children.

To create more accountability, transparency, and community involvement in how public

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Maggie’s at

State and A Heather Ray and Hannah (“Smee”) Stretchberry (left) went through Lane Farms’ Corn Maze in “about twenty minutes” and Heather says she was not afraid of getting lost; Hannah agrees, saying her trip through the maze “was fun”

Pumping up their water supply at Lane Farms are seven-year-old twins Rebecca and Sophia; they both attend Kellogg School

(from left) Soleil and Emily are dressed for Halloween; Emily is an evil princess and Soleil is a flamenco dancer

education funds are spent.

To ensure that the revenues generated by this Act will be used for K-12 educational activities at the school site; to expand and strengthen early care and education for disadvantaged children; and, to the limited extent and under the limited circumstances specifically permitted by this Act, to strengthen the overall fiscal position of the state and encourage adequate future investment in educational facilities by reducing the burden of current state education bond debt.

Just to be clear, we know we don’t have all the answers and frankly we don’t pretend to.

But we firmly believe that voter understanding is the most important part of a functioning democracy—unfortunately, we also believe that it is often the most forgotten part in today’s world of political hatchet-jobs and double-talk. So get out there, Santa Barbara, ask some questions and get educated before you vote on November 6. Know what you support and what you don’t and, most importantly, why. Read a bill. Talk over coffee. Disagree. Get mad.

But respect each other and listen too, and we’ll do the same…and maybe, just maybe, we’ll all learn something that can help us move the needle in a positive direction that really does benefit us all. We’re just sayin…

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That’s enough; you get the idea.

It’s funny, but we guess the only question left is the one we began with: If it’s all about kids and education, then what exactly is it in Proposition 30 that the public unions like so much, and what exactly is it in Proposition 38 that they dislike so much?

Here’s a few knee-jerk reactions in light of our research: First, despite looking very similar in some regards, Props 30 and 38 are really apples and oranges. Our read is that 30 is actually just another California tax increase that does not appear to do anything particularly new or beneficial for the masses (it does appear that there is some benefit to public unions, however, in the form of guaranteed funding and potential salary and other increases). 38 appears to be a straightforward school funding bill, designed to add potentially significant funding to our schools—more money over more time from more people (probably including many union members given their typical income levels) and more directly, on a per pupil basis—and not to guarantee other funding for other union constituencies. But what do we know?

Maybe we still don’t get it.

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The Weekly Capitalist

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

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China Bashing

I

f you watched the last presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, then you got an earful about that evil bastion of trade manipulators, China. It seems that whenever a candidate for public office is desperate to attack an opponent, the specter of China is rolled out. Watch, even Maldonado does it to Capps. Capps has a pretty good record of voting to extend trade relations with China, but, while I think she knows where China is, I have the feeling she really isn’t, um, tuned in to this issue.

The main issues we hear from politicians are that: 1. China is unfair in its trade policies with the U.S. They are “cheating” and putting us at a disadvantage.

2. China steals American manufacturing jobs by unfairly underpaying its workers.

3. China manipulates its currency, unfairly keeping their yuan too low in order to out-compete us in world trade.

4. And, worst of all, we are indebted to China. We are forced to borrow from China to fund our government.

These same politicians say we’ve got to be tough on China and bring jobs back to America.

That, my friends, is hooey.

The issue here is free trade. All the candidates say they are in favor of free trade (it sounds good when they say it), but they really aren’t. Especially if they rant about China stealing jobs.

Free trade is good for us. It creates jobs and wealth. (That’s why the politicians say they are in favor of it.) Indeed, if you look at the stats, we’ve been trading with other nations for years. (Actually, that is a bit of a misnomer—what we’re really talking about here is people, not nations. After all, it is people, like you and me, who have the freedom to buy a wider selection of goods when nations trade freely. “Nations” don’t buy t-shirts, I buy t-shirts. “China” doesn’t sell t-shirts, some company there does. You get the idea.)

If I can buy a Yater t-shirt at the Beach Barn for less than it would cost if it were manufactured here, then what’s the problem? I have more money to spend on other things. The Beach Barn sells more shirts because of the lower price; they make more money, Yater gets a royalty, and the guy in China gets paid for the shirts. Win-win-win.

(Don’t worry, we’ll get to issues with slave labor, so hold on to the outrage for just a moment.)

We’ve greatly expanded trade with China and indeed the world since the

1980s, and yet at the same time the economy has grown dramatically and employment has gone up. So what’s the problem? Let me put it to you this way: It ain’t China. (If you’re interested, take a look at my column last week on the root of our problems.)

The biggest importers to the U.S. are (according to size): China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, UK, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Taiwan.

Our biggest export markets are (according to size): Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, UK, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, and Singapore.

I could say, using the logic of the antifree traders, that U.S. exporters take away jobs in the countries they sell to (pity the poor Dutch). But the whole idea that one side necessarily loses in a transaction is wrong. If I buy a t-shirt at the Beach Barn, does that put someone out of work at Nordstrom? No, Nordstrom has learned its market and so has the Beach Barn. Last I looked both doors were still open.

Instead, like any reasonably successful business deal, both sides benefit from the transaction. A border between us and China doesn’t change that fact. Foreign trade is really just a fancy term for business between buyers and sellers who happen to be in different countries.

Let’s go back to the above criticisms of trading with China. The argument goes that the Chinese steal American jobs because they pay their workers very little, keep them in semi-slavery, enrich very few, and turn out cheap goods. They compound the problem by unfairly keeping the yuan too low, making Chinese goods cost less than they would if they didn’t keep the price artificially low. Because of these devious moves, the Chinese have piles of U.S. dollars and now we are indebted to them, making them sort of like (evil) overlords.

These arguments are canards. Not true.

False. Misleading.

First of all, of course the Chinese pay their workers less than we do. There are more workers in China needing jobs and who are eager to work for a variety of social and other reasons. No one is forcing them off the farms to go to Guangzhou to work in a factory. Chinese workers go there because things on the farm are already bad and factory jobs offer them and their families a way up. We may think their working conditions are bad, but, of course, we aren’t the workers and don’t have their perspective coming off the farm. (Imagine the working conditions of nineteenth century America, for some perspective.) Ask them and my guess is that the overwhelming majority would say

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they are glad to get the work. And while China has turned a major corner toward more economic freedom, remember that it is still a top-down command economy run from Beijing. It will take another generation or two for China to create enough wealth to begin to resemble Western countries—but don’t worry, it will.

There are always places that manufacture goods cheaper and better than we do.

Does anyone remember the Hupmobile or Wang Computers? Both competed and lost, yet we all benefited by having better products and cheaper prices. (And that was from friendly American fire.) Simply put, America needs to allow businesses to thrive and compete, not to protect businesses from competition.

So, who benefits from that competition?

We–the American consumers–do. If you think differently, then you should march up to Nordstrom right now and demand to pay (perhaps significantly) more for those jeans so American workers can have a fair chance. But that’s not going to happen, not in the real world, anyway. Ask yourself what you would do if you had to pay (perhaps significantly) more. Would you buy fewer things overall? Economists would say yes because, well, you have less money to spend.

The bottom line is that we know who benefits from trade barriers, just follow the dollars: Labor unions who keep members’ wages artificially high benefit.

But, unfortunately, at the same time these very unions benefit in the form of higher wages for members, they also drive out jobs to places like, you guessed it, China. Where labor is less expensive.

(Now we know why union membership has collapsed—unions are effectively cannibalizing their own jobs.)

Currency manipulation? If China wants to keep their money artificially low, who benefits? Look in the mirror. For some reason they wish to subsidize us—the American consumers—by making their currency at or near parity to the dollar

even though foreign currency markets would value their yuan higher if it were allowed to freely float. So let’s have a big round of applause for the Chinese currency manipulators. (And, hey, don’t forget that there is no currency manipulator worse than the U.S. We’re far ahead of the manipulating pack.)

What about all that money we owe them? They hold about $1.152 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt. In 2007 they held about $727 billion. Oh no!

We should thank them for that as well.

Let’s face it, we buy more Chinese goods than we sell to them. (Shame on…you.)

What are they supposed to do with all those dollars? They have only two things they can do: Buy U.S. debt or buy other U.S. assets. Oh sure, you say, why don’t they use the bucks to buy Brazilian soybeans? Then what would the Brazilians holding our dollars do? It’s a hot potato.

Eventually those dollars have to come home. If they didn’t, then two bad things would happen. Either (1) our interest rates would climb forcing the Fed to print more money, thus further devaluing the dollar or (2) the international markets would be flooded with dollars, driving down the value of the dollar to the point where foreign banks would get queasy holding them.

That would, uh, destroy the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Not a good thing.

The better question to ask yourself instead is, who created all that debt out there in the first place? We are the party at fault here. We have an out-of-control recklessly spending government. Our federal debt has doubled since 2007 ($8.6 trillion to $16.0 trillion) with not much to show for it. Frankly, we should be thankful that the Chinese have nothing else to do with those dollars than to buy our debt.

We have enough to worry about beyond having politicians spread lies to scapegoat their own failures. Ignore the noise and wear that Chinese t-shirt with pride.

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Dons quarterback Shawn Ramos with the Gary Blades Memorial MVP Trophy at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon on Monday. Chris Rabe, right, presented the award to Ramos as the MVP of the Big Game.

www.presidiosports.com Presidio Sports is a provider of local sports news and information for the Santa Barbara community. Founded in 2008, the small team at Presidio has covered hundreds of local sporting events and published thousands of articles connected to Santa Barbara’s athletic community. Please visit their website for more local sports news and information.

SBART Athletes of the Week: Kelsie Bryant and Bryan Fernandez

By John Dvorak

Bryant won the Frontier League singles title for the second year in a row. The Warriors’ sophomore tennis player has won 53 sets without a loss this season, leading the Warriors to a 19-0 record and a team league title.

Honorable mentions included Shawn Ramos, Santa Barbara High Football; Evan Robertson, Santa Barbara High Water Polo; Anthony Carter, Bishop Diego Football; Taylor Formico, UCSB Volleyball; Kristen Berlo, San Marcos Volleyball; Jenna Anderson, SBCC Volleyball; Addi Zerrenner, Dos Pueblos Cross Country; Saralisa Ortega, Santa Barbara High Golf.

The Big Game Dons make it three in a row in Big Game; Ramos is MVP SBART Athlete of the Week Bryan Fernandez won the Division 1 race at the Mt. SAC Invitational as a Dos Pueblos Charger

C

arpinteria High School’s Kelsie Bryant and Dos Pueblos High School’s Bryan Fernandez were named Athletes of the Week at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.

Fernandez won the weekend’s Division 1 race at the Mt. SAC Invitational, one of the largest and most competitive of the season’s cross country meets. Fernandez, undefeated in six races this season and ranked as the No. 1 prep cross country runner in the nation

by XCnation.com, won the race in a time of 14:34.

Carpinteria High Warrior Kelsie Bryant, SBART Athlete of the Week, has won 53 sets without a loss this season on the tennis team

By Barry Punzal The Santa Barbara High football team seniors who have been starting since their sophomore year have yet to make the playoffs or win the Channel League, but they have the pleasure of winning three Big Games.

The Dons made it three in a row on Friday night by capturing the 53rd edition of the annual rivalry game with San Marcos.

Quarterback Shawn Ramos threw two touchdown passes and Jason Jimenez ran for a pair of scores in a 35-14 victory before a big crowd at Peabody Stadium.

Video highlights and post-game interviews are available on PresidioSports. com.

Ramos and Jimenez are part of a core group of seniors who were brought up to the varsity when they were sophomores.

Ramos was sharp throwing the ball. He completed 10 of 16 for 187 yards and was named winner of the Gary Blades Award as the game MVP. His touchdown passes to fullback Rudy Corrales and Efrain Sanchez give him 15 for the season.

Jimenez rushed for 102 yards on 13 carries and scored on runs of 45 and 7 yards.

“This is even better than the first one,” said Jimenez, who also made several tackles as a linebacker.

Asked if winning the Big Game as a coach felt different than being a player in the game, Santa Barbara coach Doug Caines said: “My head hurts more than I remember as a player.”

The victory keeps Santa Barbara in the title hunt, evening its league record to 1-1 and improving the overall mark to 6-2.

San Marcos (1-7, 1-3) got an impressive performance from running back Esteban Alfaro, who rushed for 118 yards on 24 carries. Quarterback Austin Pugh passed for a touchdown, ran for one and played well for the Royals.

Pugh threw a 9-yard pass to Cameron Whitney with eight seconds left in the first half to cut Santa Barbara’s lead to 14-7.

The Dons stepped up their play in the second half and pulled away.

“We came straight out flat,” said Corrales of the first half performance. “We thought we were going to roll on these guys. They came out to play. We picked it up in the second half and made things work.”

Caines said his team needed an attitude readjustment at halftime, but added that a Big Game should be close.

“It’s exciting,” Caines said. “We don’t want a blowout game. I wanted the kids to be excited that it’s close. That’s what this game is about. It doesn’t matter who’s winning or who’s losing. It’s the rivalry game, it’s always supposed to start close, and the game sure did deliver.”

He said the difference in the two halves was a matter of execution.

“We were able to make some adjustments and come out fierce in the second and execute, which is my mantra around here,” Caines said.

The Dons hurt themselves in the first half with a slew of penalties.

“We still seem to be the Bad News Bears in terms of penalties, but we’re trying to right that ship,” said Caines.

San Marcos coach Anthony Linebaugh, who also was making his Big Game coaching debut, said his team had to play mistakefree football to beat Santa Barbara.

“We had to minimize penalties and minimize big plays and honestly those two things got us,” he said Ramos passed to Corrales in the left flat and the senior powered his way into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown to make it 21-7.

Santa Barbara made it 28-7 on its next

Jonah Iwanaga, center, celebrates with Matt Escobar, left, and Polo Torres after Iwanaga’s 19-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

possession. Again, Ramos threw short to Corrales and the fullback ran over tacklers on a 29-yard play that took the ball to the San Marcos 7.

“That’s what I do; I’m a downhill runner.

I’ll get you,” said Corrales.

“He’s one of the toughest guys on the team,” Caines said. “He gives it everything.

When the game is on the line, he’s going to bring his shoulder pads.”

Jimenez ran the final seven yards for the touchdown.

Ramos’ passing set up the Dons’ final score. He threw to James Hale for a 40yard play, tossed a 14-yarder to Corrales and found Efrain Sanchez for the touchdown on a 26-yard strike.

“We had some breakdowns in the second half,” Linebaugh said. “It wasn’t like we were driven on. They had one nice drive. You can’t give up big plays in big games.”

Pugh drove the Royals 67 yards for their second touchdown. He had a 49-yard run on a keeper and plowed 1 yard over the goal line for the score.

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Former UCSB basketball player Greg Somogyi, recently released by the Lakers after training camp

“Pugh and Cameron have done a great job,” Linebaugh said. “Their play really exemplifies and epitomizes the spirit of truly playing together. “I’m proud of these guys; they really are a team. I’m proud to coach them.”

Linebaugh used a little gamesmanship at the start of the game. His team warmed up at San Marcos and arrived at Peabody Stadium following the national anthem.

That had nearly everyone at the stadium scratching their heads, wondering what was going on.

The ploy seemed to throw off Santa Barbara. It went three-and-out on its first possession and Whitney picked off a Ramos pass on the Dons’ second possession.

When asked about it after the game, Linebaugh looked back at a reporter and didn’t say a word. Then he replied with a smile, “I’ll let you use your creative juices on that.”

The first half also included the scoreboard going out for a few minutes.

The Dons broke the scoreless game on a 19-yard reverse by wide receiver Jonah Iwanaga. Matt Medina kicked the first of his five extra points for a 7-0 lead at 9:55 of the second quarter.

Just a little over two minutes later, Jimenez broke free from San Marcos tacklers and rambled 45 yards for a touchdown, putting the Dons up 14-0.

Santa Barbara had the lead but its offense kept hurting itself with penalties.

“We had a slow first half,” Ramos said.

“I couldn’t find my rhythm, and the boys helped me get through it. In the second half, everything started working, things started clicking. I threw the ball short down field and the receivers started making things happen.”

Former Gaucho Somogyi Cut by Lakers

By Presidio Sports

Former UCSB basketball player Greg Somogyi was released by the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday after spending training

camp with the team. The 7’3” center had not played in the last three preseason games for L.A. He had this to say on Twitter on Monday: “I want to thank everyone for all of your support.

My time on the Lakers has been such a great experience. Time to plan my next step!”

Somogyi played for the Lakers’ summer league team in Las Vegas after spending four years at UCSB. He averaged 1.2 points, 1.6 rebounds in five games in Vegas.

He was then signed to a trainingcamp contract on September 5.

Career averages at UCSB were 3.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 12.2 minutes per game.

Chris Douglas Roberts was released at the same time by the Lakers, cutting their roster to 16.

The Lakers must cut one more player before the regular season starts next Tuesday in order to reach the roster maximum of 15.

Best bets for weekend: Volleyball TOC has over-the-top field

By Barry Punzal

The term over-the-top also can apply to some of the players who will be here.

—The Torrey Pines roster doesn’t have a player listed under 5-foot-6; the tallest is 6-6 Jennie Frager. The Falcons also have three players whose fathers played professional sports: 6-2 outside hitter Reily Buechler is the daughter of Jud Buechler, who won three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls; 5-11 setter Ryann Chandler is the daughter of former NFL quarterback Chris Chandler and setter Maddy Kerr’s dad, Steve, won five NBA titles playing for the Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs.

—Archbishop Mitty has a big front line with 6-4 sophomore Alexa Dryer and 6-3 junior Clare Powers.

—Marymount’s roster includes 6-4 Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani and 6-2 Kaitlyn Edwards.

—Corona del Mar has a talented 6-2 sophomore in Hayley Hodson.

—La Costa Canyon has 6-2 hammer in opposite Brittany Abercrombie.

—Clovis West has the tallest player in the tournament in 6-6 McKenzie Jacobsen.

“There are a ton of girls with college commitments—UCLA, Berkeley, other Pac-12 schools, as well as schools throughout the nation,” Gannon said.

Kristen Berlo, San Marcos’ 6-1 middle,

Santa Barbara High senior and captain Frankie Lewis; the annual Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions for girls volleyball takes place this weekend

The Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions for girls volleyball annually brings in elite teams from throughout the state for a weekend of high-level competition.

Dons coach John Gannon has assembled a field for this weekend’s tournament that can be best described as over the top.

The high-powered 16-team event features three teams ranked in the top 20 of the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national poll: No. 2 Torrey Pines, No. 5 Archbishop Mitty and No. 20 Marymount. In addition, there are a pair of state top-10 teams: No. 6 Cathedral Catholic and No. 10 Corona del Mar. “I can tell you that this is an exceptionally strong field, with some incredible teams,” said Gannon. “There are a handful of teams that could really make a statement: Marymount, Torrey Pines, Archbishop Mitty, Corona del Mar, and Mira Costa.”

The bracketed tournament runs Friday and Saturday at Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos. Friday’s action begins at 11 am. Matches on Saturday start at 9 am at both gyms. The semifinals are at 10:45 am at Santa Barbara and the championship is scheduled for 6:15 pm at the Dons’ gym.

has committed to UCSB. San Marcos joins Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos in the tournament. Berlo and the Royals will go up against Jacobsen and Clovis West in a first-round match at 4:15 pm.

Santa Barbara opens against undefeated Archbishop Mitty at 2:30 pm, and DP takes on Mira Costa at 12:45 pm.

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Marymount, which started the week with a 17-4 record and has beaten Torrey Pines, Mira Costa and Corona del Mar, is the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Torrey Pines is seeded second, Archbishop Mitty is third and Corona del Mar is the fourth seed.

“It should be really exciting to see how this weekend plays out,” said Gannon.

Other events worth checking out: FRIDAY High school cross country: Santa Barbara County Championships, River Park in Lompoc — Unbeaten Bryan Fernandez and Addi Zerrenner of Dos Pueblos look to defend their individual titles, and the Chargers hope to sweep the varsity team titles for the second straight year.

High school football: Ventura (5-3, 1-1) at Santa Barbara (6-2, 1-1) — The winner of this game stays in the hunt for the Channel League title. Both teams are coming off emotional crosstown victories: Santa Barbara beat San Marcos while Ventura knocked off Buena.

High school football: Buena (4-4, 1-1) at Dos Pueblos (6-2, 2-0) — The Chargers, who are coming off a bye week, can clinch a tie for the Channel League with a victory.

College men’s soccer – Stanford at UCSB, 7 pm –– The Gauchos try to rebound from last week’s devastating overtime loss to Cal Poly against a Pac-12 opponent.

SATURDAY High school football: Nordhoff (8-0, 3-0) at Bishop Diego (8-0, 3-0), at SBCC, 7 pm –– It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the Tri-Valley League championship. Nordhoff overtook Bishop Diego as the top-ranked team in the CIF-SS Northwest Division during the middle of the season. This game will come down to which team makes the big defensive plays.

SUNDAY College men’s soccer: UC Davis at UCSB, 2 pm –– A must-win for the Gauchos in their final home match. They are in last place in the Big West North Division, three points out of second and five behind the first-place Aggies with three matches to play against the teams ahead of them.

The top two advance to the conference tournament.

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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.

Dead Man’s Party

Y

ep, that’s right, it’s that time of year again. That wonderful time of year when our nation’s youth dress up in ghoulish garb and do everything possible to scare the living daylights out of each other. They knock on doors and gorge themselves on terrifically unhealthy treats and smash pumpkins and generally wreak havoc on neighborhoods around the country.

Fun times. Fun times indeed.

The Good Land is no exception. Our friends and neighbors (and their kids) will undoubtedly be out in force, trickor-treating their forked-tails and devilears off in places like Ellwood Mesa and Winchester Canyon and all around Mountain View Elementary School. And there’s a good chance that many of them will be doing it in dastardly duds from one of two Alpha Thrift Stores on Hollister.

What a spectacle, these stores, a genuine monster’s ball of Halloween hallucinations personified in storefront windows. There’s danse macabre – a Minotaur-flapper in a roaring ‘20s fringed dress with horns crowning her bloodthirsty monster face.

Beside her, a Mardi Gras prom queen waltzes. On her other side, an apocalypticmutant-swamp creature stands stone still. It wheezes through a gas mask and brandishes a bazooka camouflaged by apparently radioactive moss. Nearby, a Michael Jackson werewolf moonwalks to the growling and gurgling of a devil-baby. Wow.

Alpha Stores Make Anything Possible for Halloween All the Alpha stores offer Halloween haute couture, but this one 12,000-squarefoot store alone houses some 15,000 themed garments in a kind of Alice in Wonderland-Nightmare on Elm Street

Miguel Portugal discovers decapitation.

IV Halloween revelers try on a few Mac Daddy duds.

Why can’t witches have babies?

Thrift employee Kyle Simpson still likes dressing up—right on Kyle!

mystique (although this Alpha Thrift is actually on Hollister near South Kellogg).

At the rear entrance, the Grim Reaper— not exactly your typical Walmart greeter— welcomes shoppers into a pandemonium of costumes, accessories and boo-masks that will conjure any nether-being you desire.

So why bother with a pre-packaged, cellophane-wrapped go-go girl costume when you can create your signature, devilish designer wear? Go ahead, feed your alter ego from racks and crates jammed with anything (and perhaps everything) imaginable. About half the store is all things Halloween: Witches hats, RIP tombstones, sequined gowns, feathered boas, Mardi Gras beads, plastic swords, gladiator armor, jeweled tiaras, angel wings, pom-poms, and a 1970s, rhinestoned, two-piece, bellbottom, lounge lizard suit for $14.99. It’s a regular dead man’s party in Alpha Thrift, a real treasure hunt for just about any costume you can dream of.

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Because their husbands have Halloweenies.

— Unknown “Look,” said Sean Dunn, Alpha Thrift Stores director of retail services. “Let your imagination run wild. Anything is possible here.”

Trick-or-Treat for a Great Cause There are two Alpha Thrift Stores in Goleta and one in Santa Barbara, and all are owned and operated by the Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara, which offers several programs and services to people of all ages with developmental disabilities (and their families, too). Halloween is their biggest fundraiser and revenues and donations help contribute toward assistance for more than 2,200 families.

So in the trickle-down equation of jacko-lantern economics, that Tinker Bell costume you purchase could provide a needy person with a new pair of glasses.

Cool, huh?

“The bottom line for us as a nonprofit is that we really depend upon the revenues from the stores to support out services.” said Kimberly Olson, executive director of the Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara. Throughout the year, she says, vigilant staff members put away Halloween-type clothing and accessories.

Then it’s costume hunting for a cause seven days a week beginning on October 1. And all the stores have a Halloween costume contest as further incentive to get into the spirit.

“We have a lot of goodies,” said Gudelia Hernandez, manager of the Alpha Thrift

Store Manager Will Goodwin embraces an old friend.

Store on Hollister Avenue near Fairview.

While she likes all the costumes, she really enjoys the blurred gender lines that seem to take center stage each year.

“A lot of guys dress up as women,” said Hernandez. “You see boys, UCSB students, looking for dresses. All these big guys looking for dresses, wigs, and high heels.”

Even Adults Like to Dress Up, Right?

Back at the storefront window, one of the creative geniuses behind Minotaurflapper and other haunting monsters and decorations is Gina Duran, 24, a store supervisor.

“I grab the scariest, most epic, eye-catching thing for a theme and create the work around it,” said Duran, crediting the creativity and work of this Alpha Store Addams Family of some 16 customer service and production staff. “She (Minotaur-flapper) is beauty and the beast because we are all part beast mixed with beauty.” (Profound Halloween wisdom. I like it.)

“I enjoy dressing up,” said Kyle Simpson, 21, another store employee. “Even though I’m still old, I dress up.” (Not quite so profound but I still like it.)

Don’t we all, Kyle, don’t we all.

Happy Halloween everybody, be safe and have some fun out there.

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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 for and co-edited My Santa Barbara Scrap Book: A Portrait of the Artist Elizabeth Eaton Burton.

“Morning Press: Oct. 13, 1912. Quite a little party of sportsmen left Friday noon for the Santa Barbara Gun Club at Guadalupe, among whom were I.R. Baxley, John S. Edwards, James H. Bull, Winsor Soule, Charles R. Dabney and Selden Spaulding. After their return the telephone will doubtless be very busy with invitations to duck dinners, for of course each and every nimrod will bring home a full bag. One does not mention duck dinners without immediately thinking of the justly famous ones of the Baxleys, which begin with the winter season.”

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(1) Harry Hollister, (2) Edward Tallant, (3) John Bailard, and (4) Alfred Redington clean ducks at the Guadalupe Duck Club circa 1905 (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

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n avid outdoorsman and hunter, Edward Selden Spaulding joined the Guadalupe Duck Club at a young age. Santa Barbara sportsmen, he reports in his memoirs, traveled to the Club by train and usually spent 2-3 days at the clubhouse, which stood at the edge of a lake. They returned to Santa Barbara with gunnysacks filled with ducks. One year, Isaac R. Baxley, a Santa Barbara attorney and lemon grower, brought in an assortment of Sprigs, Mallards, Wigeon, Teal, Spoonbills, Scaup, and others to total 1,023.

The limit was 25 ducks a day, and once Spaulding and his friends shot 1,200 birds in one weekend. The following year, and in years after, he noted only a pitifully small number of ducks passing through that area. “I cannot but wonder,” he writes, “to what use were all of the ducks put. In those days, before the invention of deep freeze machines and lockers, how could so many ducks be eaten? By the same token, how did my companion at Guadalupe Lake, Mr. Baxley, dispose of 1,023 ducks?” Although Baxley proudly gave each of the 20 guests at his renowned dinners a whole duck, his Chinese cook was surely kept busy inventing recipes for the leftover fowl.

At the beginning of the 1900s, not only ducks were abundant as “Millie and her sister” reveal with their bundles of wild pigeons (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

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Plan B

by Briana Westmacott Hailing from NorCal, Briana has lived in Santa Bar-

bara for the past fifteen years. While she is indeed an adjunct faculty member at SBCC and has contributed to LOVEmikana, Wake & Wander and Entrée Magazine, much of her time is spent multi-tasking her way through days as a mother, wife, sister, wantto-be chef and travel junky. Writing is an outlet that ensures mental stability… usually.

Running for a great cause on a beautiful Santa Barbara Sunday morning.

Girls, Girls, Girls

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t’s no secret that girls can be downright awful to each other. Everybody knows that. But, frankly, it can be shocking— even for a thirty-something girl like myself— just how deep the darkness that lies tucked away in the crevices of a woman’s psyche can sometimes seem.

To wit: I recently happened upon a group of women at a cocktail party—let’s call them the Gossip Group—who just happened to be talking about…me. And it wasn’t pretty. By the time all involved realized I was standing there, it was too late. The damage was done.

Eyes quickly darted from mine to the floor.

The subject was changed in a chorus of hemming and hawing, and to describe the subsequent moments as uncomfortable would undoubtedly be the understatement of the year.

I was hurt, badly even, by a group of women that I consider friends.

It dawned on me later that much of this Gossip Group behavior starts at an early age.

While I was smarting over the cocktail party fiasco, my four-year-old daughter came home one afternoon complaining that girls

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Santa Barbara girls get ready to go in front of the Cabrillo Bathhouse.

Tough Cookies Alexa Ratcliffe (right) and Angela Del Deo after finishing She.Is.Beautiful.

at her school weren’t playing particularly nicely. “You can’t be our friend!” they’d been telling my (sweet, wonderful) child, and “You aren’t invited to my birthday party.”

All I could think as she was crying to me, with her feelings in the dumpster behind the house, was, “Kid, it sure don’t get no easier.”

Is it possible that preschool and premenopausal (ok, a slight exaggeration here) females could be exhibiting similar behavior?

Maybe it turns out that all the years don’t make us any wiser. Or maybe women are just innately mean. Like snakes.

I’d like to be wrong. I’d like to learn that my take is off base and that all women are generally pleasant creatures, hoping for the best for all of womankind. But I don’t think I’m missing the ball here. And it is a fact that my husband has never been in this type of situation.

(Anecdotally, I don’t think many men partake in gossip the way that women do— which is a smart choice by them. Words can create deeper wounds than fists. And if I had a choice, I would rather be slapped in the face than stabbed in the back. But I digress.)

One might think that I’d have learned how to handle a situation like the one I stumbled upon with the Gossip Group. I’ve been around women all my life. I’m one of four girls in my family, not including my mom. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we survived the countless tear-soaked catfights over the telephone or the closet war death matches centered on who got the striped leg warmers for school that day. It was loud and rambunctious and caddy and way too much for my dads. My wonderful mother married twice and the high-octane girl-fest at our farm was too much for each one of them.

But I suppose I haven’t learned. Their words still hurt, just like I was a four-yearold being excluded on the playground.

Yet even so, I’ve always had a strong faith in women. I think it started during a tenyear stretch when my mom was a practicing midwife. My sisters and I were schlepped

around after school or on the weekends and rushed into the homes of women who were in the throws of childbirth. And while this may at first blush seem quite traumatizing for a child (quite traumatizing indeed), my memories of it all are really quite positive and that time formed the foundation for my belief in the goodness of us women and girls.

Indeed, rather than horrifying flashbacks filled with bodily fluids and screams of pain, I have a wonderful recollection and feel for that otherworldly calm and relieving and utterly joyous moment when a life enters this world—and that, to me, is a clear and powerful testament to the fact that women’s strength enables human existence to continue. Compassionately.

Lovingly.

A few weeks ago, on a bright Sunday morning just after the Gossip Group ruined a few of my days (and nights), I ran in the first annual She.Is.Beautiful footrace, in which members of the fairer gender from all over Santa Barbara (and beyond) strapped on their running shoes and stepped out to support Girls Inc. It was a vision of pink, adorned with tutus, bridal veils and tiaras. Females from seven to seventy years old flooded the road from the Cabrillo Bathhouse to the Biltmore and back, encouraged by breathtaking views, cheers from husbands, fathers, and fans, and inspirational quotes lining the road like, “I believe the happy girls are the beautiful girls. I believe strong is pretty.”

I felt strong that morning. I felt a part of a group of women filled with camaraderie and vision and power to effect change for good.

I felt happy.

And I forgot all about the Gossip Group within a few moments of running amongst friends.

By the time I crossed the finish line, I was euphoric. Not just because the running was over—it was only a 5K but I’m not exactly

Briana’s Best Bets Fall with Frankenstein If you’re craving a true taste of fall and an early Halloween treat, pack the family and head up to Kalyra Winery in Santa Ynez on Saturday, Oct. 27th. In the vineyard’s lovely outdoor amphitheater, the winery will host a free screening of the campy classic film Young Frankenstein. Kalyra will have California Wood-Fired Pizza on site and, of course, wine-tasting specials all evening. Bring blankets and jackets, the event runs from 6:30-10:30 pm with the movie set to begin at dusk.

Halloween’s Sweet Bonus Cash in a pound of your child’s candy at Silvergreens Restaurant for a free kid’s meal any time between Nov. 1-5th. All those sweets will be donated to Operation Gratitude, an organization that provides care packages to our deployed U.S. Military service members. in peak shape at the moment—but also because I was one of 600 Santa Barbara women running to support a terrific cause…and each other. She.Is.Beautiful and all that came along with it really helped me to regain my faith in the core goodness that lies at the center of what it means to be a girl, and I easily forgave the Gossip Group.

I know that’s not what we’re made of.

Yeah, that Sunday was a beautiful day.

And all I could see for miles and miles were girls, girls, girls.

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Pickle Me This

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weekend guide

Scene

Green

by

• LOVE IS FREE What: Boocara!

Where: Bacara Resort & Spa, 8301 Hollister Ave. When: Sunday, October 28, 4-7pm Why: Trick-or-treat with your kids thru Bacara Resort & Spa, partake in festive activities (like bobbing for apples and making s’mores), see scary flicks and enjoy live music, eerie edibles and creepy cocktails (cocktails are for adults only, of course).

How: Dress to impress! The best costume wins a one-night stay.

.com

By Courtney Dietz

What’ll It Cost Me: Don’t be scared.

This Halloween bash is free... but space is limited so call to RSVP ASAP!

• LOOSE CHANGE

Pacific Pickle Works’ pickled produce packs a punch

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s you may have noticed, we LOVEmikana birds just love a good play on words. So what’s better than any old snappy pun? A snappy pun on pickles, of course!

Not only do “green” pickles pack a punch to your palate, but the creative labeling of Santa Barbara-based Pacific Pickle Works is right up our alley. And the bottom line is that self-described Principal Pickle Bradley Bennett and Pickle Packer Emi Umezawa (PPW’s owners) know how to produce preserves. The fact that they are pickled and packled right here in town with California’s own harvest makes them an easy addition to any eating and buying local plan, and—trust us—these pickles are the real deal. With names like “Jalabeaños” (yes, please!), “Cukarambas” (oooh, we relish the thought) and “Unbeetable” (mmm…yes, they are), who can resist?

These delightful treats can be found all over town—try C’est Cheese, Il Fustino, Lazy Acres, Metropulos Merchant and Tri-County Produce. And the extra zip PPW’s pickled Carrots of Fire add to O Street Truck’s Vietnamese Beef Banh Mi Sandwich is just right. So go ahead and give Pacific Pickle Works’ pickled produce a try…we’re pretty sure you’ll find it all dill-icious!

What: Pumpkin Carving, Movie & Wine Night Where: Oreana Winery, 205 Anacapa Street When: Saturday, October 27, 7pm Why: Renowned pumpkin carver Dennis Banning will demonstrate techniques for carving the perfect pumpkin over wine and a movie.

How: Bring a pumpkin, some carving tools and spiff up your skills.

• HEY BIG SPENDER What: Disco de los Muertos Where: El Paseo Restaurant, 813 Anacapa Street When: Friday, October 26, 9pm-1:30am Why: Get in the Halloween spirit by celebrating the dead disco-style.

How: Calling all vampires, superheros, and out-of-this-world creatures – go enjoy a ghoulish evening of live music, art, cocktails and more!

Wine & Dine

What’ll It Cost Me: Free to attend.

Wine will cost ya... but it may also help your carving skills.

What’ll It Cost Me: $20 in advance $30 at the door

By Kim Wiseley

Your French Fix

O

oo la la – a new French joint has come to Santa Barbara and it’s magnifique!

A bit west of Paris, and as initially reported right here in the Sentinel a couple weeks The French Table gastropub and crêperie opened for business last week back, The French Table officially opened last week at 129 East Anapamu powdered sugar and Nutella. (They Street. Déjà vu? Not quite. This gastropub had us at Baileys.) It’s unclear whether and crêperie set up shop in the former any chopping is involved. Some might Elements restaurant building across from consider eating cake instead. the Courthouse Sunken Gardens. Ceci • Dress up or go Santa Barbara-chic, grab a excite! Following are a few fun facts about cappuccino and a croissant to go, even dine our new French fave: out on the patio to see and be seen or inside • The French Table is open daily from 8am for a more cozy feel. Anything goes at this – 10pm (11pm on Friday and Saturday). gastropub, and its warm and welcoming feel Yes, that means you can have les crêpes for fits well into the SB scene. petit déjeuner, déjeuner and dîner. Not into • Oh, there’s a terrific bar, so please feel free crêpes? They’ve also got a menu full of to indulge in an apéritif or two. Trés bien! everything from oeufs to paninis and boeuf So, my fellow (philanthropic? philandering?) Francophiles, what’s the bourguignon.

• There is something mysterious for moral of this story? Gather round the table, dessert called la guillotine. It involves mes amours, and get your French fix as soon mango, banana, Baileys, ice cream, as possible. Bon appétit!

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COMMERCIAL CORNER

by Austin Herlihy A Commercial Real Estate Agent with Radius Group who

has completed over $400,000,000 in total transaction value and Leased / Sold over 1,500,000 SF since 2005, Herlihy was the lead Agent on the sale of the Fairmont Orchid Hotel listed in 2011 for $150,000,000, as well as the high profile transaction of the sale of the Hotel Californian

Cap Rate Compression 3025 De La Vina recently sold at a 5.67% cap rate and we are seeing and forecasting further compression.

1424 State Street was a great investment at a 6.25% cap rate when it sold in 2011 due especially to its parking and the creditworthiness of its tenant.

I

n commercial real estate, a capitalization rate is the ratio between the net operating income produced by an asset and its capital cost (the original price paid to buy the asset), or alternatively its current market value. We in Santa Barbara are seeing a

compression in “cap rates” (which generally means higher prices) as inventory falls to almost non-existent levels.

Here’s an example: In 2006-2007, at the height of the market, we were seeing prime State Street retail space selling at around a

900 State Street is on the market at a 5% cap rate, which is about as aggressive as we’ve seen.

4.5% cap rate. In 2009, which some would argue was the bottom of the market, those same prime State Street properties were trading at 6% cap rates or higher. Take 1424 State Street, for instance, which sold September 7, 2011 at a 6.25% cap rate.

Now, it’s clear after a few recent sales and from a few properties we have in escrow that cap rates have compressed once again to the mid 5% range for prime retail buildings in Santa Barbara. Take the recent sale of 3025 De La Vina Street, which sold on January 1, 2012 at a 5.67% cap rate, and 900 State Street (formerly Borders, now Marshalls), which is currently on the market (we believe it is close to or already in escrow as we go to print) at a 5% cap rate.

The Goleta and Carpinteria markets are another story as cap rates in those markets are probably in the high 6% to mid 7% range depending on a number of variables.

What makes this even more interesting is that the leasing market, for the most part, is fairly anemic across the board.

So, why are cap rates shrinking in Santa Barbara as prices increase and inventory disappears? The answer is that we are seeing some flight, especially in Santa Barbara, from other investments to commercial real estate. (We’re also seeing some of that cash on the sidelines actually get into the game.)

Again, why are we seeing these trends?

1. The primary cause is low bond and treasury yields coupled with very low interest rates and a major fear of looming inflation. (Commercial real estate is a traditional inflation hedge.)

2. The second most common thing I

hear is that people just don’t trust the stock market and the large financial institutions anymore. (Better to invest in real property, especially at the higher cap rates we were seeing.)

3. Lastly, Santa Barbara investors are mostly focused on wealth preservation not generating wealth. (Commercial real estate is traditionally a nice way to preserve wealth, even at relatively low cap rates, as long as the asset is well-located.)

Put all these together and you have the recipe for cap rate compression.

Note that, to some degree, cap rates rise with risk. That’s why you generally see higher potential returns in less desirable areas. With that said, even during the worst times of 2009 and 2010, Santa Barbara never saw more than a 5-6% vacancy factor, whereas outlying and larger markets saw vacancy rates in the high teens and even into the low 20% range. That likely explains the lower cap rates in Santa Barbara and higher cap rates out of town—higher vacancy equals more risk, which, in turn, breeds higher cap rates for those whose tolerance for risk is higher.

One of the many bright sides to investing in commercial real estate right now is that we expect to see rent growth over the next five years, which should increase values even further. And hey, we’re in Santa Barbara, after all, where supply is generally low and demand high, so getting out of investments is typically easier here than in other markets.

These facts, coupled together with the others above, indicate a reasonable time to buy.

See you in the trenches.

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REAL ESTATE

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408 Loma Alta Drive

By Michael Calcagno Michael has consistently been ranked in the

T

his two-bedroom, one-bathroom home has hardwood floors and a fireplace in the living room. There is just a short walk to the beach, shopping and local restaurants, as well as to SBCC. \

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

Magnificent Mesa

L

ong known as one of the great family neighborhoods of Santa Barbara, without question the Mesa remains a relatively affordable California coastal gem. While just about all SB townsfolk know the Mesa well, for clarity, we realtors consider it to encompass the area from the eastern-most border of Santa Barbara City College, stretching along the coastline westward to Arroyo Burro Beach (Hendry’s to some, The Pit to others).

The tops of Meigs Road and Flora Vista Drive mark the northern boundary…and the Pacific Ocean marks the southern one.

Not a bad bit of geography.

Reminiscent of the beach communities from our (or my) grandparent’s childhood, the Mesa offers residents easy access to some of Santa Barbara’s best attractions. Shoreline Park provides Marine Terrace families a 15-acre ocean front expanse within walking distance, complete with sprawling grass lawns, biking and running paths, children’s playgrounds, and BBQ grills and picnic tables. Many residents can easily walk or ride their bikes to Santa Barbara Harbor, lower State Street and Stearns Wharf. There are or four shopping centers (depending on how you look at it) with restaurants, markets (including Lazy Acres, a local favorite), shops and more located in the middle of the Mesa…so essentially there is no need to leave. And the Douglas Family Preserve offers miles of trails for dogs and humans alike to enjoy gorgeous views of the coastline and Channel Islands. (Doug, my 90-pound Labrador—he’s not fat, by the way, just pleasantly plump—truly loves the 70-acre nature haven/K-9 amusement park, and we consider it one of Santa Barbara’s best kept secrets.)

Historically the weather on the Mesa has proven to be eight to ten degrees warmer than downtown Santa Barbara in winter and eight to ten degrees cooler in summer. Washington School—one of two on the Mesa—is among Santa Barbara’s best public schools. The views are great year-round, and the people are too. Without a doubt, the Mesa is its own little paradise within the larger paradise of greater Santa Barbara.

Here is a breakdown of three Mesa properties for this week.

List price: $629,900 Down payment (3.5%): $22,046 Loan amount: $607,853 Loan payment: $2,645 (30 yr fixed at 3.25% (3.35% APR))

Mortgage insurance: $557 (required when less than 20% down) Property taxes estimate: $577 Home insurance estimate: $80 Total Monthly Payment

$3,859

205 La Plata

321 Oceano Avenue

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estled just one block from Shoreline Park on a quiet street, this Marine Terrace home boasts an expanded floor plan with fireplace, wood floors, flagstone patio and fruit trees, along with a newerpaver driveway, roof, plumbing, and bathroom.

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California cottage that is near the ocean and very close to SB City College, this home has two bedrooms and one bath, with a very large lot and tons of development potential.

List price: $649,000 Down payment (10%): $64,900 Loan amount: $584,100 Loan payment: $2,582 (30 yr fixed at 3.375% (3.47% APR))

Mortgage insurance: $267

(required when less than 20% down)

Property taxes estimate: $594 Home insurance estimate: $80 Total Monthly Payment:

$3,523

List price: $824,700 Down payment (20%): $164,940 Loan amount: $659,760 Loan payment: $2,981 (30 yr fixed at 3.55% (3.59% APR))

Property taxes estimate: $755 Home insurance estimate: $80 Total Monthly Payment

$3,816 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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