Goodbye Buddy
Team explores ancient Maya city Grant to help UCSB anthropologist’s research efforts - A3
Our 165th Year
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T U E S DAY, AUGUS T 18 , 2 0 2 0
Heatwave to continue all week
Mar Monte Hotel welcomes guests 200-room resort opens across from East Beach By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
The 200-room, oceanside Mar Monte Hotel has opened in Santa Barbara. Located at 1111 E. Cabrillo Blvd., the resort is across the street from East Beach. The building, which underwent extensive renovation and was enhanced with modern amenities, is designed as a reincarnation of the historic 1930s Vista Mar Monte. The hotel graces three acres of Spanish-influenced grounds. And the guest rooms offer views of the Pacific Ocean or the mountains. The hotel is part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand. “The unveiling of Mar Monte Hotel is a proud moment for our entire team. We had a vision to forge a deep connection with the local community and provide
inspiration to our guests through unrivaled access to the very best of Santa Barbara,” general manager Ingrid Braun said in a news release Monday. “Through this transformation, we’ve not only created an inspiring property and thought-provoking experiences for the spirited lifestyle traveler, but also a warm and welcoming destination for those who call Santa Barbara home.” The hotel’s interior design work was done by Los Angelesbased Beleco, which stressed bright white walls for a welcoming atmosphere in the lobby and living room. That area also features exposed beam ceilings, arches, chandeliers, terracotta tiled flooring and a large-scale ceramic tile art installation behind the reception desk, bringing Spanishstyle elements into the space in a muted earthy color palette. The hotel’s two restaurants are Costa and Café Lido, both Please see hotel on A7
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Santa Barbara resident Tracy Thomas and her 5-year-old daughter, Brighton, play in the surf to cool off on a hot day.
By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The heat wave Santa Barbara County has been experiencing in recent days is expected to continue today. Temperatures are once again expected at or above 90 degrees in the city of Santa Barbara, and meteorologist Mike Wofford of the National Weather Service in
Oxnard said we can expect “very minimal change” throughout Thursday. The 90-degree days will have low temperatures at night between 65 and 75 degrees. Friday in the city is forecasted to range from the mid to high 80s and in the low to mid 80s through the weekend. At the start of next week, temperatures in the city of Santa Barbara are expected to “be warm, but not
excessively so,” according to Mr. Wofford. As per usual during a heat wave, the coastal regions will be significantly cooler than inland areas, with the hottest areas in Santa Barbara County predicted to reach temperatures between 105 and 110 degrees. These areas include the mountains, Cuyama, and the Santa Ynez Valley. Cuyama and the Please see HEAT on A8
County Elections Office confident it can handle increased mail-in voting By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the expectation that the Nov. 3 election will be largely done through mail-in-ballots in California. And the Santa Barbara County Elections Office is confident that it will be able to accurately and efficiently count votes despite the expected increase in ballots sent through the mail. The Elections Office must deliver ballots to local post offices by Oct. 5, the first day residents can start mail-in voting. However, the elections division is working with its ballot printer to possibly get ballots delivered to Santa Barbara County post offices on Sept. 28, according to Joe Holland, the county clerk, recorder, assessor and registrar of voters. “We’re not really anticipating any problems,” he said. “It’s just that with the volume of vote-bymail across the nation, we wanted to work with our printer to make sure we’re ahead of the game.” Please see voting on A2
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
A question this year is how many voters will choose to mail-in ballots rather than go to a poll.
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Mar Monte Hotel has opened at 1111 E. Cabrillo Blvd., across from East Beach.
Property owners push back against rent stabilization By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Earlier this month, councilmembers Meagan Harmon and Kristen Sneddon introduced a concept via memorandum called a Community Stabilization Policy Initiative in attempts to explore a limitation on the increased percentage landlords can charge per year. The proposed limitation is no more than a 2% increase in rent a year. In addition, in the event of a decrease in Consumer Price Index in any given year, no rent increase is allowable in that year. While an ordinance dealing with no-fault eviction and relocation assistance will be voted on months from now, the rent cap proposal is far from even being written down on paper. Currently, the councilmembers hope to engage with Santa Barbara residents in public discussion. “Community stabilization is just a concept we are hoping to engender discussion on,” Ms. Harmon told the News-Press. “It’s not an ordinance. It’s not scheduled to be voted on.” In the memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by the
News-Press, the councilmembers pointed out that Santa Barbara County is the sixth most costburdened county out of the 58 counties in California. More than half of city renters are paying more than 30% of their income on housing. “We want to have a conversation about what stable housing looks like and what the options are to move us in that direction,” Ms. Harmon said. “The policy itself is not particularly innovative -- it follows the policy in place in the state.” She added that the vacancy decontrol ordinance is key to the rent cap. When a tenant moves out or relocates, the unit can be relet at whatever price the landlord is able to negotiate with the next tenant, potentially returning to market price. “That’s an important piece because it does, in our view, really respect and reflect the rights of property owners to price their unit as they see fit while also reflecting the needs of our community for stable housing, now more than ever,” Ms. Harmon said. The memo includes many “carve-outs,” including: “rental Please see RENT on A7
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Comics................. A6 Classified............... A7 Life.................... A3-4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 14-18-21-42-45 Meganumber: 26
Monday’s DAILY 4: 0-1-5-5
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 3-24-29-42-47 Meganumber: 13
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 5-20-25-27-36
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 04-10-.1 Time: 1:43.59
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 5-12-34-45-56 Meganumber: 3
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Monday’s DAILY 3: 0-6-7 / Sunday’s Midday 5-4-6
