Dear No By-line, Anonymous Turtle
Regarding your column in the Daily Sound referencing Santa Barbara Councilmembers and their views on:
1.Global warming
2.Impeach Bush
3.Illegal Immigration
4.Gang violence
1. global warming is an important issue but more so for what the discussion really portends. . .reduced resources. We may have plenty of oil now, and natural gas and water, but we will soon experience large cost increases as the supplies diminish. It is more of a question of husbanding our resources than global warming. If the ocean stayed at its current level and no weather changes occurred at all. . .we still will begin to realize, through our pocket book, that things are going to cost a lot more and there will be less of it. We need to act accordingly.
My personal belief is that population growth is the problem. Now, how do we get a grip on THAT?
2. Bush is a jerk. He's single-handedly ruined the international rule of law and sovereignty of governments. He's a cocky bully. He's brought death and despair to vast millions. He has NOT secured our safety but has imperiled it. Do I want to impeach him. NO. Too divisive; too expensive, too diverting of the attention of the nation and congress. I just want his presence gone. History will treat him harshly, which he richly deserves.
3. Illegal immigration. I don't like it. I want it stopped. You tell me how to do it and I'm probably right with you. If you are suggesting that our police department begin raids on restaurants and hotels and begin checking for green cards, I'm going to tell you it won't work. First, we'd have to increase our police force by a bunch, maybe as many as 25 (one estimate) and we don’t' have the money nor do I think that allocation of our police resources should be done that way. I'd rather have increased gang enforcement, downtown nightlife enforcement and bike patrols. Second, we'd land in court within hours in law suits claiming our behavior was, itself, illegal (we might win, after years, but the cost would be horrendous).
You want a solution? You're it, you. The anonymous Turtle guys and gals. Don't use the services of illegal aliens. It's like not buying goods from Cuba. Don't do it. But you do use them. All the time. So, let's all show the same brass in our personal lives that we are expecting from the City Council. Tell Harry's and Joe's and Ralph's and Von's that you aren't going to buy there any more because they actively support illegal immigration either in their hiring practices or in their buying practices. Don't eat any more lettuce or tomatoes and don't get your house cleaned or your car washed.
An interesting story that is true, you can look it up: When the Chumash Casino bought the Royal Scandinavian Inn in Solvang a few months ago they had to do background checks on all the employees due to strict gaming laws and regulations. It was discovered that almost half, 50%, of the staff had phony cards. During the time that the Chumash cleaned up that problem, they had to have senior management making beds for the first three months of operation while they sought documented workers. The point. . .EVERYBODY (except the Chumash Casino) uses illegal workers and just doesn't' t fess up to it.
4. Gang violence. Huge. Of the four questions, for us locally, it is the biggest. I'll hit some highlights of my thoughts.
These are some of the "program" organizations for youth, all good organizations and well-intentioned:
1. Churches (maybe 10 in town)
2. Non-profit corporations (over three dozen that I know of, including the Yacht Club Sailing program, sports groups like AYSO and PONY baseball, etc, etc)
3. City Parks and Rec (literally hundreds of offerings, times and dates throughout the year)
4. Police Activity League (PAL)
5. County Parks and Rec
6. UCSB
7. SBCC
8. General City services
9. General County services
10 Elementary Schools
11. Secondary Schools
12. Local trade union job programs
Now, I also ask you, if you had some money to donate, say you had $50,000 to give away but you wanted to service the kids who are "gang potential/at risk". . .where would you go to see a list of the offerings and who would you talk to. Answer: No place to do that. You'd have to contact each one of the above separately and once you got what you were after, you'd never know if one more call would have gotten you to an even better or more appropriate program. As "government-y" as this sounds, I'm in favor of a standing joint City-County commission that coordinates all of these programs. Who knows how many are really effective and how many are just getting grant money to keep the doors open? Nobody.
You denigrate "programs". You shouldn't. They can save a lives and turn kids around. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. . .but, having said that, truth is, enforcement is absolutely necessary and it goes on all the time. Our police force is fully staffed and fully funded and has been for at least a year. We lose people but we have a continual recruitment process. I believe in a strong police response. Another huge one for me is graffiti removal within 24 hours. How about you Turtle guys signing up with Looking Good Santa Barbara? Get a graffiti removal kit, use it where you live. Call the graffiti hotline (897-2513). It works. Help clean up the place where you are.
Ironically, it is often those who complain most about poor government service who also feel we should have less government service. It doesn't work that way. Further, government is not some disembodied "thing" that lives a million miles away. It is us. I'm not a career politician. I'm trying to do good things, to listen, to act. It is my sincere privilege and honor to work at making Santa Barbara a better place, every single day. I don't do anything else. I've put my profession on hold. Every single day I do work for Santa Barbara to make it better. Every day. Some times I screw up, sometimes I miss something, but never do I deliberately hide something from the public. I believe absolutely that the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Not every viewpoint can prevail every time because there is more than one side. But arbitrary is not my manner, nor that of any of my colleagues, that I have ever seen.
Thanks for the editorials in the Sound. Keep it up. You do good work.
Regards,
Brian
Brian B. Barnwell
Santa Barbara City Council
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