••• A county alert about red imported fire ants being discovered on a Montecito property got picked up all over. Two choice headlines: “Fire Ants Invade Town Loved by Celebrities” (The Guardian) and “Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner warns of imported fire ant infestation Thursday” (KEYT). Unfortunately, officials won’t say where in Montecito the ants were discovered—even a general area would be useful—and how exactly we might recognize their “aggressive” behavior. UPDATE: Master Gardener makes a good point: “Should I avoid walking my dog on certain trails? Are golfers in danger and, if so, where? What areas should hotel guests, hikers, children avoid?”
••• The city of Santa Barbara is weighing a “plan to spend $250,000 this year and up to $1 million over three years for an economic development plan,” reports Noozhawk. The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce would use the money “to develop new economic policies surrounding a State Street leasing strategy, hospitality, events, visitor services and the so-called ‘Blue Economy,’ and supporting housing downtown, among other initiatives.” This from the city that apparently has a $7 million budget shortfall and wants to raise taxes. You want an economic development plan? Stop making it so difficult to do business here. P.S. The blue economy is “a term used to describe the economic activities associated with the oceans and seas,” says the London School of Economics.
••• “The brothers and owners of Yardi Systems are working with the City of Santa Barbara […] to build 14 units inside a commercial office building at 12 E. Carrillo Street.” —Noozhawk
••• “Mesa Residents Voice Concerns over Elings Park’s Fire Risk [….] ‘Everyone’s Insurance Has Either Gone Up or Gone Away,’ Resident Says.” —Independent
••• The Soap store in Carpinteria is closing; owner Daniel Case is retiring. —Coastal View News
••• The tree of the month is the Moreton Bay chestnut: “Beginning in July and continuing through August, its red to reddish-yellow flowers bloom. These are small (1.25- to 1.75-inches long) and appear in racemes (clusters) on older twigs in the upper crown. Since the flowers are well hidden within the foliage, deliberate inspection from underneath the tree is required simply to see them; but their interesting funnel-like shapes and striking colors make it well worth the effort. […] After pollination, the small flowers develop their fruit in yellow-green bean pods that are comparatively gigantic—up to 10-inches long and 2.5-inches wide!” —Edhat
••• Miserable Casa Dorinda resident Renée Templeraud has written another operatic letter to the Montecito Journal (page 41), and this one involves octogenarian nudity and shoe trees. Previous missives: May 2023 and August 2023.
••• “The closed Rite Aid building […] in downtown Carpinteria is on the market and many residents see an opportunity to turn it into a new center for seniors and community activities. […] The local family that owns it, the Welty Family Trust, has said it wants the city to buy it and it will assist with some of the financial paperwork.” —KEYT
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I would read Renée Templeraud on the daily if I could! “A witch on wheels with a capital B” – dying…..
This woman is obviously out of her mind. Irma is one of the sweetest human beings I’ve ever known.
Sorry to hear Soap is closing. Wonderful little store. I love their charcoal soaps.
Oh no. Here we go again. The Chamber of Commerce is the least capable, least effective, most inept org of middle managers around. I suppose there is always the City’s staff to outdo them… but it’s a close second for the CoC.
Nothing they propose or cite is accurate or tenable. They are a cabal of mediocrity. Middle management bureaucrats who showcase the “Peter principle” in real life. Please do not give them any more money, credence or time. These are not creative or entrepreneurial people. They are quite literally, the opposite of those who create and build and forge. Just look at the membership of this org for a view into who makes up the CoC and their actual capabilities.
It’s insulting that our city staff is so inept that they need to continually hire outside consultants – at the cost of millions a year, to do the very jobs the city staff were hired to do… Where else in society do we promote the least capable and ignore their ineptitude and instead reward them with the highest salaries and the lowest productivity expectations?
Sam, you nailed it, I hope more residents of SB read or hear about this before the city council. I just watched “Newsmakers with JR” on You Tube, Josh Molina adds more to this news story. And Josh also posted a great one on his YT page, “Santa Barbara Talks”. Now, my opinion the $250k is a waste of our city reserves to fund a theory that the SB Chamber can somehow increase visitors when we already have “Visit Santa Barbara,” and most local businesses are promoting their businesses. . . .
Sam, I totally agree with you. The City has a large staff of engineers and planners. If they are not capable of designing and building the projects we need, they need to be fired. Knowing the City intimately from having worked there for decades, however, it is more a question of lacking leadership among management that fosters an environment of pluggers rather than vision and imagination. The City’s planning department is a disgrace. They need to cut some fat at the top and invest in some visionary planners as well as bringing in someone who can facilitate a complete overhaul of the antiquated workflow.
While tourism remains Santa Barbara’s largest industry, what many people don’t know is that writing studies and reports for the city is now #2, and projected to eclipse tourism in 2028…..
I wish I could upvote or like this! Funny, sad, and too much truth in it.
Erik, thank you for being the only member of the media to point out that the precise location where the scary imported fire ants have been discovered is being withheld from the public. Should I avoid walking my dog on certain trails? Are golfers in danger and, if so, where? What areas should hotel guests, hikers, children avoid?
Stupid question, but will the consultants be paid from the withhold wages of the city stuff who were hired to do that job in first place?
Otherwise it‘s a great concept, I should talk to my boss and suggest we hire someone extern do my job so i can focus on other things or just chill a bit ????????????
Speaking from Austin, TX. We had an invasion of red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) about 50 years ago. They built mounds in lawns and parks all over the city. Now they are no problem, thanks to biological control. And they are not the terrifying plague that the news media makes them out to be. If a colony of them makes a mound in your lawn, bring a Dutch oven full of water to the boil and dump it on them. Don’t bother with pesticides.
The residents surrounding Elings should be more concerned about the salaries of the staff and how little is actually spent running the park and enriching the community…
I also would like to know where the fire ants have been discovered and what their doing to get rid of them.
RE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A volunteer committee of the city’s successful business owners would produce a perfect plan for this city after 3-4 work sessions. A future city manager with extraordinary credentials would make that plan work.