••• The city is considering renting out the entire Rose Garden Inn at 3643 State Street (between Chick fil-A and Sun Sushi) to house the homeless: “The four-month plan at the Rose Garden Inn―expected to cost the city between $1.6 million to $2 million―would provide emergency lodging, food, transportation, and services for as many as 50 people now living on the streets.” —Noozhawk
••• “Santa Barbara based QAD, a manufacturing software company, is being acquired by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of approximately $2 billion. […] Once the transaction is complete, QAD will still operate and be headquartered in Santa Barbara with CEO Anton Chilton continuing to lead the company.” —Pacific Coast Business Times
••• “In the wake of a court order, the County Executive Office is releasing the applications and scoresheets of the teams that competed for five out the six cannabis dispensaries that will be allowed in unincorporated Santa Barbara County.” —Newsmakers, Edhat, KEYT, Independent, Noozhawk
••• The summer issue of Santa Barbara Magazine visits architect Robin Donaldson’s 12,000-square-foot live-work compound. One wonders whether its name, Anacapa Studios, leads to confusion with the Anacapa architecture firm…. Anyway, the article isn’t online yet but the place looks neat.
••• In the same issue: swimsuit designer Sonia De Mello of So De Mel is moving to Italy. The Coast Village Road showroom closes at the end of July.
••• “The State Lands Commission is moving to decommission two oil wells not far off the coast of Goleta [….] The State Lands Commission held a public scoping meeting on June 24 for the public to provide input on the issues the commission should consider for the environmental impact report on the decommissioning of piers 421-1 and 421-2. The project would take around six months to complete and happen in spring 2022.” —Independent
••• Pacific Coast Business Times checks in with Parker Clay, the “Santa Barbara-based company that imports handcrafted items from Ethiopia.” It’s doing well: “It’s hiring more locals for at its factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, and it’s moving into a new storage space in Goleta next month. The new warehouse has more than 8,000 square feet of space, triple what Parker Clay’s previous warehouse had.” Below: the company’s new Rincon tote.
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Hi Eric, Initially I was enthused to learn that the City was exploring a housing solution for the homeless population. However, my jaw dropped when I saw the cost. At $2.0 million for 4 months and 50 people, it comes to $10,000 per month per person. Does that sound high to you, especially given the Rose Hotel is a very modest hotel? Have you seen any discussion on how the cost has been estimated?
I have no idea what a reasonable amount is for this kind of thing, but I do wish we had invested in permanent housing rather than a four-month period.
Dave, I’m not in any way associated with project or specifically aware of its budgeting, but I do know they employ many staff including 24/7 security, etc. so much of the cost is going toward personnel expenses. I am actually in favor of this project and I don’t mean to disparage it but I do have some more generalized philosophical questions about the non-profit industrial complex and what has gone wrong in this country with regards to our ability to carry out any type of service or project at a reasonable cost, whether its accomplished through the private or non-profit sector or carried out by the government itself. Many other countries seem to do much better than we can.