the Rookies

I love the politics in Santa Barbara! there are so many different special interests controlling the politicians that when they make mistakes they run to their patrons for cover..this seems to be an exclusively conservative trait...

witness the front page story on Dale Francisco who stepped in big pile of doo doo when he announced he wants to repeal the Brown Act so he and his cronies can discuss the public's business in private..the backlash was huge and now he's running for cover to the News-Press, blaming "radicals" for his predicament.....Dale, who is often praised as being super smart, has made many mistakes during his tenure on the City Council and his re-election is seriously threatened by his obvious instability....

next, we have Michael Self, sitting in the cockpit at the new airport terminal, trying to usurp Airport Director Karen Ramsdell's authority, and voting against utility rate increases while the News-Press praised her in an editorial....the editorial was written by Lanny Ebenstein as he mentions his guru free market clown Friedrich Hayak..proof positive that he works for the News-Press when Nipper told me he didn't!

Wendy and Mike are showing their rookie status and lack of a working understanding when it comes to utilities and they tried to turn it into a pension/compensation issue....the utilities like water and wastewater are expensive and they have professionals working there to keep costs down..take a tour and you'll see..but these resources belong to the city, they operate 24 hours a day and that means the giant pumps are constantly running requiring maintenance and replacement on a cyclicle basis...the utilites are staffed by state certified professionals.... so you can't shortcut the operations here..you could sell it all off and privitize but the rates would skyrocket...the evidence is everywhere..and the public rate increases have nothing to do with compensation as there have already been concessions made...

it is clear that the News-Press phobia about public employees has morphed into a full blown psychosis! where's the NP outrage when the oil companies raise gas prices even though they received record profits and gov't subsidies? or when the insurance companies raise rates to protect investors, not consumers?? ahh..yes..these folks think the unfettered free market will solve everything....how quickly they forget Enron, AIG and taxpayer bank bailouts...

so Mike and Wendy and Lanny don't know what they are talking about when it comes to the real working class issues...Mike, you're walking a thin line with me now and I can easily take back my endorsement..the next decision you make needs to be thought out, not made to please patron Wendy...it's up to you...it's all up to you....we don't need more restaurant critics or bon vivants..we do need trained professionals to take care of our public utilities...

the other council members voted to approve the modest increase..and that was the right move...but how about a nice Bronx cheer for Mike and Team Wendy!