news briefs cont’d from p. 30 20 people gathered to hear former Santa Barbara school board president Lanny Ebenstein and former county CEO Mike Brown argue the respective cons and pros of Measure M. Ebenstein kicked things off, stating he first considered the measure “reasonable,” but then he realized “it’s a blank obligation. I just think that’s a recipe for disaster” full of “unanticipated consequences.” Mike Brown told a different story, outlining cuts to departments that are “consistently underrun,” preventing new programs after budget discussions end, removing all county workers’ desk phones, and boosting revenues. Added to M’s appraisals are County Counsel’s opinion that Measure M may not be enforceable and AuditorController Bob Geis’s fiscal analysis that it may not be feasible. Read more at independent.com.
GOLETA Goleta city councilmember Ed Easton submitted his resignation recently, leaving a vacant council seat. The city is currently accepting applications through Tuesday,
June 10, at 5 p.m. You must be 18 years of age, a resident of the City of Goleta, and registered to vote in order to apply. The council will begin the selection process on Thursday, June 12. Applications can be found on the city’s website cityofgoleta.org.
DEATHS Chris Whitcraft, one of the seminal figures in the growth of Santa Barbara’s wine country and an early pioneer of the now-burgeoning urban wine scene, passed away over the weekend at age 64. Whitcraft began working at the Mayfare Wines store in Montecito in 1975 and was making his own wine later that year under the Whitcraft label, which specialized in pinot noir and chardonnay. He helped launch the Santa Barbara Wine Festival in 1980, which continues every June at the Museum of Natural History, and his was one of the first wineries to operate within city limits when he opened his facility on Calle César Chávez in 2006. He is survived by his daughter, Alyssa, and son, Drake, who now runs the winery. They are planning a party to celebrate their dad’s life, likely in late June. ■
What the Shale?!
The punch lines of a long-anticipated U.S. Energy Information Administration study were made public last week and, according to the federal government’s findings, there isn’t nearly as much extractable oil in California’s large swaths of Monterey Shale, the rocky and mineral-rich substrata beneath some 1,700 square miles of Central California (including swaths of Santa Barbara County) that was previously believed to be home to a gold rush of untapped petroleum reserves. In fact, according to the new report, roughly 600 million barrels of harvestable crude is down in the shale versus the 13.7 billion barrels estimated by a similar study done by an independent contractor in 2011. Though the full report won’t be released in its entirety until next month, the early findings seem to deliver a deflating blow to the revved-up corporate oil speculating that has been steadily increasing throughout the state as well as here in Santa Barbara since the bullish forecast of the 2011 report. This is of particular note since the newest oil-industry boogeyman, hydraulic facturing (a k a fracking), has also been on a steady increase in lockstep with this speculation boom. However, according to the county’s Energy Division Deputy Director Kevin Drude, this new report most likely won’t have much impact on the plans of oil operators here: “They have been working these fields for 100 years, so they know what is going on down there and have a pretty good idea of what it takes to get the oil out. This study is more about national impacts; I don’t see it changing production technology or forecasts locally at all,” opined Drude this week. He added that currently, there is no fracking happening onshore in Santa Barbara County and that the bulk of the planned new oil operations are cyclic-steaming operations rather than fracking, a technique that focuses on extracting the oil in the diatomite, an area of earth that is markedly more shallow than the Monterey Shale. Bob Poole, spokesperson for Santa Maria Energy, echoed Drude’s interpretations, saying he wasn’t sure the new study has any real meaning for his company or most county operators. “[The study] is focused upon the potential for discovery of new oil fields. Most of what is going on in this county is occurring within fields long known to exist,” added Poole. The study does little to deter the efforts of Water Guardians, an S.B.-based group that, thanks to a sweeping signature campaign this past spring, is spearheading an initiative to ban fracking and cyclic steam on this November’s ballot. If anything, says Guardians spokesperson Katie Davis, the news underscores why exactly the ban is needed. “Pretty shocking to be off by 96 percent!” said Davis. “I think it goes to show that the oil industry’s economic forecasts can in no way be trusted, just as their assurances that their practices are completely safe are patently and demonstrably — Ethan Stewart untrue.” may 29, 2014
THE INDEPENDENt
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