LETTERS (Continued from page 21)
is that will continue until, well, until it can no longer continue. So, you, parents seeking child care, and college students in search of a “free” education will get what you want, along with more police is that’s needed, and anything else a politician can conjure because, after all, it not only isn’t the politician’s money, it is no one’s money. It is, in fact, “free” money. – J.B.)
Put New Construction on Hold
After five years of drought, with Lake Cachuma at record-low levels, the relevant water districts should invoke their emergency authorities and immediately suspend all construction permits, including that of the huge hotel complex in Montecito, until the drought is over. Why should the responsible citizens of Santa Barbara and Montecito limit their water usage, only to have their water savings wasted by a luxury hotel and other new construction projects? It makes no sense and it is fundamentally unfair. Moreover, these construction projects only put the uniquely beautiful Santa Barbara-Montecito coastline on the irreversible path of becoming the next over-built, traffic-snarled, polluted L.A. These construction proponents should move back to L.A. and overbuild to their hearts’ content, and please leave Santa Barbara and Montecito alone. Robert Coronado Santa Barbara (Editor’s note: Nice sentiments, Mr. Coronado, but the Miramar was among the first hotel resorts in the Santa Barbara area and served the public in Montecito for more than 100 years. There’s a man – Rick Caruso – who has put up a great deal of money in order to reconstruct the Miramar as a high-end resort. Unless you and we are willing to compensate him, there’s not much chance of his being stopped, nor should there be. – J.B.)
We Like Tom
After reading several articles and letters in the Montecito Journal about the upcoming Montecito Water District (MWD) Board election, we are frankly disgusted in the manner that one of the candidates, Tom Mosby, has been portrayed and written about. It is quite obvious to us that the writers and/or contributors do not know Mr. Mosby, nor do they know the contributions he has made to the MWD and the Montecito community. My wife and I have known Tom for more than 20 years, as one of the MWD reservoirs is accessed through our property. Over the years, we have had many encounters with Tom and MWD, and in every case Tom very articulately and diplomatically represented the District and the Montecito community position with great dig-
22 MONTECITO JOURNAL
nity and at the same time respect for our position. There is not a person in our community with greater integrity than Tom Mosby. He is, and has been, a strong advocate for the residents of Montecito at the state, county, district, and MWD Board level throughout his entire tenure with MWD. He has always strived for what is best for the Montecito community, no matter what opposition or challenge he may encounter. If the Journal’s readers take the time to read Mr. Mosby’s rebuttal (MJ #22/41) to Mr. Hazard’s article (#21/40), they will begin to understand who Tom Mosby is, what he stands for, and the tremendous contributions he has made to the Montecito community over the years. It is obvious that Mr. Hazard does not really know Mr. Mosby and beyond that, his political bias is unprofessional and inappropriate. We urge the residents of Montecito to vote for a man who will not only represent their best interests, but will do so with the highest integrity. Gregg and Katherine Crawford Montecito
Defending Tobe
I wish to reply to Dick Shaikewitz’s recent article (“Worst Drought Requires Best Candidates,” MJ #22/40). Mr. Shaikewitz is currently serving as a board member of the Montecito Water District, and in his article he disparages my husband, Tobe Plough, who, along with Floyd Wicks, is currently running for the board of directors of the Montecito Water District (MWD). Mr. Shaikewitz’s major complaint against Mr. Plough’s candidacy is that he has no “background or knowledge of water” and because of that, would be unfit to be elected to the MWD Board of Directors. If “background or knowledge of water” was the main job criteria for all the currently serving MWD Board of Directors, then all of them should immediately resign. Mr. Shaikewitz was a Midwest practicing trial lawyer for 35 years before he became a MWD Board member; Jan Able, who is retiring from the MWD Board after 25 years, lists her occupation on the board’s web site as “community volunteer”; Doug Morgan’s professional background was as an economics professor; Sam Frye’s occupation is a “ranch foreman”; and Charles Newman spent 43 years as a lawyer specializing in defense of large corporation clients in class-action lawsuits (that information was taken from his bio on the MWD web site). It should be noted that this “experienced” board, with its two trial attorneys, has over the last decade been unable to file two legally required
Urban Water Management Plans with the State of California – which were due in 2010 and 2015 – and even missed the last deadline when they were recently given a six-month extension! Tobe Plough has a long-standing, professional background in solving complex management and infrastructure problems. His background in finance will assist the MWD in future negotiations with Santa Barbara City to obtain desalinated water for Montecito. In desal negotiations with Santa Barbara City, the MWD Board, with its two bickering attorneys taking the lead, has made a complete mess of the process. They snubbed the City’s request for a response by December 31 because they thought it would rain. Later, the MWD went crawling back to the City to reopen discussions, and the City responded that it would only agree to further talks if the MWD paid them $500,000. It has been 15 months and there is still no resolution in sight. Tobe Plough and Floyd Wicks can do a much better job. As new MWD Board members, they will bring a fresh start to current stale negotiations with Santa Barbara City over the desal contract. They will also immediately start negotiations with the Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) to get treated reclaimed MSD water for residents to use on landscaping and to replenish the massively depleted groundwater basin, which our beautiful Montecito trees depend upon for their water source and lives. Currently, all that water – over 700 acre-feet a year – is being dumped into the Pacific Ocean. It’s time for a change in the Montecito Water District Board of Directors. Our water rates have never been higher, and there are no new drought-relief solutions coming from the current board. For the first time in eight years, we have a choice in determining who will serve as a director on the Montecito Water District Board. Please cast your vote for Tobe Plough and Floyd Wicks. Sally Bromfield Montecito
Fine Food & Fine Wine
One of the most comprehensive fine food & fine wine events in America, the Central Coast Wine Classic, concluded its 31st Annual event, and the results were extremely positive. There has never been a charity auction that has bridged two counties, and the concept was somewhat intimidating, particularly considering the fact that our patrons needed functional transportation to move among so many venues, and that some of those venues, such as Hearst Castle, for example, require quite specific planning
• The Voice of the Village •
and execution. The Wine Classic concluded at the Nesbitt Estate in Summerland with the Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction, which brought in $781,830, including gifts to Fund-A-Need beneficiaries, $20,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo County, $69,191 to the Léni Fé Bland Performing Arts Fund created by 2016 Wine Classic honoree Sara Miller McCune, and $94,000 to the Hearst Castle Foundations, the Hearst Preservation Foundation and Friends of Hearst Castle, that sustain the artifacts and their access at Hearst Castle. Between 2004, when the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation was formed, and 2016, with an event not being presented in 2015, the foundation has conferred over $2,750,000 to 129 beneficiaries in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties whose missions are in the healing, studio, and performing arts. The 32nd Annual Central Coast Wine Classic will be scheduled for the summer of 2018. Details will be announced in 2017. Archie McLaren San Luis Obispo
Stronger Together
Hillary, as at least one detractor sees her
This photo was un-staged; I saw it at a local laundromat. Had I seen the copy of MJ to the left, I would have included it, but it sure got a chuckle out of me. Daniel Seibert Santa Barbara
America’s Last Chance
The U.S. is at a tipping point. Will it be liberty or tyranny? Will it be democracy or socialism? This is why this November is so important. On November 8, we will elect a business outsider or a socialist insider. It is Donald Trump and the people against the world. Why the full=on
LETTERS Page 324 20 – 27 October 2016