Henry Schulte
The author lives in Solvang
Wendy McCaw Arthur von Wiesenberger
Feel better, America
Co-Publisher Co-Publisher
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GUEST OPINION COURTESY PHOTO
Steps local governments can take to improve home-ownership rates
H Temporary (mini) homeless houses in Goleta.
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
California is a paradise for parasites and thieves!
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he state of committed against California is properties. Just ask any spending us into business owner, including oblivion to end business owners on State homelessness. Street in Santa Barbara and To be exact, the state is farmers in the Santa Maria set to spend some $12 billion Valley about the damage done over a two-year cycle — the to their property. But by largest investment in state far the most constant crime history. Most of the money against business has to do is aimed at various types of with the theft of billions of housing projects, including dollars’ worth of inventory buying motels and hotels, and and equipment that is putting converting them to housing, some businesses out of along with the conversion of business, including scores of empty retail spaces, retail shops. and erecting a slew of Years ago, I was mini houses that are a volunteer in the not much bigger than a county probation backyard storage shed. department. Meanwhile, Santa The caseload I Barbara County has set helped work on aside some $90 million included dozens of Andy Caldwell to move people into drug addicts and some sort of housing, alcoholics who even if it is just a hut, lived a life of crime and to offer various services to fund their bad habits. the homeless are free to Since then, the California reject. Legislature has handed every Will any of this work? In single one of these criminals Santa Barbara County, as it an official laminated free turns out, the more services get-out-of-jail card, meaning they offer the homeless, the they can continuously steal number of homeless seems to upward of $950 per robbery only increase. How could this and absolutely nothing is be? going to happen to them. We need to realize Thereby, California has that upward of 50% of become a thief’s paradise. all homeless people are How bad is this problem? formerly incarcerated people. We recently discussed a California has been emptying phenomenal article by James our state prisons for more Walsh in Curbed on my radio than a decade, and Gov. Gavin show on KZSB-AM 1290, the Newsom is set to release News-Press radio station. another 70,000 prisoners to The article detailed the fact our streets, including 20,000 that the Prosecutors Alliance people that were serving life of California estimated that sentences. That explains how $500 billion worth of stolen this problem is only going to or counterfeit goods changes get bigger and much worse. hands online annually. Of The ugly truth? Whereas course, not all these goods some people are simply are stolen by the homeless, poor and homeless through as there are organized theft no fault of their own, the rings contributing to the vast majority of the people demise of our once civil living on the streets belong society. But most of the in some type of institution thieves highlighted in the because of their inability or story were addicts and/or unwillingness to live in a civil unhoused. society. We closed nearly all It is kind of ironic, isn’t it? mental institutions decades The homeless people who ago, and now we are emptying rob a retail establishment and closing our prisons. Is it blind until it goes out of any wonder why our streets business are then offered a are filled with criminals, place to stay after the retail scoundrels, addicts and establishment is converted derelicts? to a lodging facility for the Unfortunately, society is homeless! paying a much higher price It reminds me of the saying than most are willing to that socialism only works admit for this modern-day until you run out of other phenomenon. people’s money. That price includes criminal acts against people, Andy Caldwell is the COLAB including brutal murders, executive director and host of because some of these “The Andy Caldwell Show,” mentally ill people are ticking airing 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays time bombs. on KZSB AM 1290, the NewsOther crimes are Press radio station.
omeownership is a In 2022, the Snohomish County key determinant in Council passed three pieces of increasing economic legislation aimed at increasing mobility and building the availability of housing and generational wealth. lowering the cost of new homes. Families are more financially The first of these ordinances secure when they are living in a encourages the production of home they own. But as more “missing middle” homeownership becomes housing (Ordinance 22Nate further out of reach for 016). “Missing Middle” Nehring a greater number of housing refers to families, achieving the townhomes and other The author American Dream can housing that is denser is a housing seem a distant fantasy to than traditional singlepolicy expert many. in Washington family developments but The homeownership less dense than mid-rise state rate in the United States apartments. Townhome has not fully recovered style housing can be a good from the Great Recession. Between option for first time homebuyers 2007 (just before the recession) and looking to enter homeownership 2019, homeownership overall in the when other options are less United States fell 4.2%, according affordable. It also provides a to the U.S. Census Bureau Current valuable ownership alternative to Population Survey/Housing rental apartments. Vacancy Survey. We have also taken steps to Younger adults have been reduce bureaucratic red tape and impacted more significantly streamline regulatory processes. than the population at-large. Ordinance 22-037 allows for During that same 12-year categorical exemptions to the period, homeownership rates for State Environmental Policy Act individuals under the age of 35 in situations where the proposed dropped 6.3%. development is roughly equal In Washington state, we are to what is called for in the likely to see a more profound comprehensive plan. This reform impact on homeownership rates as reduces the timeline and cost home prices continue to increase for new development reviews by faster in our state compared to county planning staff. nationwide trends. Just between One of the significant drivers 2019 and 2021, the medium home of housing costs are the time sale price in Washington grew 40%, and expense on the part of home compared to 30% nationwide. builders to get development While the issue of applications approved. Those homeownership and housing increased costs are ultimately market trends are bigger than any passed down to the home buyer, so one community, county or state, any steps we can take at the local there are steps we can take at the level to reduce bureaucracy will local government level to improve have a direct impact on residents’ conditions close to home. Here in ability to purchase a home. Snohomish County in Washington, Another factor impacting we have taken a number of housing availability for younger proactive steps to address housing homebuyers is that aging affordability and availability. homeowners are not downsizing.
Lack of affordable options for aging residents results in many of them keeping larger houses that they may no longer want or need. One option to address this issue is accessory dwelling units. In Snohomish County, we have passed multiple ordinances to allow for attached and detached accessory dwelling units in unincorporated areas of the county. These ADUs and DADUs can be a great option for aging parents or grandparents who want to downsize but don’t want to live in the same house as their children or grandchildren. By creating more options for aging homeowners to downsize, more of the existing supply of homes can come on the market for new homebuyers. The steps we’ve taken at the local level here in Snohomish County may be relatively small in the grand scheme of such a significant nationwide issue, but they represent positive steps in the right direction that work to make home ownership more attainable for residents of all ages and income levels. Local government has an important role to play in setting the tone for the conversation around how we can address housing affordability in our communities. Nate Nehring is the vice chair of the Snohomish County Council in Washington state, representing District 1. He chairs the County Council’s Planning and Community Development Committee and was recognized by the Snohomish County-Camano Association of Realtors as “Citizen of the Year” in 2022 for his work on local housing policy. This commentary was provided to the News-Press by The Center Square, a nonprofit dedicated to journalism.
Enrollment declines increase pressure on ‘woke’ higher ed
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igher education an economist who maintains a is confronting forecast known as the Higher a problem: Its Education Demand Index, projects customer enrollment declines in base is some states of over 15%. David shrinking. High birth Elite institutions might Waugh rates in the 1990s and weather the crisis due The author early 2000s created large to large endowments is with the incoming classes. After and relatively inelastic American reaching a peak in 2007, demand for their Institute for birth rates have steadily offerings, but regional Economic dropped. Births rose to 4.3 colleges will encounter Research million in 2007, while this increasing hardship. The past year saw 3.7 million. median endowment for Children born during private colleges is $37.1 the dropoff will soon be eligible million, much of which is restricted for enrollment. Nathan Grawe, from supporting annual budgets.
Smaller incoming classes will make an immediate financial impact as colleges struggle to fill dorms, classes, and dining facilities. Yet, instead of rising to the challenge, schools are implementing woke offerings that increase the risk of institutional failure. Hiring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucrats adds unnecessary financial strain, and woke policies often bring reputational harm and financial Please see WAUGH on C4
LETTER TO THE NEWS-PRESS All communities should incorporate
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o all unincorporated areas in Santa Barbara County: Incorporate! Don’t let what is happening to the residents of Los Alamos happen to you. A development in Los Alamos is under way that will increase the population of our tiny town by 10-20% with no concessions for improving the infrastructure of Los Alamos! Can you imagine what would happen if one developer planned on increasing the population of Montecito by 800 to 1,600 people? Probably not, but that is what is happening in Los Alamos. Being unincorporated has left us at the mercy of Legacy Home LLC and the Santa Barbara
County Board of Supervisors, making decisions based on a 17-year-old Environmental Impact Report. The EIR states, “The project site is not located near...steep slopes subject to mudflows, therefore these geological phenomena would not occur.” The determination in the report contradicts the findings of Santa Barbara County’s own Flood Control & Water Conservation District and Water Agency. A copy of the report was included in the EIR and stated, “Both the Solomon and Purisima Hills soil profile consists of relatively shallow, heavy texture soils with generally low permeability. The low soil permeability and steep (45-50%) slopes combine to promote very rapid flash flooding conditions within the canyons and at the
mouths of canyons where they discharge into the Los Alamos Valley … potential flood hazard is such that it must be addressed from a public safety perspective within the urban areas of Los Alamos.” This is only one of the unmitigable issues identified in the 17-year-old EIR. A subsequent EIR under CEQA 15162 (3)(a) calls for a subsequent EIR if the project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR. Legacy Homes LLC omitted the county’s flood hazard findings. The Save Los Alamos coalition’s calls for a subsequent EIR has fallen on deaf ears. Los Alamos is a cautionary tale. Incorporate! Christine Adams Los Alamos
merica is very ill, and she’s bleeding out. The prognosis for survival isn’t good. Her disease started since the day she was born, but those were just growing pains. But over the years she has become more and more unhealthy, and the suffering has metastasized into every corner of her being. For her 250 years of life, America worked through her mounting illnesses and managed to remain strong, but the last few years have taken a toll on her immune system. There are forces exacerbating her ability to get better, and it appears there is presently no treatment to improve her affliction. If she continues under these dire conditions, it’s feared her health will only get worse exponentially and accelerate her passing. She is desperately clinging to her freedoms and rights that are her lifeblood, but they’re slipping through her fingers. When she was younger, she had an unpleasant period in her life. People were severely divided under her care based on color differences, and it didn’t help her image. However, over time those wounds began to heal. The color line was slowly ebbing from her soul, and the old girl was growing stronger. Then she had an awful relapse when her first leader of color, who had promised her he would help with her racial infection but had, in fact, abandoned her and set her back a hundred years. Going even further back when she was in her infancy and coming into her own, she had inflicted great harm and tragedy upon those who had come before her. America’s not proud of what she did, and those pains still exist today, though the wounds remain open, they have softened. Those episodes in her life weren’t her best, but America’s tried to make things right. However, disease-ridden forces are determined to aggravate the wounds. A new powerful virus of racial hemorrhaging has gained strength for which there appears no cure. Other festering diseases are accelerating by the day. Hundreds of thousands of her charges are dying from consuming poisons and taking another toll on her health. To make it worse, she’s getting no help to stop it. The support she relies on to protect and repair that malignance is failing her. The medication she requires to remain strong and safe is being withheld. The required care needed for her well-being has shifted and it is getting sucked away by those who have abandoned her. The focus is to care more about the comfort of those who are not under her watch. The help America requires for her own survival is being applied elsewhere and draining her of her effectiveness. As she grows weaker and weaker, she can only watch her power sloughing away like the skin of a leper. All she can do is mourn over her inability to repair the malady. Those who had sworn to help keep America intact and avoid more agony are turning their backs and lying to her. Her heart is being stabbed viciously from an onslaught of outside invaders, and she can’t fend them off alone. There are just too many, and no effort is made to prevent even more souls from taking advantage of her kindness. Millions of bad cells swirling inside her are determined to see her demise. They’re destroying and removing all the good cells that used to keep her strong and replacing it with a growing blackness. And she doesn’t understand, why her? Despite America’s flaws, she’s done so much good. More so than can ever be imagined. If it wasn’t for her, millions of others would have died and Please see SCHULTE on C4