Ed Schneider to Leave Botanic Garden

This is a very good start.

First off I would like to congratulate Mr. Schneider on his new position. It seems like a great opportunity.

In regards to the Vital Mission Plan I feel that this change is going to have virtually no impact on the process as well as the goals of the Garden. The VMP aims to improve the facilities and strengthen the Garden's abilities to preserve specimens and educate the community. The fact that Mr. Schneider will not be around to see the completion of the project does not take away from the benefit that the VMP will bring.

I personally feel that the process has been dragged out long enough. The VMP has been approved by the Planning Commission and, despite what the minority opposition claims, the community is generally behind it. It will improve a great asset.

Again, thank you for everything Mr. Schneider and good luck with this new chapter in your life.

I wish the Garden the best and hope they will finally be able to move forward with their Vital Mission Plan. They've been enduring far too long with inadequate space for plant specimens, books, classrooms, labs, and even for storing tools for gardening. It's a shame that such a world-class instution has to jump through so many hoops just to get some new buildings for education and research. Their plans are so simple and small in scale, and only take up a fraction of the Garden's total acreage. I wish them the best in their search for a new Director, and hope that our County officials will grant final approvals.

Darn. When I heard the head of the Botanic Garden was leaving I had hoped it was Symington. He's been nothing but a leach on the garden, and his push for the vital plan very divisive to the Garden's community support.

I used to be a garden member and supporter, but not since their push to pave the garden, put their archives in a fire prone area, and generally turn the garden to a wedding event center instead of a Botanic Garden. Their treatment of the volunteers was the final straw. Frankly, I don't know where Aruiz and GauchoScott get their ideas that the general community is behind this plan.

Congratulations to Ed! What an incredible opportunity for him. He has done such an amazing job here it's not surprising that he's gotten lucrative offers from top-notch facilities around the country.

Hopefully the garden will still push as hard as he did for the Vital Mission Plan to be approved. They are such small improvements it baffles me that they haven't already been approved. And the fact that some people think adding walking paths for increased accessibility is a major problem with the plan is almost unbelievable.

The Vital Mission Plan needs to be approved.

For the last 8 years Ed has put his heart and soul into his work at the Botanic Garden. He has helped to protect the future of the Garden so that people all around can continues to enjoy its beauty.

My hope is that the Garden will continue to fight for their Vital Mission Plan that only seeks to rebuild what was lost in the fire and also make the necessary improvements to further the education for adults and children unlike.

looks like the VMP supporters have got the word out to circle the wagons.

Patwalker – you can add another supporter to your list. Make no mistake, the Santa Barbara community is whole-heartedly behind the Botanic Garden’s improvement plans. I’ve been to the public hearings over at the County, and I’ve the majority come out to passionately support the Vital Mission Plan. We support better facilities for the Garden, more space for education and conserving plants samples, and better access for people with disabilities. The Garden’s plans will not take away from the historic use of the Garden because historically there have always been classes and important research conducted at the Garden. There is no change in use! No change in size (buildings are in same place as before). Nothing is changing – just improving.

Hopefully the community will have a chance to save its garden now. The divisive VMP has isolated the Board of Directors who continue to follow their own interests. Symington's bias is pretty obvious here. The gardeners and staff know better.

Gee, could you Vile Mission Plan shills be any more transparent? Why not run your little screeds by a good professional writer who could inject some convincing pseudo-sincerity into them? That would help you look less manipulative.

Look, the Garden does need facilities, but there's a lot of legitimate controversy over exactly needs to be done. But you know what? That's not really the point. What really needs to happen is that the community needs to know what's been going on up there under the misleadership of the Schneider/Symington regime.

Many very pointed questions were raised during the early stages of the volunteer's strike last spring. None of those questions have ever been answered, and it seems that the will of the community to look into this has pretty much evaporated. That's a shame, because it allows the remaining power structure to carry on with their approach to running the Garden.

Whether or not a full investigation turns up foul deeds and skeletons in the herbarium, that investigation desperately needs to happen. Allowing the status of the so-called Vital Mission Plan to dominate the conversation is perhaps just the diversion that Garden leadership would like to create while they further consolidate their grip on power.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a public institution that is run by a secretive, Machiavellian cabal who have been allowed to have their way for far too long. It's great that Ed is departing, but it doesn't end the discussion. Wake up, Santa Barbara, and start taking some responsibility for what you love.

Owen Dell wrote: "Whether or not a full investigation turns up foul deeds and skeletons in the herbarium, that investigation desperately needs to happen." Owen should know that the herbarium is a repository for over 140,000 scientific specimens, which date back as far as the 1880s and document the plant biodiversity of the central coast, several unique library archive collections, and 50,000+ slides and photographic prints that document the history of the Garden and the Santa Barbara region. There is no room left for unprocessed materials, much less "deeds and skeletons".

I assume that "piet" didn't get the humor in my use of the word herbarium. Or maybe I don't get the humor in his/her remarks. In any case, the literal-minded may substitute the more traditional "closet" if desired. All the same to me. Let's move on to a discussion of the important issues, shall we?

Cripes, Owen, you're the one missing the humor in 'piet's' remark.

And for the bone-dry observation, my franco-nymic friend, I doff my sun-hat in your direction.

"Gee, could you Vile Mission Plan shills be any more transparent?"

It is disheartening how the opponents of VMP like to demonize anyone who supports the plan as a "shill". Sorry, there are many people in this town who support the Garden and the people who work there, and are highly appreciative of all that the Garden has accomplished and continues to achieve..

In fact, it is highly predictable - the opponents use language that is negative, derogatory and sometimes nasty both here and on other boards.

There is always more than one side to a story, and while I can understand those who have had problems with SBBG, I can also understand that there are those who like to emphasize the positive, which is far more than the negative. And I was able to say that without being derogatory or belittling of anyone.

That is an awesome job that Dr Schneider has been offered - very few in this country would even be considered, especially his critics. That speaks volumes by itself.

Well, you see Tabatha, I'm actually NOT an opponent of the VMP. I taught at SBBG for many years, and had been a regular volunteer there since the early seventies. I've put in more years helping out at the Garden than any of the volunteers or staff, as far as I know, and I dearly love the place. That's why I'm speaking out in support of it.

I agree that SBBG needs more facilities. I also feel that the VMP is highly flawed. But you have missed my point entirely, as has nearly everyone else. The controversy over the VMP is not the pressing issue. The management problems are the issue, and it is a most pressing one. Would it be possible for the Hatfields and the McCoys to put down their weapons for a while and take note that while you're feuding over the VMP, the Garden is being taken down a treacherous path? Why are you so resistant to looking at the big picture? I'm not going to harp on it any more. If people don't get it, and don't want to act, then they will bear some of the responsibility for the outcome. I've had my say. Do what you think is right, and God help us all.

As for demonizing, check out how the SBBG management clan have treated those who disagree with them. No one can touch them in the blood sport of trashing opponents. Do your homework and you'll find out what I mean.

Oh, and piet/Chester, I guess the joke's on me. I wish I wasn't so dense at times, but what can I do? I am humbled before your trenchant wit.

OwenDell, I agree with you that the leadership problem at the Garden is much more important than the "Vital Mission Plan".

When evaluating Schneider's performance over the last 18 years, we should simply compare how good the Garden was then with the mess it's in now. That says it all.

As a supporter of the SBBG I am also a supporter of the VMP. I do not see how I could support one without supporting the other. The SBBG is an asset to the community and deserves to be able to rebuild. The VMP has faced an absurd amount of opposition and I think that this has gone on long enough. The opposition refers to the VMP as the "rebuilding plan" making it sound as if the VMP is some huge plan to tear down the garden and start from scratch, adding many buildings along the way. None of that is true. The VMP is a simple and necessary plan. As a concerned community member and someone who has visited the garden since childhood I have stayed informed regarding the VMP. I attended the first hearing with the Planning Commission last summer and was fortunate enough to hear the details of the plan. The VMP is essential for the garden to continue meeting it's original goals of educating and preserving the unique horticulture of this area. It is, as I have seen others call it, a "bare bones plan". Not extravagant in any way.

The garden has listened to the community's suggestions regarding the VMP and made sure that the plan will not change the integrity of the garden. Less than 1% of the garden will be covered by buildings. And the improvements made by the VMP will actually improve fire safety for the canyon.

I do not see why Ed Schneider's departure from the garden would change the need for the VMP. The VMP is truly essential, regardless of who is in charge of the garden. I hope that the community can support the garden's need to rebuild. The SBBG is a beautiful part of this community and it needs our support on this plan.

In my opinion, saying Ed Schneider has been good for the Garden is like saying that George W. Bush was good for the country. Look at the amount of acrimony he has created w/ personnel at the Garden and in the community. If he needs a ride to the airport, please let me know.
And for those of you who don't know the discredited history of the convicted ex-Governor of AZ, when you think of Fife Symington, think of Dick Cheney.
One must assume that Fife will be involved in the selection of the next Director of the Garden but there is hope now that like Bush's, Schneider's bad deeds may create an Obama-like leader for the Garden. Maybe soon I will be able to start up my canceled membership at the Garden.

Is this anything like, "You reap what you sow?"

Good Riddance!

He will now go on to another job he can't do.

At least he won't be around here doing it.