City 12-10
The bridge at the intersection of Haley and De la Vina streets, built in 1915, has been deemed “structurally deficient” by Caltrans and is scheduled to be replaced. According to the city’s Public Works Department, the intersection will be closed for construction from early January through summer 2011. Detour routes can be found at santabarbaraca.gov/haleybridge.
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The project, which is being funded by the Federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Reconstruction Program and the city’s Measure D funds, will reportedly increase water flow capacity under the bridge and act as a critical component of the lower Mission Creek restoration plan.
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More than 60 years of professional experience is walking out the door of the Santa Barbara City Administrator’s office. Joan Kent is leaving on 12/10, concluding a 32-year career with City Hall. Likewise, Don Olson, another seasoned veteran working in the administrator’s office, will be retiring early next year. Kent dismissed any suggestion of an administrative brain drain afflicting City Hall, stating, “The machine just goes on.”
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Santa Barbara Writers Conference owner and director Marcia Meier announced this week that, because of personal financial troubles, she is relinquishing ownership of the 37-year-old event. Meier, who bought the conference in 2004, recently declared bankruptcy, slipping into debt when she absorbed unpaid conference dues into her personal account, including $20,000 owed to the previous owner and $52,839 to Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Meier has stated what while the conference corporation is dissolving, the conference itself will continue and a new owner should be named soon.
