
Montecito Water District board president Dick Shaikewitz (pictured) was taken to task for not having already signed a deal to buy desalinated water from the City of Santa Barbara during a standing-room only meeting at El Montecito Presbyterian Church. District managers say Montecito can barely get through 2020 with the water they already have, but an economist hired by the district argued it would behoove both Montecito and Santa Barbara to strike a deal.