Soltopia Was Not an Accident
Soltopia was the celebration we built and deserved.
Opinion
Letters to the editor, columns, and voices published in the Santa Barbara Independent.
Showing 71 results for
On the Rent Freeze, Fiscal Reality, and Equal Standards
If landlords are expected to absorb cost increases without automatic recovery, the city should likewise commit to freezing or tightly capping growth in its own major cost centers. If the answer is that such a model would be unrealistic, destabilizing, and likely to degrade public services, then the council should acknowledge that the same economic logic applies to housing operations.
Protecting Community, Democracy, and Local Control from ICE
As local elected leaders, we have a responsibility to respond to the aggressive federal immigration enforcement that is affecting our community.
The Trump Crusade
Any military victory over the Iranian regime is an existential impossibility because the very definition of the regime’s existence: is diametric opposition to the United States and absolute rejection of the right of Israel to exist.
The Fight for Voting Rights
More than 60 years after the right to vote was declared fundamental, this right has come under attack daily.
Virtue Signaling Through Demonstrations Not Enough
Since we already have the most expensive military forces on earth, it’s difficult to comprehend our wildly ranting president’s demand for a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget — unless we think of the war crimes we’ve already committed against Iran and the Queens developer’s plutocratic American background.
County Supervisors Can Improve Justice — and Save Millions
Santa Barbara County Supervisors will revisit a costly and consequential decision: whether to move forward with a jail expansion by building 384 beds (1.5 option) or choose a more fiscally responsible 1.0 option (256 beds).
Protecting Taxpayers Means Looking Beyond the Politics of Short-Term Rentals
Santa Barbara is on the verge of making a consequential decision about short-term rentals — but without first answering a basic question: What will it cost?
The Rites of Spring in the Hills of Summerland
The Summerland project covered 31 acres in just four weeks, “staffed” by 400 goats and sheep.
Santa Barbara Needs a Committee to Move Things Along
A proposal: The Getting Sh*t Done Advisory Council
