Rude, Overblown, and Inaccurate

I read Nick Welsh’s “Angry Poodle Barbecue” column of October 18, 2018, and found it to be rude, overblown, and filled with many factual inaccuracies. Its bombastic tone was just one more tiresome example of how today’s political discourse has really gone to the dogs.

One of the things that disturbed me the most was that you missed the whole point of the campaign by the Montecito Water Security Team. Their mission has been to raise public awareness of the waste of 500,000 gallons a day of wastewater discharged into the ocean off Butterfly Beach.

While it is true that the discharged wastewater currently meets state-mandated standards, if the water were treated to a higher level, instead of the minimum, it could be recycled and used on parks, golf courses, the cemetery, and other large users.

This is what the City of Santa Barbara and many other coastal communities have been doing successfully for decades.

Using non-potable water for those large users will provide Montecito residents with enough potable water to meet their needs in the years to come.

It is shocking to me that as an avowed progressive, you would discourage the group that is advocating an environmentally more responsible approach rather than maintaining the status quo. The Poodle should be angry about it not being done sooner.

I would also like to address the disrespectful and inappropriate comments you wrote in your column about Bob Hazard. For many years, he has done our community a huge service by doing in-depth research on important issues and generating public awareness. He is a tireless advocate for Montecito and a highly respected neighbor.

In closing, please be a proponent of recycling wastewater for Montecito and Summerland. It is the right thing to do, and I think you know it.