It’s finally here! That season when little ghoulies don their masks and go door to door begging for a handout. And though it may sound familiar, I’m not talking about political candidates—they’ve already done that part.
I’m talking about Halloween. When certain hedonistic activity becomes acceptable. When it’s OK to eat all the candy you want, party like a rock star, and pretend that your underwear is a costume. I love this holiday!
In actuality, I stay at home and hand out candy to the kiddos—because for one, journalists aren’t exactly known to seek out rowdy parties, and two, they have a general mistrust of everyone—especially those wearing masks.
One question though: How old is too old to trick-or-treat? I’m just a little bird, and it’s a bit unnerving when you answer the door to a group of 6-foot-2-inch young men with beard stubble trick-or-treating. Do I give them a Snickers bar or my phone number?
There comes a time to grow up, drop the mask, and start behaving like an adult. Which it seems, is exactly what representatives of the County of Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians did when they resumed their monthly meetings.
If you recall, the two sides stopped their meetings primarily over an inability to come to an agreement over the tribe’s parcel of land called Camp 4. The tribe wants to take the land into its reservation and create tribal housing. The county, like a little distrustful journalist bird, wants the tribe to officially give up its rights to any potential gaming on the property, despite the tribe’s promise that it won’t put gaming on the land.
But their recent meeting was different—and dare I say—promising.
The Chumash came to the meeting with compromises on several points in regard to Camp 4 that had the two sides at odds previously.
Tribal Chairman Kenneth Kahn explained that the tribe agreed to compromise on those terms as a way to find a nice balance.
Subcommittee member and 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam expressed appreciation for the effort and indicated that there may be a workable solution.
While it’s too early to expect negotiations to wrap up sweetly, at least all parties are attempting to be fair and reasonable. This leads me to oil company Venoco, which gets my Greedy, Grubby Hands award.
Venoco Inc. wants to adjust its lease boundary for its offshore drilling operations in the South Ellwood Oil Field, despite arguments from conservationists that the facilities and operations are a danger to the environment and human health.
I get it. Oil is good. I use oil too. I drive a car on occasion when it’s too much of a bother to wing it. I use petroleum products. Still, enough is enough.
The adjustment would allow Venoco to access 60 million more barrels of oil. In return, Venoco offered to end its operation in 25 years—“Just one more piece of candy, and we’ll brush our teeth and won’t ask for another! Promise.”
Unfortunately, that one more piece can still cause irreparable damage. I’d say it might be time to put away the candy bag and admit you’ve had enough.
The Canary knows when to say enough—except when it involves chocolate. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2016.