Collectively, countywide, for the fiscal year 2018 (July through June), taxpayers will spend nearly $2 billion on programs and services delivered by local governments. The largest expenditure will occur at the county of Santa Barbara, which just adopted a $1.1 billion budget. In an unprecedented move, the Board of Supervisors boiled down a $1.1 billion […]
JOE ARMENDARIZ
Posted inOpinion
A Cheech and Chong economy
I’ve heard some of my critics; I’m “obsessed with economics” and economic development, and that I would support any business or any industry and at any cost to our quality of life or social fabric. It turns out this isn’t true. Indeed, it turns out I’m less than enthusiastic about the proposition of Santa Barbara […]
Posted inOpinion
Two counties, two futures
In her 2017-18 county operating budget “executive summary,” Santa Barbara County CEO Mona Miyasato stated that this year’s budget theme is “One County. One Future.” I consider this to be highly ironic for reasons I have iterated before, and will reiterate today. However, before I do, I want to state unequivocally that I have the […]
