Ground squirrels closed down Beattie Park’s asphalt-covered parking lot in Lompoc.
Those ferocious little demons have burrowed and tunneled beneath that hard surface so much, holes are starting to appear. And why did they choose that lot, you ask?
Well, turns out, people are feeding them. Feeding them! As if they can’t feed themselves—as if they can’t borrow or steal, so they are forced to beg. And all of this attention caused the population to skyrocket, and all of that food caused them to stick around—to become brave enough to approach humans and almost eat out of their hands—and all of these ground squirrels needed space to live, which caved in the parking lot. How cute!
Not cute, people. Because of your desire for cuteness overload, the city of Lompoc wants to pass an ordinance prohibiting wild animal feeding in city parks and public places. An ordinance! This is what happens when people can’t seem to follow unwritten societal rules! We get government regulations because some residents are, well, not the brightest crayons in the box.
In addition to big government, the city is going to have to spend money to relocate the ground squirrels (humanely!) and fix the parking lot.
Don’t feed the ground squirrels, people! Or any other wild animal. Wild animals are, well, wild, and they should stay that way!
You know what else is wild? Ocean Fathoms wine storage company’s shenanigans. After getting in trouble with the California Coastal Commission over its unpermitted storage of wine on the ocean floor, it asked for an extension on the order to pull its crates out of the water. They then threw a $1,000 per person wine party on a yacht while complying with the order to extricate its wine bottles from the ocean floor, and released “rehabilitated” sea lions while they did it. What a wild stunt!
You know what else is wild? Santa Barbara County’s supervisorial districts. The way they are drawn—especially the 3rd District, which stretches from Solvang and Santa Ynez through Lompoc and up to Guadalupe—is a real head-scratcher. And it’s something that some folks (cough, cough: Bruce Porter, who’s unsuccessfully run for 3rd District supervisor three times now) want to see changed!
Porter likely has ulterior motives, such as getting elected, but it’s definitely something that needs to be looked at. How to draw districts that keep neighborhoods together, don’t disenfranchise voting blocks of underserved populations, and still make sense isn’t going to be easy!
Thank goodness we have this Santa Barbara County Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission to do things fairly. Even if its 10 commissioners don’t accurately reflect the county’s demographic makeup—they can still do it right, right?
At least one person questioned the commission’s ability to represent marginalized populations at the Aug. 12 public workshop in Solvang. Resident Denise El Amin asked how many people of color were on the commission, and the answer is one: Fourth District Commissioner Amanda Ochoa.
Well, at least the commission’s political divide accurately reflects the county’s politics—so we’ve got that going for us! I think.
The canary is wondering where the feeder is. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 19-26, 2021.