Have you ever ignored a problem for far too long, letting things pile up until you’re left with a festering, rotten mess? That’s why it’s handy for me to have all these newspapers around to line my cage, which I change out often.
If I didn’t do that, this bird’s home might look and smell something like the duck pond at Waller Park. If you didn’t know, Santa Barbara County Parks Division has instituted a ban on feeding the ducks at Waller–no more bread, crackers, or anything else for my flat-footed friends who live there (see page 6).
Now before you start to cry, “My childhood is ruined,” because your kids won’t be able to feed the ducks old moldy bread from your freezer like you did when you were young, let me ask: Have you seen the duck pond lately? It’s green, it’s stinky, it’s surrounded by poop.
For the sake of the ducks’ digestive tracks, and all of our enjoyment of Waller Park, I’m grateful County Parks put their foot down. The pond is in bad shape because this wasn’t done sooner, so hopefully conditions will bounce back and improve.
Speaking of acting sooner, maybe the conditions at the Santa Ynez Riverbed would be better today if the city of Lompoc had done more to address the number of homeless people and encampments that have been there for years (see page 10).
Transients and Lompoc residents down on their luck have known for quite some time that they can pitch a tent or drag a mattress into the riverbed without getting hassled. Well, that’s changed, but now there’s literally “decades of debris” in the riverbed, according to Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh.
I think the city got a kick in the butt to move forward with the evictions and cleanup after there were literally four different fires out there in one week, not to mention three deaths last year.
But now the city is hemming and hawing over paying for the cleanup and a triage center at River Park for all those getting evicted from the riverbed. Lompoc City Councilmember Dirk Starbuck said that the “cost of this project [is] gonna impact this whole community.”
Yeah, no kidding, but you know what else impacts a whole community? Poverty, addiction, lack of housing, and scanty resources for the most vulnerable within it. As one homeless man who spoke with Sun Staff Writer Spencer Cole put it, “People are dying down here.”
According to one county official who spoke at a City Council meeting, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is preparing to declare a shelter emergency to get some federal funding to help remedy the situation at the riverbed. That’s a step in the right direction, these people need help, but what will they do after the triage center shuts down?
That’s why I’ll give the county supes some credit for recently approving a $3 million loan for an affordable housing project in Santa Maria as well as changing county code to allow more accessory dwelling units on ag preserve properties. Santa Maria made similar changes to city code this year too.
These steps forward might feel like Band-Aids to some, but when people are literally lying bruised and bloody in the streets, every bit helps.
The Canary is seeing some progress. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 6, 2018.