Nature Boy
By NatureBoy
The Santa Barbara Courthouse: one of the most beautiful, most visited, and most photographed locations in all of SB. Has anyone else noticed, and been bothered by, the almost constant junk installation on the sidewalk on the Anapamu side, consisting of shopping carts, litter, cardboard, and other piles of ugly mess?
Why doesn’t the city keep up with getting rid of this stuff, considering that it uglifies one of the most beautiful views in town for both locals and visitors alike? The stuff is there every day; it is littering on a major scale and I’m sick of looking at it. I reported it to the city so let’s see if anything happens.
“SBSUNSHINE” so just steal someone’s personal belongings because you don’t like the way they look? I mean, that’s basically what you’re doing. How about instead, you find the person whose stuff it is, and ask them to please not leave it out like that. Wouldn’t you do the same to a neighbor in a house who had their belongings in their front yard? Why are we treating homeless people’s belongings less than we would a homeowner’s?
I think that we should all consider the humanitarian aspect of this situation, not just the junk. Why are people living around the courthouse and leaving garbage everywhere? What happened to them? Are they addicts, or mentally ill? Never mind the junk, the people responsible are clearly unable to care for themselves. Why do we allow them to continue to suffer like this? There is a human cost to all of this, and allowing people to wither and die on our streets is not an acceptable solution. We have the resources to take these people off the streets and treat them like human beings.
Sunshine. You make way to much sense.
We have a lot of experts in this community that are committed to address the humanitarian aspect. In many cases the free will of these people is honored as they choose to live this way. There is love in respecting another’s choices and having allowance. And, there is a fine line between being naive and allowing yourself to be manipulated. Many bleeding hearts in the city which are not grounded in some fundamentals. There are some magnificent programs in this town for getting the sex trafficking victims off the streets as well as high risk youths…some of the best solutions in the world. We just haven’t cracked the code on this particular aspect of the challenge. We will create change around this as a community, it’s in the wind and coming.
looks like some sort of protest statement .
SBSUNSHINE: I would love to hear that you have sent this exact comment to the Mayor’s office. Please please pretty please!!!! This is precisely what we need done. Please run for office! 🙂
@1:13 Those “homeless” people don’t pay rent or property taxes. So why are they entitled to take up space on sidewalks that tax payers pay for. Why is it ok for them to steal shopping carts that belong to businesses. Why are you suggesting we hold them to a different standard than the rest of us?
People are blowing things way out of proportion. I was down at the wharf on Sunday, and there is no lack of tourists coming to our supposed pit toilet of a town. Restaurants are full, parking lots and the 101 are jammed, and housing prices are still sky high. Most tourists probably understand that they are not coming to Disneyland when they come here, and that the real world may intrude on them a bit while they are here. But they keep coming! TOT money keeps increasing! The sky is not falling.
Spoken like a true mayor!
Only they are not the Mayor.
@1:13 PM. Most of the stuff these people have are stolen from others! They steal stuff all the time!! Bikes are stolen every day so they can make crafty little carts to hold all their stolen personal property that they stole from someone else. It is a bad idea to enable these thieves. If they are crafty enough to do what they do and get away with it, they are certainly capable to work for a living.. Or transfer themselves somewhere cheaper to live. And/or take advantage of the many social programs available to them.
Downtown is newly annointed city councilperson Meghan Harmon’s district. Contact her and send the photos. Do something. We don’t have two systems of justice in this town; no matter what ACLU or any legal defense center tries to tell us.
City council needs to ban shopping carts, cardboard, string, bungee cords, plastic jugs.
So, if one of us dumped a bunch of junk we wanted to keep on a city street does it mean we have the right to leave it there? Do we have to be homeless to leave our junk on the sidewalk without of it being thrown away?
City controls storage of junk on private property – why do we have two systems of justice – private junk storage and public junk storage. SBMC 28.87.190 Storage.
A. No portion of any front yard or any required interior setback, open yard, private outdoor living space or front porch shall be used for the permanent storage of motor vehicles, trailers, airplanes, boats, parts of any of the foregoing, appliances, loose rubbish or garbage, junk, tents, garbage or rubbish receptacles, building materials, compost pile, or any similar item, except as hereinafter provided. Permanent storage, as used in this section, shall mean storage for a period of 48 or more consecutive hours.
B. No portion of any vacant or undeveloped lot in a residential zone where no main building exists shall be used for permanent storage.
With a little bit more cardboard the homeless could build a village and live there to enjoy the view.
Wowie ….. there’s a lot of comments !!!! Not gonna read them all….well…maybe later I will…. Here’s my comment….. Be pro-active and remove the stuff yourself. Or, first, leave a big BIG note on the stuff, saying its gonna get removed tomorrow……… then, if the pile is still there the next day…..YOU make it go away. It looks like abandoned property… Trash begets Trash…… if there’s stuff there, then more stuff will be put there. it’s the laws of nature.
Well it has been proven that the government has its hands tied, so where are the other 90,000 citizens to help out. Pretty sure if a couple people rolled up in their truck, removed all the stuff, they would not be met with any Police resistance. Any takers? I’m sure the restaurant would give you a free refreshment or two as a reward.
Leave Captain Underpants and his stuff alone! He is a very cool and interesting guy with some issues. He has been around for a long time now. You all should get to know him and show some compassion.
JOHN SWEPSTON: You’re describing the housing development(s) out by Costco.
Maybe if they banned homelessness they’d pack up their trash and just go home.
I agree. All this whining and wailing is much ado about nothing, in my opinion… your mileage may vary of course. Tearing your hair out and wailing at City Hall because tourists are offended or family members don’t want to come back to visit you is just hyperbolic hysteria.
Hey if you leave your wallet, purse, jacket out in the open on a sidewalk it is now considered lost or abandoned and anyone can take it, period. Or take it and post something about found property. This junk on the streets is no different. If it’s someone’s property then they should be with it not leaving it. Period. So yes, we have a right to take it.
Hello, SUNSHINE. I think you mean “unsightly:”——— ” . . . lower state street next to the poor shop the building has been weirdly boarded, insightful and dirty for years.” A building isn’t a thinking being and cannot be considered “insightful” (intuitive, perceptive)
Hello, SUNSHINE. I think you mean “unsightly:”——— ” . . . lower state street next to the poor shop the building has been weirdly boarded, insightful and dirty for years.” A building isn’t a thinking being and cannot be considered “insightful” (intuitive, perceptive)
Don’t be so sure that items and “bikes are stolen every day” by homeless. I have a good friend who has found loads of bikes abandoned around town. He fixes up the bikes and then either donates them to his friends or sells them. Santa Barbara residents, especially the College and University kids, blithely dump their nice, usable stuff all the time. Laptops, clothing, you-name-it, they dump it. Down alleys, behind apartment buildings, next to dumpsters.
Ask the local Chapter of the ACLU to clean it up- Their “constituents” are responsible for the right to STEAL shopping carts and live like trolls in our society…
Absolutely no excuse for the city not clearing this stuff.
@Flicka- it’s considered “personal property”… Welcome to the Peoples Republic of California
well….Natureboy seems very distraught over this. Why didn’t he take it upon himself to throw it away or clean it up? I do, when walking around my neighborhood. Downtown is all of our neighborhood, so pitch in if you see trash, pick it up and toss it into a bin…they are all over downtown.
I always thought that were I to live in a big city, it would be San Francisco, but it has been destroyed. Not only by real estate prices that make SB look affordable (!) but by a veritable homeless invasion. My brother lives there and told me of one homeless man who has cost the city over $100k in one year. We once had jobs for those who wanted work and institutions for the addled. It is a sad note when a “rich” society cannot provide basic shelter and food for all of its’ citizens. Yes, I know that not all are citizens, separate issue, yet connected issues.
The carts are stolen property, there isn’t a lawyer in the land that could paint it any other way. Shopping carts are easily identifiable by store and the police could confiscate all of them without any fear of repercussion. No ones hands are tied, the police and city are making a choice not to enforce the law. Are they holding out for increased budgets or feel that interacting with the homeless is beneath their duties? I don’t know but there is nothing legally to stop them removing all shopping carts from the homeless tomorrow. This is not a lack of compassion, I’d like these people to be housed and have health insurance and be assisted with mental health issues but the lack of those services doesn’t excuse anti social behavior.
LCP112233 – the problem likely is that this is considered someone’s “personal property.” Not sure the City can just toss it.
Don’t take it down, it’s the new art installation that the City Council commissioned. They hired an art consultant and interpretive basket weaver to find the best way to attract visitors to the Courthouse.
Hahahaha! Thanks for the laugh.
Thanks. That’s the part of LCP’s post I wondered about.
I am a fan of tourism, and when giving clients a ride around town always take a detour to show them that fabulous view of the architecture. I too have been wincing over that pile of crap for way too long, many weeks. Spurred to action by this posting, I called Marborg and after waiting for 8 minutes on hold (so good to know, as the recording informed me, that my home service will be delayed by one day after Christmas) I was told by Selma that if there is a pile of trash and they have a reason to believe “it has anything to do with a Homeless” then they won’t touch it. So the deal is, if there’s a shopping cart there, it is a permanent installation. So, I suggested, just hypothetically, what if some well-meaning citizen vigilante dumped all the crap out of the shopping cart and wheeled it away….. would they come and get the cardboard boxes etc then? Yes they will. She said “You have to call the Police and they can get involved.” I asked what they would actually DO and she said she didn’t know. I think better someone tips out the trash and wheels the cart off and then calls Marborg again. This placing the precious ner-do-wells ahead of the citizenry has got to stop.
HA ha ha!
Lucky777 it’s not your stuff. If the cops won’t move it and Marborg won’t move it, what makes you think you should?
Banksy
Sadly there is a very protective human attached to this particular installation. SB officials along with many other worthless community “leaders” cannot see the forest for the trash and have zero interest in taking action to improve these blights on our once beautiful streets.
There are 2 specific people in that area that hoard shopping carts with lots of junk. The ones posted here belong to a man who is a long time resident of the courthouse. The other shopping carts, usually across the street belong to a skinny little lady who seems to appears to live at the county administration building. Both seem to have public defender case workers/social workers working with them to protect their stuff because I always see both of them walking into public defenders office. Not to mention every time I complain to the police or streets department they say they can’t do anything.
@12:21 – why is that funny? It may be art in his eyes, why not? Just because you think it’s trash, doesn’t mean everyone else does.
None of this makes sense. SB is supposed to be a tourist destination with millions in media budgets and grants being spent on advertising to promote the city. ” Tourism is one of the major contributors to the economy of the Santa Barbara South Coast. According to our recent visitor profile study, total direct visitor-related spending contributes $1.9 billion to the local economy.”
https://www.travelagewest.com/Travel/USA-Canada/Santa-Barbara-Tourism-Update-Following-Fire-and-Mudslides
What would it take for the following to happen:
1. Nightly or weekly power washing of state street, including scrubbing of some of the walls, disinfectant, bleach
2. The city is curiously weird about Institution Ale’s signage but lower state street next to the poor shop the building has been weirdly boarded, insightful and dirty for years. And, Indigo club….look at the raunchy window, dirty, crappy ickiness, why are there no ordinances for “cleanliness, window washing, building washing”. The city needs to spend calories updating ordinances to address cleanliness. Listen, if Disney can power wash an entire theme park overnight, the city should be able to handle a few streets.
3. Beautification – what would it take to have hanging baskets of beautiful flowers hang from the buildings or lamp posts? Why is it Vancouver and other stunning tourist locations can easily do this? $1.9 FREAKIN BILLION TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY. There needs to be a business management system in place that allocates a percentage of this budget to growth and innovation, toward cleanliness and improvements. Every corporation in America has P&L’s, budgets, vision plans, innovation stage-gate processes and growth plans…there are case studies upon case studies on how tourism is supported…why is it that a city that is full of smart corporate leaders, visionaries in just about every field can’t come together to address this? This is absurd. Running a city by people that have zero business background is craziness. The system across the US is broken. This is a city about “firsts” and innovation…there has to be a way to bring those thought leaders forward to be a contribution toward growth, innovation and creating a stunning community. What would it take for the community to be generative and to receive fresh thinking, more beauty and ultimately more money from tourist dollars…this is about creating sales…you don’t do that by letting your #1 product go to shit and let vagrants dictate the company’s future….and you can create healthy thriving businesses (cities) with “People, planet and profit in mind”…..stepping off the soapbox. thank you. not apologizing or defending. just tired of seeing crap in the corner of doorways while I walk to the Drunkin Crab or Ramen place.
This is a key insight – Here’s what’s going on: The homeless talk amongst themselves and know the law. The city risks in getting sued. The city attorney issues an internal letter information all departments of the law to avoid being sued. So, the solution is private citizens need to take care of this….pull up a pick-up truck with a few guys in it, put the junk in the trunk, obey the speed limit and return the cart to the store with the cardboard so they can use their recycling system. #BOOM. Next.
RHS- I said the carts are stolen, not the contents. The carts should be emptied and confiscated. The contents are then abandoned trash that if not claimed and removed can be disposed of.
In answer to your question re monster trucks, yes if that truck is illegally parked or stored you can call to have it removed. Similarly if it is stolen, it can be returned to it’s rightful owner. Too expand on your analogy, say the thief filled the truck with their personal possessions, are you suggesting the thief should be allowed to retrieve those items from the stolen vehicle. Yeah, no.
I have seen some old carts with no identifying information on them. Probably was removed years ago. If I find an empty, unmarked cart in a ditch and take it home, that’s not stealing. I’ve seen some of the carts homeless people use, and it would be hard to tell which store they originally belonged to.
Having a bit of junk near the court house gardens makes the gardens look even better by comparison. It makes it less Disneylandy; we have problems, and yet it’s still so darn beautiful here.
The Amazon is burning, Santa Barbara suffers violent crime, and trolls have nothing better to do than whine about an expressive ecccentric is happens to be a warm and caring person struggling with extreme poverty? Disgusting. Lay off the keyboard and do something constructive.
Shopping carts from when Vons shut down were put on the market for next to nothing and many people use them lawfully.
No, a lost wallet with ID in it remains the property of its’ owner. You do not become its’ owner and inparticular you do not become the owner of the ID and credit cards. If you use them you face felony prosecution.
While we’re on the subject, how bout the city get rid of all those sidewalk crack weeds growing? The entire courthouse is surrounded by weedy sidewalks!
Omg there are 3 pieces of cardboard on a shopping cart. If this is your biggest problem you are extremely lucky.
MYHONORSTUDENTSB – That is just flay out FALSE. Retailers are responsible for the removal and disposal of abandoned or stolen carts, the program used in the City is funded by grocery stores. It is a condition of use for retailers who have carts! Vons did not sell their old carts, you can’t just make stuff up! They are stolen property and can be confiscated.
SBSUNSHINE: perhaps you are unfamiliar with the trades programs already in place at SBCC? As well as the generous stipends available to low-income students. So far no takers, among the group you still assume wants to be helped. Triage this group: those who can; those who cannot; and those who will not. State lockdown institutions for those who cannot, social safety net already in place for those who can, and now share your practical suggestions for the last group that makes up the bulk of our local problems – those that WILL not – they are service resistant addicts; not poor nor vulnerable. And not without considerable skills. Have at it, but please confine your responses to the last part of this issue – the will-nots.
This guy is not a product of extreme poverty or struggling to get a job, he has mental illness and needs help. He hates authority and mostly refuses help. I have personally watched the downward spiral of this guy. Several years ago, he was on Cabrillo Blvd with his modest car, and it was the beginning of the downward slope. His car was packed with junk, papers all over his dash, and political event press passes everywhere. Eventually his junk overwhelmed him, and he lost his car. Parading around the beach with never ending props, yelling and discussing political and world problems with imaginary people or yelling at a random passer-by-er.. fast forward to today.. hoarding objects with some sense of desperation, somehow hanging on to our society’s obsession with having possessions to define our self worth; albeit random container jugs, cardboard boxes, and packaging parts. If nobody cleans this up, he feels that his middle finger to to the world has super powers.
Factotum: whether the carts are stolen, borrowed or owned by the users, it is obvious that the property in them is that of the user. If the property were seized by the police the authorities would, under case law, have to store it for a reasonable period of time to allow the owner to recover it. Considering how little these folks have, the idea of simply trashing their life to protect someone’s esthetic experience is a pretty sad idea. Maybe I should haul off one of these monster off road trucks that don’t fit in parking places as I find them ugly and they are in violation of some ordinance?
If that monster off road truck was illegally parked, taking up multiple spaces, blocking access, impairing visibility, etc. it should be towed and the owner can collect it from impound.
Dude is brilliantly protesting Styrofoam cups, soybean overproduction, Glyphosate poison killing the planet and a broken recycling system and all anyone sees is trash. That’s the point. The it’s all trash. It’s a beautiful mind in action.
Hear! Hear!
Rex, you win this whole thread. Those heinous developments out in Goleta will ensure that the 101 will be clogged forevermore. Ushering in thousands more people from out of town to attend the OVER-enrolled UCSB. It’s a damned shame. Goleta’s pro-growth city council has ruined that once pristene area. Sad.
It is called substance abuse and it takes even the best people and turns them into mush. Most of them would choose homes over the street, but the ugly hydra of drug abuse and alcoholism ruins that.
erratum: My 9:06 post should have been directed to Nope, not Factotum.
Hey hold on! I teach art to disabled adults and some mixed-media creations may absolutely look like this. SBSUNSHINE is spot on – if only this person had a better outlet for his creativity….
Posting this link to info on Community First Village: https://mlf.org/community-first/. This is a successful model for addressing the homeless issue and it is being replicated across the US. They teach skilled trades like welding, bricklaying, organic gardening and the arts. Santa Barbara has so many historic locations that require welding, beautiful wrought iron, repairs to stone walls and so forth. Imagine a place where these skills can be learned and the entire community benefits from the homeless returning the gift of housing and establishing the community by them working on city improvements. Imagine the homeless eating organic foods, learning regenerative agriculture and as a result their bodies and minds heal. There is plenty of land in Santa Ynez and north where a community like this can be created. There are many homeless people that need a structure like this in order to cycle up and out. And, many have no family, no sense of anyone in this world ever having their back, the repeated judgements from passersby tear down their soul….that can change with a program like Community First Village. What more is possible? What would it take to create this? This is the type of model we need. Maybe the Mayor can book a flight and go tour these visionary places. Maybe the Santa Barbara Foundation can use some of their money to get this started. There was some conversations circulating that they had an extra million from the mudslide disaster that they hadn’t allocated yet…
SBSunshine. You should seek a membership in the Trump family. What a rant of privilege bought by wealth. Ugly.
So without due process you would seize something being held by someone else on the likelihood that they stole what they are using? Fortunately possession is still an important part of the law and the possessor has some right to hold what s/he has until a hearing or procedure takes place. Loosen up. Government grabbing things willy nilly leads to bad places.