Granada needs your help
Michael Towbes and his family have generously offered $5 million in matching grants to close the funding gap on the restoration of Santa Barbara’s Granada theater. This is a project that has elevated the performing arts game across the Tri-Counties, creating a Broadway-class performance venue that’s right in the heart of the region. We encourage Read More →
California suffering from internal injuries
Just as the 1990s ended with global problems looking smaller and smaller, the first decade of the 21st century is ending with mega-problems looming everywhere. These are big things that really demand more than Band-Aids and quick fixes. Here is a closer look at four of them: • California’s budget mess. All of the parties Read More →
Time to rethink area economic development
You know that the economy is in deep recession when movers and shakers in greater Santa Barbara start using those two dreaded words: “economic development.” Never a shrinking violet when it comes to politics, Carpinteria City Councilman Joe Armendariz has come close to touching the third rail of South Coast politics by calling for “resurrecting Read More →
More is less when buyouts occur
The sale of Mentor to Johnson & Johnson, announced earlier this month, punctuates the need for a bigger conversation about economic development in the Tri-Counties. That’s because we are increasingly losing our middle class of companies and relying more and more on risky startups for job growth. True, J&J — like Allergan, Citrix, Teledyne, Raytheon Read More →
Joint ventures pay off for nonprofit sector
Let’s cut right to the chase. There are too many nonprofits in the Tri-Counties. In the best-case scenario, honest, well-meaning nonprofits are simply a little too narrowly conceived and they are a little too overhead-heavy. In the worst-case scenario, they are little fiefdoms for agenda-driven donors that simply duplicate the work of lower-cost providers. One Read More →
Budget troubles spur pessimism
Amid all the talk about bailouts and megabucks deals for automakers, there’s been precious little talk about the small-business owners who create most of America’s jobs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to be congratulated for convening a small business summit that presented a host of suggestions for improving access to bidding on state projects and for Read More →
A special editor's note on the Miramar project
Julia Louis Dreyfus, aka Elaine from the Seinfeld show, is about to take her long-running protest act before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Dreyfus and a few neighbors have become the hecklers in the audience at one of the most interesting dramas to unfold on the South Coast in recent years. That is Read More →
