CITY COUNCIL HOPEFULS BLAME EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES FOR SB'S BROKEN UTOPIA

It appears the folks at Noozhawk have once again dedicated column inches to the thrilling, groundbreaking insights from our local City Council candidates. The recent forum, hosted by the titans of local commerce, apparently revealed that some candidates – bless their hearts – actually believe the city has *no* responsibility for the affordability crisis it meticulously engineered. This is the kind of profound self-awareness that truly makes one wonder how these paragons of bureaucracy even tie their own shoes in the morning.

While attendees were treated to the usual platitudes about "affordability" and "revitalizing State Street," one can almost hear the crickets chirping for any candidate willing to point out the actual elephant in the room: decades of progressive land-use policies, endless permitting delays, and a regulatory labyrinth so dense it makes the federal tax code look like a haiku. Our local elected officials, always eager to micromanage every aspect of a citizen's life, suddenly develop amnesia when confronted with the consequences of their own prohibitive decrees. It's truly a masterclass in deflection, worthy of a gold medal in the Bureaucratic Olympics.

What these candidates conveniently forget to mention, and what the local press rarely bothers to investigate, is how much political capital has been spent *preventing* development, *mandating* unaffordable green initiatives, and generally making it impossible to build anything without consulting a dozen city commissions and a sacred grove of endangered artisanal moss. The "crisis" isn't a natural phenomenon; it's a feature, not a bug, of a system designed by the very people now wringing their hands over its existence. Meanwhile, the city's coffers swell with impact fees, while residents pay through the nose, all so we can maintain the illusion of a pristine, progressive paradise.

As for State Street, the candidates likely offered more of the same tired proposals for pedestrian zones and artisanal oat milk cafes, conveniently ignoring the real solution: getting out of the way of businesses and letting commerce thrive without a committee's approval for every potted plant. But that would involve less government, which is anathema to the very class of individuals perpetually running for public office in our fair city. So, we're left with more talk, more forums, and more of the same problems, while the ruling class continues to perfect the art of doing nothing, expensively.