COUNTY'S HOUSING 'CREDIBILITY GAP' IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR 'TAX REVENUE SHORTFALL'

Santa Barbara Current, our esteemed allies in truth-telling (and occasionally in finding stories that aren't about drum circles or oat milk lattes), recently hit the nail on the head with their piece on the County's so-called 'Housing Credibility Gap.' While most outlets would just parrot the party line about 'affordable housing' and 'inclusionary zoning,' the Current, bless their hearts, actually bothered to ask why the county *can't* build anything. The answer, of course, isn't complicated: it's the same old progressive playbook of endless red tape, NIMBYism disguised as environmentalism, and a development review process that moves at the speed of continental drift.

This 'credibility gap' is just another pretty name for the Grand Canyon-sized chasm between the county's virtue-signaling pronouncements on housing and the concrete reality of its own self-imposed paralysis. They talk a good game about addressing the housing crisis, yet every proposal is subjected to a gauntlet of 'community input' meetings, environmental impact reports longer than the tax code, and design guidelines dreamed up by someone who thinks a yurt is peak luxury. Meanwhile, young families flee, businesses can't find workers, and the only people who can afford a home here are venture capitalists or the perpetually subsidized.

What the Current's piece subtly highlighted, perhaps without even realizing it, is that the county isn't suffering from a lack of credibility; it's suffering from a surfeit of 'experts' and 'planners' whose main contribution to the housing crisis has been to make it worse. Every new fee, every extended review, every demand for 'community benefits' or 'sustainable design' adds another layer of cost and delay, driving up prices and ensuring that only the most well-connected developers with deep pockets (and even deeper campaign contributions) can navigate the labyrinth. The 'gap' isn't about belief; it's about basic economics, something the left-leaning politicos in power seem determined to ignore at our collective expense.

So, while the County frets about its 'credibility,' perhaps they should just admit that their socialist-lite housing policies have failed spectacularly. Maybe, just maybe, if they got out of the way, stopped treating every new home like a toxic waste dump, and remembered that capitalism actually *builds* things, the 'gap' would miraculously close. But then, that wouldn't involve any new commissions or highly paid consultants, would it? And what fun would that be for the bureaucracy?