COUNTY TO SHRED DOCS: NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS, JUST "ADMIN"!

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, in a move that screams 'transparency' louder than a mime in a soundproof box, is poised to green-light the shredding of two-year-old financial records. This isn't just any old paper recycling initiative, dear taxpayers; this is the Financial Services Division getting a case of the 'can't-see-it-won't-hurt-us' blues. They’re assuring us these documents are 'no longer required by law to be retained,' which is precisely what one says before tossing that awkward bar tab or perhaps the detailed breakdown of why the new homeless housing initiative cost more than a moon mission.

Our esteemed Supervisors, in their infinite wisdom, have also pre-emptively declared this mass paper pulping exempt from CEQA, because, naturally, erasing financial trails is merely an 'organizational and administrative activity.' One must admire the chutzpah. They can regulate the color of your garden gnome under CEQA, but making county spending records vanish like a politician's campaign promises? Totally exempt! It makes you wonder what kind of fiscal fireworks are lurking in those soon-to-be-shredded files that the environmentalists, usually so keen on 'impacts,' suddenly find no issue with.

While the Supervisors are busy tidying up the past, one has to ask: what exactly are they clearing the decks for? Perhaps it’s to make room for the next multi-million-dollar consultant report on 'equity' or another study on how to ban plastic straws more efficiently. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s to obscure the real figures behind that mysterious 'infrastructure upgrade' contract that just happened to go to a developer who also happens to be a generous donor to certain supervisorial campaigns. It’s all just good, clean, administrative fun for our local overlords, while you, the taxpayer, are left wondering why your property taxes just jumped again.

This isn't just about old invoices; it’s about a pattern. The Board of Supervisors consistently finds ways to operate in the shadows, conveniently declaring anything they don't want scrutinized as 'routine' or 'administrative.' The official line is that these records are simply taking up too much space. We at The Whipping Post suspect they’re taking up too much transparency, and that’s a cost our progressive county leaders simply cannot bear.