FINALLY! VOTERS TO THE RESCUE AS RENT CONTROL FOLLIES HIT CITY HALL

Well, bless their hearts. It seems even in Santa Barbara, a beacon of enlightened progressive thought (according to those who impose it upon us), some common sense has finally reared its beautiful head. Noozhawk breathlessly reported that a 'coalition' has formed, bravely asserting the radical notion that *voters* should have a say in city policy, especially when that policy is the economic equivalent of trying to cure a headache by hitting yourself with a hammer: rent control.

Our esteemed City Council, in their infinite wisdom, decided last month to 'advance' a rent control ordinance, which, if you read between the lines of bureaucratic doublespeak, means they kicked the can down the road while still ensuring plenty of tax dollars would be spent on a new 'program' and 'rental registry.' Because nothing solves a housing crisis like more government paperwork and fewer available units, right? It's almost as if they want to ensure Santa Barbara's already sky-high prices are locked in place, guaranteeing an exodus of all but the most entrenched (or those with very large trust funds). One has to wonder which 'stakeholders' truly benefit from fewer properties and more red tape.

But fear not, for the 'Help Save Santa Barbara Housing Committee' has emerged, daring to suggest that perhaps the people who actually live and pay taxes here should weigh in. Imagine! It's a shocking proposition to the progressive machine, which usually prefers to legislate from on high, insulated from the real-world consequences of their grand social experiments. They'll try to spin this as an attack on 'renter protections,' but anyone with half a brain knows rent control stifles development and makes housing scarcer. Meanwhile, the city's pension liabilities continue to balloon, and every new 'program' means more bureaucrats, more overhead, and less actual progress for anyone not on the public payroll. It’s almost as if some people want to ensure an ever-growing government bureaucracy with endless 'committees' and 'task forces' rather than letting the free market actually, you know, function.