HARTMANN: LOS OLIVOS 'CHOICE' IS TO PAY UP, SHUT UP, AND SMELL THE ROSES

Noozhawk is still valiantly plumbing the depths of Los Olivos' sewer woes, this time letting Supervisor Joan Hartmann explain how the locals still have 'choices' in their wastewater future. We’re sure those choices feel about as liberating as picking which flavor of gruel you’d like for dinner after the county’s benevolent hand has already decided you’re eating gruel. Hartmann, ever the champion of local autonomy (as long as it aligns perfectly with county dictates), seems genuinely surprised that peasants might not instantly grasp the superior wisdom of Sacramento-mandated, locally-funded infrastructure boondoggles.

Her latest op-ed reads like a parent explaining to a toddler why they *really* want to eat their broccoli: it’s for their own good, it’s expensive, and there’s no real alternative if they want to stay at the table. The 'choice' Los Olivos apparently has is whether to build a system they own (and pay for) or let some other entity (that they’ll also pay for) build and run it, all under the watchful, ever-expanding eye of county regulations. It’s a classic shell game where the taxpayer always ends up holding the empty walnut shell.

What Ms. Hartmann and her ilk consistently miss is that these 'solutions' are often responses to problems created by the very same regulatory overreach and environmental zealotry they champion. First, you create an impossible standard, then you offer a multi-million-dollar 'solution,' then you pat yourselves on the back for giving the little people 'choices.' The real choice, of course, was made long ago when the county decided what was best for everyone, regardless of local sentiment or bank accounts. This isn't about empowering Los Olivos; it's about consolidating power and ensuring every drop of effluent flows through a county-approved, union-built, taxpayer-funded pipe, likely benefiting a donor-connected contractor.

So, Los Olivos, choose wisely. Will you pay through the nose now, or will you pay through the nose later, perhaps with added interest and a stern lecture on environmental justice from your betters in Santa Barbara? The future, as designed by the county, is flush with possibilities—for bureaucrats and contractors, anyway. For residents, it's just a different shade of brown.