SANTA MARIA'S $55K 'SAFETY' GRANT: ANOTHER TAXPAYER-FUNDED BIKE LANE TO NOWHERE

Santa Maria is apparently awash in cash it doesn't quite know what to do with, if the latest news from KSBY is any indication. The city has proudly announced a $55,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, earmarked for 'bicycle and pedestrian safety education.' Translation: your tax dollars are about to fund another round of brightly colored pamphlets explaining how not to ride into traffic, paired with community outreach events where everyone can agree that, yes, safety is, in fact, good.

One has to wonder if, perhaps, actual law enforcement presence on the roads or fixing the pothole-riddled streets might achieve more 'safety' than a federally funded group ride. But then, that would be too simple, wouldn't it? It wouldn't require a grant application, a committee, a consultant, and all the administrative overhead that makes these things so delightfully expensive and inefficient. This is just another example of how progressive local governments, flush with other people's money, invent problems to fund solutions that benefit no one but the consultants and agencies providing them.

Of course, the California Office of Traffic Safety, always eager to divest taxpayers of their hard-earned cash, is thrilled. They'll undoubtedly tout this as a win for 'active transportation' and 'equity' – buzzwords that make any boondoggle sound like a noble cause. Meanwhile, real issues like crime, inflation, and crumbling infrastructure continue to be ignored, while Santa Maria residents get to enjoy a new series of state-mandated bike rides and lessons on how to use hand signals. Perhaps the next grant will teach them how to pay their ever-increasing property taxes with a smile.