STATE STREET MASTER PLAN: FINAL CALL FOR...MORE BUREAUCRACY?

Your beloved Santa Barbara Independent finally remembered to tell you, in Spanish no less, that the so-called 'public comment period' for the State Street Master Plan was closing faster than a downtown business during a soft breeze. Translation: The politburo at City Hall is now free to ignore whatever token feedback they received before proceeding with their predetermined vision for our once-charming main drag. It's almost as if these 'engagement periods' are less about listening and more about ticking a diversity, equity, and inclusion box for grant applications.

One has to wonder if the 200,000 pages of previous plans, studies, and consultant reports weren't enough. Apparently, the city planners, who’ve never run a profitable enterprise in their lives, need even more data to decide if State Street should be a pedestrian mall, a bike lane, or perhaps a living exhibit of urban planning failures. Meanwhile, actual property owners and small business operators, the people who actually contribute to the tax base, were probably too busy trying to keep their doors open to navigate the city's labyrinthine online portal for 'input.'

The real 'master plan' here seems to be ensuring a continuous revenue stream for a revolving door of urban design consultants and city staff salaries. Every few years, another 'vision' is rolled out, another 'stakeholder meeting' is held, and another chunk of taxpayer money vanishes into the ether. Perhaps before they remake State Street into a car-free utopia for electric scooters and artisanal pickle vendors, they could focus on the basics — like, say, making it safe and attractive for people to visit without being accosted by the usual collection of street denizens.

But hey, at least the Independent got around to reporting it, even if it was just in time for the deadline to pass. We're sure the City Council will carefully weigh all two-and-a-half comments they received before rubber-stamping the next iteration of 'progress' that will inevitably cost millions and achieve precisely nothing for downtown vibrancy. Bravo, Santa Barbara, bravo.