Watch: What's Behind County Planning's Fumble on Sable? La Cumbre Housing Mess, Cookie Scandal
The Coastal Commission came to town and smacked Sable Oil with a huge fine but a key question - why did county sign off on pipeline permit? - went unanswered
In May 1973, Howard Baker, the late U.S. Senator from Tennessee, famously captured the crux of the complex controversy in the unfolding Watergate scandal: “What did the president know and when did he know it?”
This week in Santa Barbara, Coastal Commissioner Meagan Harmon performed similar rhetoric duty, pinpointing in three fewer, precise words the nub of the contentious dispute over Sable Offshore Corp.’s bid to activate a high-risk pipeline:
“Sable’s refusal to comply is violating the law.,” she said.
On this week’s episode of Newsmakers TV, Indy staff writer Margaux Lovely reprises her reporting about the big commission hearing, including the agency’s vote to slam Sable with an $18 million fine — even as the company continues to thumb its nose at cease and desist orders demanding they stop work on the pipeline, which ruptured in 2015, causing the ghastly Refugio oil spill.
Harmon, who moonlights as a member of the SB City Council, along with commission colleagues, also expressed frustration with the county Planning Department, which has capitulated and enabled Sable, providing the oil company with a fig leaf permit for its contentious efforts: “I have never seen a county cave this way,” another commissioner said at one point in Thursday’s hearing.
Josh Molina and Ryan P. Cruz join the discussion over planning politics, and update the latest on those two huge housing developments planned at La Cumbre Plaza, where developers to date have failed, not only to plan for more than a bare minimum of affordable housing, but also to provide any semblance of design coordination or collaboration on traffic, infrastructure and aesthetics.
The conversation about top local news stories also delves into the bewildering case of the city evicting a thriving, downtown cookie shop amid speculation of backroom political machinations; the stand-up behavior of a local law firm in fighting against Trump bullying; and the identification of two downtown locations owned by the county that could become sites for workforce housing.
Plus: a hearty and unanimous pronouncement of sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery to council member Eric Friedman, who encountered an unplanned adventure on a recent surfing excursion. Get well soon, brother.
All this and more, right here, right now, on Newsmakers TV.
Check out Episode 488 via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple and other platforms, and on Soundcloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Image: Clean-up operations at the Refugio Oil Spill (Patagonia.com)