Remembering Mayor Lodge and More Letters

I have so much admiration for Mayor Sheila Lodge. I can’t imagine Santa Barbara without her. The impact she had was as deep as the love she shared for our community. In fact, the profound way she shaped our city, decade after decade, is unmatched. 

Sheila was the first mayor I knew as a child, so I simply assumed all mayors were women. She was a trailblazer, opening doors for generations of women in public service and proving that leadership rooted in integrity, commitment, and determination can change the course of history.

Beyond the countless improvements she made to our city – right up until the end of her life – her legacy lives on in the many women who followed her into elected office and in everyone she inspired to believe they could lead. I especially admired that she never minced words or tiptoed around difficult issues – she always spoke her mind, bluntly but with that slight twinkle in her eye. 

Thank you, Sheila. Santa Barbara is far better because of you. And we will miss you.

Laura Capps

Permitting Reform Needed

We continue to read about rising electricity rates that are exacerbating the inflation that is making our lives more expensive and difficult. While some states have been proactive in addressing the problem, a national solution is needed. Our existing grid can be made more efficient, but in the end we will need to build new transmission lines and create stronger connections between each of the regional grids. A major problem is that it takes too long to build these lines due to outdated regulations. The cost of solar and battery storage has decreased so dramatically that virtually all new generation capacity is clean. Unfortunately, the grid hasn’t been able to keep up and this new capacity often has to wait years to get plugged in. Federal legislation is already being considered in DC to help ease these bottlenecks while still encouraging public input. Ask your member of Congress to join you in support of comprehensive clean energy permitting reform so we can build our way out of these high electricity rates.  

Jon Berman