At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez asked if the city could enact an ordinance to prevent old, sick, and disabled people from living in the Santa Barbara foothills to develop more housing in high fire areas. When did it become okay to discriminate against protected classes?
If this is how Gutierrez conducts himself in a public meeting, what is happening behind the scenes that we don’t see? This behavior should not be allowed to happen without ramifications. The only way this will happen is if our press makes it known outside the small group that attended this meeting. The fact that the City Attorney advised him that such an idea was not legal, and the rest of the council did not support it, is not sufficient; it does not change the fact that Councilmember Gutierrez was advocating for discrimination.
To provide further context, his comments came up in a discussion related to an ordinance to allow lot splits. The City Council and mayor were cautioned by many that allowing lot splits in high fire areas would pose a significant risk to residents, and there are no plans to mitigate this risk. This was Councilmember Gutierrez’s solution. So I guess it also means it’s okay if people not in these protected classes can’t get out in an emergency and die?