Campaign time is finally over. That’s when strangers knock on your door, yell “Trick or Treat,” and you give them something to make them go away. Some of them wear costumes pretending to be Mayors or City Council members or … Witches … wait, isn’t that Halloween? I get Campaigns and Halloween mixed up. Both involve parades of people coming to your door with their hands out. I think the Halloween people are usually shorter, but “Trick or Treat” is definitely a Campaign slogan.
Sadly, some campaigns in Santa Barbara have been ignored, and the elections themselves completely forgotten. So, I have taken it upon myself to fix this injustice. Many cities have campaigns for, and designate, an “official city thing,” such as a bird — but we don’t. None that I could find anyway. Except we do have an “official city flag” — with a tower on it. That’s where Saint Barbara was locked up before being murdered. It seems odd to me that the only image we have on our flag is the site of a homicide. It’s not like our city was founded by Columbo.
Some Santa Barbara “official city things” would be obvious. If we had an “official marine mammal” it would probably be the dolphin because of our dolphin statue. Our “official city flower” might be the rose because of our rose garden. And if we had an “official city shrub,” it would definitely be the hedge — because hedges surround most of the houses in this town — there are neighborhoods near the Mission where I can’t tell if I’m in a maze or on a residential street.