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Stolen Chairs
updated: Jun 23, 2012, 7:52 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

State Street Solstice Chairs Stolen!

I work at an office on the corner of State and Sola. I manage an non-profit organization and I depend on my donors for our livelihood. For the past 3 years we have put chairs on State Street in advance of the Solstice and Fiesta parades.

Today, at 9am, we put our chairs out and they were STOLEN!

I was born and raised in this town, and I am so saddened by the current state of our civic pride. I believe we need to work together, and take pride in our community. If you see someone doing something suspicious, stop and ask them what they are doing.

I believe that we are only as strong as the average member of our community. Let's hope that the average member cares enough to honor our own local traditions, Solstice included.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 290815	2012-06-23 08:24 PM
That's what you get for thinking you can reserve a space on a public street.
COMMENT 290824P	2012-06-23 09:59 PM
While I think it's wrong for someone to steal your chairs, I do not agree with "reserving" parade space. It's frustrating enough that I rarely attend a SB parade as I can never get a good spot to watch.
COMMENT 290829P	2012-06-23 10:45 PM
Littering is not cool. Stop leaving chairs on the street.
COMMENT 290831P	2012-06-23 11:17 PM
Wow. Surprised at the comments. Setting up chairs before hand is common practice in SB.
COMMENT 290832P	2012-06-24 02:48 AM
831P - Just because it is a "common practice" does not make it right. Those who live too far away to leave chairs and then come back later have never thought it was OK.
COMMENT 290833	2012-06-24 06:20 AM
Your chairs were not stolen. When you placed them on the curb, they became part of public domain.
COMMENT 290837P	2012-06-24 06:48 AM
I'm afraid I too think that leaving chairs out to "reserve" a place on a public street isn't okay. To me it's entitled behavior and somewhat arrogant. What about people who work long hours, have kiddies and who can't get down to reserve "their" spot? They have to search for a decent spot and kids are already at a disadvantage because of size. It also happens along the beachfront July 4 - you see folks putting out yellow tape around entire areas to "reserve" them for their groups. As someone said on an earlier thread, if you want to sleep overnight on the sidewalk, as they do for the Pasadena Rose Parade, that's fine, but don't hog empty spaces for hours. I'd actually support some kind of city ruling on this.
COMMENT 290843	2012-06-24 06:59 AM
You should have looked around a little. When I worked downtown I used to love to grab my coffee ons state the morning of the fiesta parade and move peoples chairs all around. It's our entitlement society that leads some to believe that they can lay claim to space the night before.
COMMENT 290846	2012-06-24 07:06 AM
I am so sorry that your chairs were stolen; that is just crummy. Theft is not tolerable. Our family has been setting out chairs for Solstice and other parades since 1975. We've never had chairs stolen. It is part of our Santa Barbara local tradition and uniqueness. In spite of working, at least 1 family member has been able to setup. It actually makes me proud that as a community we can trust each other and rely on each other's goodness. That spirit is what sets us apart from L.A. where you would never leave out chairs. I hope the tradition and spirit behind setting up chairs lasts a very long time.
COMMENT 290849	2012-06-24 07:10 AM
837..... Well said... Couldn't agree more... 843 ... Shame on you..... You are a troublemaker and I like that in a person.... Carry on with your good work!
COMMENT 290850	2012-06-24 07:17 AM
I'm glad to read that I'm not the only party pooper who thinks it's uncool to place chairs and blankets, etc..., in public spaces hours ahead of a public event, especially on a sidewalk. I've always marveled at the nerve of those who do it. Leaving their belongings with such faith in society that the items will still be there upon their return. Guess I'm a little jaded....
COMMENT 290853P	2012-06-24 07:47 AM
We drive from the S.Y. Valley and it's a total hassle to find a great viewing spot due to the "reserved" spots. Solstice is the BEST event all year, imo, & yes, we could leave a dawn to get there, but why? I agree with the many here, either don't allow it or you take your chances on the chairs magically moving around or worse, doing the Summer Solstice Disappearance Act.
COMMENT 290854P	2012-06-24 07:47 AM
843...you rascal you! OP--Next year, park our selves in your chairs and wait just like everybody else. Make a mini event of it--coffee, breakfast, books, knitting, iphone--whatever it takes to keep our spot. If you are that dedicated to getting a good spot--more power to you. But just plunking down chairs in a prime spot and walking away? sorry, no pity for you.
COMMENT 290859	2012-06-24 07:58 AM
Legally these chairs constitute a hazard in the public space. They constrict public passage and invite tripping/falls. If everyone knew public works would remove remove all 'unattended debris' one hour before the event, we would have a level playing field for spectators and the street would not be congested before the event. 843-You devil! Get busy!
COMMENT 290862	2012-06-24 08:04 AM
Ok ... and the next great parade is just behind the corner ! The Fiesta Parade will be August 3rd. Start mapping the best viewing spots and get your recliners ready ! Great outdoor furniture discounts at local stores...
COMMENT 290864	2012-06-24 08:15 AM
an inflated sense of entitlement is the problem here. i see it more and more often in public space, especially on the road. it's the "oops i missed my turn because i was paying attention to my cell phone, i'll just cross these yellow lines and cut these people off driving down the road to make a safe turn would be too much of an inconvenience to my life" attitude. it's the same attitude that's causing the problem with the chairs, "we want prime parade viewing spots but we don't want to earn them. damn the other locals, we're the real locals!"
COMMENT 290869	2012-06-24 08:26 AM
How about those who duct taped large sheets of plastic over the parking strip lawns for three days prior to the parade to reserve the spot for their group? Peace and love, bro.
COMMENT 290879	2012-06-24 08:41 AM
Haha... In the same vein ...check out the chump on Mesa Lane...he thinks he owns the street...puts out parking cones to save a parking spot for his business truck and chipper..City outta send him a bill...talk about entitlement..
COMMENT 290881	2012-06-24 08:41 AM
Read this a few years ago in the Times, maybe true. They wrote that the scrap value of one aluminum lawnchair is enough for one hit of crack cocaine. Aluminum is better than gold, because it is easier to sell.
REDTOP	2012-06-24 08:45 AM
I am very sorry your chairs were stolen. I've always thought that putting out chairs and blankets before the parade is a charming part of Santa Barbara life indicating that neighbors trust neighbors and value the parade. We put out chairs. This used to be a hometown parade, a local tradition, originally put on and enjoyed by friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, times have changed. The parade now attracts around 100,000 people the press says. It's very sad that people would take chairs which obviously have been put out for a specific purpose. To most of us stealing is still stealing and it is flat wrong. So sorry for your loss, neighbor.
COMMENT 290885P	2012-06-24 08:49 AM
The OP is right: it has been the SB tradition to reserve spots along the routes or parades, a tradition whose time has come and gone now that SB is much larger. The city and residents shouldn't be so self-centered, self-entitled. If you want a ringside/streetside seat, get there and sit. Otherwise, what's left along the street belongs to and is easy pickings for anyone.
COMMENT 290886	2012-06-24 08:50 AM
Unfortunately OP your sense of community looks a lot like what's is wrong with our society. 1% claim priviledge while the rest have to scramble for themselves. I agree that perhaps to curb the priviledge takers the City could remove the chairs and blankets left along side the road to make it clear that if you want to get there early and reserve a spot you should place yourself on that spot to lay claim to it, just as you would in a long slow and crowded line. But that said, people acting as vigilantes removing some claim stakes while leaving others is nothing but vandalism. These are worse than the folks going with a crappy tradition and staking a claim on a public thoroughfare. Two wrongs don't make a right and stealing or removing chairs is more anti-social than the original act of claiming priviledge.
COMMENT 290905	2012-06-24 09:48 AM
Growing up in SB it has always been a tradition to place seating in front of "your" business. I think of the space in front of the property that I own as space that I take care of. If you own a business and the property don't you have a right to use the property. I use the property in front of of home and would not expect to find anything that I place out there moved or stolen. I understand the frustration of placing chairs out early, but I also undertand the right to place chairs out in front of my business.
COMMENT 290907	2012-06-24 09:54 AM
LOCK your chairs in place so that they arent moved or stolen, problem solved. Any local knows that placing chairs is a part of the solstice parade. If you dont like it, dont do it, but dont complain. About 10 years ago, we had our chairs stolen/moved. That was when we started locking. The placing of the chairs occurs at many local events, including graduation ceremonies, so those who arrive minutes before the event, you dont get the best seat in the house. That's how it goes, you get last minute seats. Planning, time, and patience are critical to good viewing of SB events. OP sorry your chairs were taken, lock them next time.
COMMENT 290914	2012-06-24 10:08 AM
Almost as annoying as the chair gangs at parades, are the picnic table reservers at our local parks. When I use to live near Oak Park, it was common to see people chaining chairs to picnic tables on Thursday or Friday to try to claim them for a Saturday party. Sorry, OP public spaces are public.
COMMENT 290915	2012-06-24 10:11 AM
We encountered a very aggressive nasty man guarding his luxurious space who would not let anyone near his domain. I think even his wife was embarrassed about his behavior. I hope he is well on his way out of town. Otherwise it was a wonderful day!
COMMENT 290918	2012-06-24 10:19 AM
Didn't you read the edhat comments yesterday???? I told you so...You just had to learn the hard way! I bet they were nice chairs too!
COMMENT 290922	2012-06-24 10:25 AM
I'm with REDTOP and 886. This used to be a charming tradition and I was always struck at how well the honor system worked in our little town. Regardless of how you feel about people putting out chairs, stealing is illegal. Honor system has broken down. Tradition tainted. If the City wants to enforce a no chairs/blankets/tape dibs policy, then it needs to be publicized and enforced. This is theft, plain and simple.
COMMENT 290928	2012-06-24 10:47 AM
Rude, obnoxious behavior.....you want a good spot come 2 hours early and set up and stay there and save for the rest of your gang. That would be perfectly legit. Nobody owns the sidewalk space even if your store fronts it. Do you also come out every morning and wash the sidewalk so it doesn't stink and look trashy the way the merchants did in years past.....now that was "tradition" and part of what made SB charming.
COMMENT 290939	2012-06-24 11:15 AM
Every year people get their chairs "stolen", every year you can buy them back on "Craig's List"
COMMENT 290942	2012-06-24 11:30 AM
Hey OP. Do you ever read edhat? 'Cause I've seen people whining about this on here after every single parade in this town. Would you leave your purse out overnight and just expect it to be there when you got back? Come on. Santa Barbara isn't Santa Bubble anymore. Do you stake a spot in a line at the grocery store, shop around and then expect to have your spot back when you return in 15 minutes too?
COMMENT 290948	2012-06-24 11:45 AM
Those who advocate theft or say it's what someone deserves are criminals.
AGENTSME	2012-06-24 11:55 AM
what's most annoying to me is that there is no way to cross the street because the chairs are placed so tightly together and there's no break - not even by the crosswalks. There should be a few areas where one is able to get from one side to the other without having to do some crazy maneuvers.
COMMENT 290966P	2012-06-24 01:00 PM
So many angry and nasty comments...the bottom line is someone stole chairs that they knew were not theirs...and that is very, very wrong...and very, very sad.
COMMENT 290972	2012-06-24 01:27 PM
I call BS on squatting with chairs hours or days before the parade. I lived in SB since the late 70's and during that time, the Solstice parade was mostly local and you could feel safe staking out your claim that morning since the crowds were minimal. Now, with 100,000 visitors - it smacks of local elitism and the time has come for the tradition to die. Honestly, my family quit going to the parade about 4 years ago as the fight for fanny space has become too vitriolic to endure no matter how many half-naked dancing people we get to see.
COMMENT 290975	2012-06-24 01:37 PM
If you place something on the street or sidewalk and leave the area it is called LITTERING, and you can be fined for it.
COMMENT 290977	2012-06-24 01:38 PM
There seems to be a regular practice in Santa Barbara when people no longer want something, they leave it out by the curb, at which time, it's up for grabs. So why wouldn't someone take your chairs? Do you reserve a parking space by leaving something in it? of course not. If you want to have a good place to watch the parade then do what my parents always did, get up at 5am and go sit in the spot you want and merely reserve it by your presence. geez.......
COMMENT 290982	2012-06-24 02:15 PM
You owe for the dump fees.
MESARATS	2012-06-24 04:53 PM
When did the tradition of setting up chairs start? In the 1960s even as kids 4 or 5 year old we dressed up and went to Fiesta and we never had chairs and we just stood like most everyone, but sometimes got a curb to sit on. Even later, I recall mostly the really old people or maybe women with babies were the only ones in chairs and mostly those were set up by the shopkeepers on State. It was a lot less populated then so maybe that is it, but the thought of even taking a chair to a parade has never even crossed my mind. As rider, I do get a kick out of the groups that set up the horse pie bingo and root for riders when the pie hits the square. Now that is a reason to stake out your spot.
COMMENT 291021	2012-06-24 05:38 PM
I have seen people put their full shopping carts in a checkout line, and then go back to pick up additional items. If their cart is ahead of me, and the person ahead of their cart is actually being checked out, I'll move their untended cart aside and get my items on the conveyor. Not once has the checker ever failed to agree with and defend my action when the disgruntled "entitlement" shopper returns, as I'm nearly completely checked out myself.
COMMENT 291023	2012-06-24 05:44 PM
Anything more than 24 hours out on the street is considered abandoned property.
COMMENT 291031P	2012-06-24 06:27 PM
290966P - so someone puts furniture out on the public space; doesn't sit on it himself/herself; someone else sees it and takes it; where's the crime? Yes, it is too bad that Santa Barbara is not as it was, a small town, but as Mesarats noted, even when it was a smaller town there was not the sense of entitlement to public space as there is revealed here. I go to the Solstice and make an effort to get there early so as to have a space or go further up State Street. ...And as for the person advocating locking the chairs, shame ... and no sympathy if there's vandalism to those same chairs. Want to reserve a space? Do as those do for hot films at the Arlington or has happened for new Apple products, next year stand (or sit) in line (or pay someone else to do it.)
COMMENT 291054	2012-06-24 08:05 PM
In Portland this has been a long-standing problem and the police finally just cleared all sidewalk chairs, tape, etc. prior to the morning of the parade and word got around. If you want to reserve a space you need to physically be there. Seems fair to me.
CORKY	2012-06-24 08:43 PM
My first thought was, "Wasn't this answered yesterday when someone asked how early they could set chairs out? Times are tough and it's sad that everyone isn't honest, but it's pretty chancy to leave something out even in the morning, and even if it's permitted.
COMMENT 291143	2012-06-25 09:29 AM
When I was a child in the 70s, we would shlep our chairs down the morning of the parade and then actually sit in them. Roping off of public space should be solved by a morning dump run paid for from the parade fees.
COMMENT 291164	2012-06-25 10:02 AM
Every time I have attended this parade I have arrived well after it has started and have never had a problem finding a nice spot to chill and watch it. My favorite places to watch the parade are all located right in front of people like you that feel entitled to reserve a spot. And I truly enjoy ignoring you as you scream that you and your kids can't see.
COMMENT 291291	2012-06-25 05:25 PM
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space#Controversy_and_privatization "Public space is commonly shared and created for open usage throughout the community, whereas private space is individually or corporately owned." "Which is generally considered that everyone has a right to access and use public space, as opposed to private space which may have restrictions" One cannot simply own a section of public areas, even temporarily. Your sense of entitlement is disheartening.
COMMENT 291499	2012-06-26 11:17 AM
It's amazing that so many commenters disdain the "privilege and entitlement" of people who put out chairs because the Solstice Parade is no longer just for locals. Well, it's mostly the locals who put out the chairs. They deserve the privilege BECAUSE THEY PAY CITY TAXES, so I don't blame them. They are also the people who have to put up with out-of-towners taking all the parking spaces in front of their nearby homes as well as having to deal with the crowds and noise of the 3 day event. PS. I am not a city resident.

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