Santa Barbara Allows Citations But Pushes Education of Mask Wearing

SBLIFE, they can't cite. it's not a law. law is made by legislators, not city council members. and also, about 90% of you all have it wrong. wear a mask in public places where you can't be more than 6 ftt away from anyone out of your household or immediate family. That's the words from the health official. Not "wear a mask outdoors". That's ludicrous.

zerohawk not sure where you studied law, but the cities can very much pass city ordinances unique to their city. That's what they've done here and can cite you for violating said ordinance. Do you seriously believe only the state/federal legislators can pass enforceable laws, rules, regulations?

And obviously two people cannot pass each other on the “State St. Mall” with more than six feet between them. So write ‘em up!

Zero--dude, you know those things called "Ordinances", right?

"Ordinance. A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a MUNICIPAL CORPORATION. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. ... The power of municipal governments to enact ordinances is derived from the state constitution or statutes or through the legislative grant of a municipal charter."

So, yeah, they can cite you for jaywalking, a loud party, parking where they don't want you to park.

Zerohawk--I'll put it here as well to try and educate you. Cities and counties write and pass laws and enforce those laws, they are called ordinances, here's the definition:

Ordinance. A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a MUNICIPAL CORPORATION. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. ... The power of municipal governments to enact ordinances is derived from the state constitution or statutes or through the legislative grant of a municipal charter.

WHO says three feet (one meter) is fine. Follow the science.

Only the federal or state criminal code allows for arrests; not city ordinance violations.

ALEXBLUE - Exactly. It's odd that so many people keep saying the cities can't pass laws to require masks in certain situations. There are MANY local ordinances that prohibit or require specific activities that are passed by municipalities. Do you think the 75 minute parking laws were introduced/passed by the state or federal legislature? Zoning ordinances? No smoking rules?

8:52 - No one is going to be arrested for not wearing a mask, just cited and fined.

601, could you please cite the laws that are broken by the cyclists ((none)? Also what LAWS are broken for not wearing a mask in public? None. You people are just weird!

ZERO - Cite the laws broken by cyclists? Um, stopping at red lights/signs, staying to the far right, WALKING their bikes when City signs tell them to. Need more?

yes stopping, however, most of us stop, yield, look and go. far right? that's not a law or anything enforceable, that's just you wanting them on the right side. walking their bike when a sign tells them to? how is that a law? lol! yeah i do need more because you still haven't answered the pointed and clear question. cite the laws/ordinances...

LOCALINSB - I'm a native and grew up 3 blocks from the Rose Garden. I just now discovered you CAN drink there. Also, there are no requirements to wear a mask outside as long as you're 6 feet away from people from other households. I've seen many groups there, spread apart. There's no way to tell if the young people are from the same house unless you walk up and ask. Please don't bother the police calling in something that is perfectly legal. What they need to be doing is citing people jammed next to each other on State St. not wearing masks or distancing. Leave the parks alone, focus on the real problem!

yes and what business it of yours? angry that you weren't invited? no? then really, how is their business any of your concern? Oh the outrage and horror! Some guys went outside and enjoyed a nice summer day near some roses and they were playing a game and having some beers! OMG c all the cops! No, just go find a better hobby than spying on people. How'd you like it if we did that to you? I chased someone down last weekend for taking a photo of me and my daughter at the beach. I caught him and got his camera. I asked what permission he had to take photos of my daughter, and he response was, you guys aren't wearing masks, i want to report you. Seriously? Shes my daughter. I live a block and half from the beach, we are in our neighborhood. We are family, and the only one near us at hte beach is some freak with a camera trying to snitch on us...WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT US. Just like you and your thread. Same thing. His camera ended up accidently slipping out of my hand and went into the drink. Poor him. Maybe think twice next time?

SAC....thank you for that. I back this up. Pure common sense prevails...for most of us. Thanks again.

ZERO - dollars to donuts you just made that story up. You really chased down a person, took their phone and threw it in the ocean? Nope.

Lol right 359? And by the way, Zero, anyone is allowed to photograph you in public, whether you like it or not.

ZERO, are you confessing to crimes? That you committed assault , theft, and destruction of property by forcibly wresting someone's camera away and dropping it in "the drink?" BTW, it is perfectly legal to take pictures of people in public places. As a television reporter I did it all the time, and our counsel said people out in public do not have the expectation of privacy. Now if you take video or stills of someone inside their bedroom that would be different.

Zerohawk--

Okay, to recap you went to the beach with your daughter. Someone took your picture without your permission, which pissed you off, and that's totally understandable..

Then, you went vigilante and enforced the law against taking pictures of people in public. No. There is no law. In fact, it is entirely legal to take someone's picture in public without their permission, weird, creepy, and uncool as that may be.

So, you decided to enforce a law that doesn't exist. And in order to do that, you physically strong armed someone, stole their property, and destroyed it.

So how many crimes did you commit? Two? Three? Felony? Absolutely brilliant.

And how old is your kid? So she got to watch Dad go rage monkey and break the law because you don't like someone else's perfectly legal actions?

Have you seen the video of the psycho old lady pepper spraying people for not wearing masks? Yeah--you're basically her.

Assuming you didn't make this whole thing up.

Pretty sure you can only drink there if you are at a permitted gathering like a wedding reception.....

omg you people are just over the top weird. get off your computers and go find a life, hobby or something other than trying to argue online. see, i don't care what your response is. you all have your opinions and when someone on this forum disagrees with your opinion, it's like a pack/gang mentality. i usually enjoy it, but hey, i've got better things to do with my time. unlike you. so go a head and go wear your mask while you jog alone and take photos of peoples kids at the beach. weird AF...

not so, photographing minors? lol yeah right. accuse me of what you wish. you don't know me.

im not going to ellaborate whatsoever. you just threw out a ton of false accusations man. like a fictional book. good one!

WOW, ZERO, Cool story, bro. Just wear a mask in public, simple, sane, safe. Problem solved. If you threw MY camera in "the drink" I'd have to throw YOU in after it. Destroying someone's property? Just wow.

ZERO - if you don't care, why are you on here plastering the place with comments? You have an overall aggressive and condescending attitude towards others commenters here in most of your comments, which could be why people are giving you flak. Also, you seem to think because you're local, ride a bike, fish, walk, skate, etc etc etc (you tell us every time) that no one else here does the same. Hate to break it to you but I'm sure most of us are just as active outdoors. I know I am and my kids are. Try adjusting your demeanor towards all of your fellow residents/commenters and see how it fares.

12:26 - No, you can actually drink there whenever you want as long as the park is open (so not at night). It's a surprise to me too!

Pretty sure we're not supposed to use slope-forehead anymore.

thats because they are younger, more resilient and don't care. i didn't in my 20s either

In my experience it is a different demographic ignoring the public safety recommendations... older and whiter..

ZEROHAWK has it pretty spot on. Even among my own family members (who live in other states), it's the 20-somethings who are still hanging out with friends, partying, not masking ever...

Not true. Old people are scared. Not sure what the color of their skin has to do with it?

@ZeroHawk - that is not entirely true. The council voted to allow police and ambassadors to cite people as a last resort although the details have yet to be hammered out so it is not an official law as of now. The focus will be on education but citations could be done if needed once the rules are finalized.

ZERO, the police do not need to "wait around" to find someone not wearing a mask. Look around. Mask-denying idiots are everywhere.

@ZERO - here you go https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/state-local-municipal-law/

How about this--the SBPD should be in the downtown corridor enforcing all laws. Laws that have been on the books for fifty years and laws that have been on the books for twenty four hours.

Alex, too many laws, not possible to do this. It is like nabbing speeders, there are too many, so they just get a few and hopefully the ones going the fastest.

Pitmix, my saying "enforce all laws" doesn't mean that anyone expects them to cite all lawbreakers. My point is that people are trying to weasel around the issue of masks by saying it would be a burden on the police to enforce. It's their job to enforce, as you say, get a few and people will start to pay attention.

420722 - do you wear a mask when unable to be 6ft away from people in your household?

4:46 that doesn’t answer the question. I’ll show you how. @5:48 I only wear a mask while shopping because it is forced for entry. Also, what events are taking place that people can’t distance outdoors? If you’re going to say in the downtown thing don’t bother I don’t even go there.

I have never heard anyone advise wearing a mask in a car when alone. If you have seen such a thing, I am positive you will be able to figure out at least five scenarios why that would occur-- other than that the person was thinking they would get the virus while in their car.