BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Hi, everyone. Relax, we got all your instructions. We're going to get it right maybe. Yes, so we will you'll be you guys will be first. So that you can as you said get back to work Mr. Allen would you like to call the roll please?

Mr. Carbajal?

Here.

Ms. Wolfe? Here. Ms Farr? Here! Mr. Lavagnino? Here Miss Gray?

Thank you and again welcome. And we're going to start with public comment. Mr. Allen, would you please... What we do is we'll call your name and then we have 12, is that correct?

Yes Madam Chair, we have approximately twelve speakers. We have three in Santa Maria but I would like to note that perhaps Council could give us a report from closed session. Oh thank you.

Madam Chair, thank you. There was one noticed item employer-employee relations for your closed session this morning that closed session was held and there was no reportable action.

Okay and with that we're ready to start and this is the way it works And I'm not going to try and do the one minute thing today because we've got, we don't have that many speakers. So this is the way it works you get your name called and then we call who's on deck? And for those that don't play baseball that means who's up next? And it would be really nice Mr. Nesmith you're it today raise your hand please. It would be nice if you come down and sit right next to Mr. Nesmith and be ready to To pop right up here and give your speech. It just makes it go faster, and then we can hear the whole transition in what everybody's saying. So thank you all for being here, and I better straighten my collar and get ready to go. Mr. Allen, who's up?

We're going to start with John Fajardo to be followed by Gabriela Stubblefield.

Mr. Harlow, you're up. Thank you.

Excuse me, Madam Chair. Morning, Madam Chair and members of the board. My name is John Fajardo. I'm the Santa Barbara Area Vice President of SEIU 721. I don't understand the discussion regarding the Department of Social Services budget In figures provided to us by Joe Pisano and Bob McLeod, 8% of our unit is funded by the General Fund. Over 90% of our unit is in DSS.

And as you know, DSS is funded by state and federal earmark funds. These funds can only be used to provide the services that DSS delivers. Pisano and McLeod tell us that the county's proposals would result in a savings of $375,000 in the general fund. And 4.1 million dollars in the state and federal monies. But the state and federal moneys are earmarked, they cannot be used for general fund purposes.

So unless we are intending to use some kind of accounting sleight-of-hand, the county will actually be losing that $4.1 million. Four point one million dollars that is intended to provide services to the neediest people in our community I challenge each of you to go back to your districts and visit just one women's shelter, and you tell those folks that you're willing to turn your back on $4.1 million in state and federal money that would be used to provide services for them Just because you want to save three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars in the general fund.

Thank you.

Thank you. And the next speaker is folks are not good do that. We don't clap. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Gabriela Stubblefield to be followed by Holly Morris.

Good morning, my name is Gabby Stubblefield and I am a social worker. Unfortunately Theda Parker could not be here today so I will be reading a speech prepared by her.

It would be easier for us if you just kind of tell us what she wants to say?

The key point that I specifically want everybody to hear is that our families are not unique. Most social workers, I know, are faced with the same dire circumstances. We work hard in a difficult and dangerous job to protect abused and neglected children. The proposed cuts would not serve the community. The cuts will force trained qualified people who are passionate about their work into new jobs Just to be able to afford simple standard living of life.

Thank you very much, and our next speaker is

Holly Morris to be followed by Katrina Vogt

Welcome good morning My name is Holly Morris and I've been a social worker with Child Welfare Services for five-and-a-half years. Currently assigned to the Assessment and Investigations Unit for the past four. For those of you who do not know what that involves, I investigate child abuse and neglect in our community in Santa Maria area. I investigate these allegations in various places.

Homes, schools, hospitals, homeless shelters, even on the streets. Due to the recent economic crisis, the need for my services has greatly increased. As social workers, we go out into the community by ourselves not knowing what is behind the doors we are knocking on. We go to homes armed with only a cell phone and a clipboard. I've been exposed to drug raids, methamphetamine, heroin, threats, curses and loaded firearms.

I've been charged at, screamed at and vomited on. I picked up children covered in lice, scabies, feces and urine. I have responded to calls where children have died. You're probably wondering why I do this? For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to help children and be a social worker. I owe this desire to a little girl named Cece. I learned about her abuse when my parents brought her home from foster care. I strive every day to save the lives of our community's children.

No child deserves to suffer like my sister Cece did. I'm a mother, a sister, an aunt, a daughter, a wife, and a dedicated servant in this community. I go home every day emotionally fatigued, the bruised and sad faces of the day's children burned to my brain. I wake up in the morning, pick up my cell phone and my clipboard and walk out the door not to just spread the community of child abuse but also for my own family. I have two little boys, Colony at age three and one.

If you choose to cut my pay, my salary will drop $900 approximately each month. Today I live paycheck to paycheck and barely make ends meet. I pay over $1,000 a month in daycare loans so I can serve this community. If my pay is decreased we will lose our home. We will be homeless seeking shelter probably from a relative. I'm asking you seriously to consider your impact your decision will have on not only my children but the children I serve and protect each day. I love my job and my family passionately please don't make me choose between the two thank you. Thank you very

much and our next speaker

Is Katrina vote to be followed by Heather race.

Heather.

Race.

Welcome. Thank you.

My name is Katrina Vogt, and I've been a social worker with Child Welfare for the past 12 years. I've been assigned to our ongoing unit and work directly with children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect, and whenever possible reuniting these families. Our caseloads are high and involve the most complex job duties require up to two years of on-the-job training. In addition, I cover after hours emergency services responding to law enforcement's call for assistance when children are in imminent danger.

All of my job duties have exposed me to dangerous, difficult and emotionally draining situations. I've been threatened by a parent high on meth, traveled at 3am in the morning in the pouring rain to take an infant into custody, attempted to stifle my own tears when a two year old held onto me for dear life crying for his mommy after she was arrested not to mention being exposed to hepatitis, lice, scabies, urine and feces. During my years of service, I've seen many social workers come and go getting burnt out due to the high workload and emotional stress. And witnessed our agency struggle to recruit and retain social workers who can do the job as well as maintain the high cost of living here. When I tell people what I do for a living they say wow I couldn't do that job how do you do it?

And it's from knowing I've helped protect a child from harm and the gratitude I receive from our families. I retain a passion and commitment to this work and provide critical services for our community's most vulnerable population. I was raised, my husband was raised here and I stayed here after graduating from UCSB earned my master's degree. In 2008 we welcomed the birth of our twins and were able to purchase a very small condo. Unfortunately due to the recession my husband's work hours were cut and the majority of our finances fall upon me to cover One whole paycheck just covers our mortgage and our children's health care. And the other paycheck just covers our food, utilities, student loans and child care. If the county chooses to move forward with a proposed cut store pay, our family as well as many coworkers will not be able to meet monthly expenses in our dream of homeownership will be short-lived.

I sincerely ask you to please take this into consideration when reviewing our budget, not only for our family's sake but for the community's sake as well. As a mother, a union member and a social worker and a member of your community, I have a stake in ensuring that Santa Barbara County is financially stable. However, I truly believe we can achieve this together in a way that doesn't harm your employees and the services we provide like the current proposals do.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Heather Race to be followed by Ray Ibarra.

Good morning. My name is Heather Race and I work with Child Welfare Services. I've been there for a little over 10 years now, and I know that for the last few days you've been hearing from various departments and organizations within the county regarding the county's budget, and I know that managing the budget in this kind of an economy can be and must be a monumental task. For that reason, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the board today about specific county proposals that are directly affecting me and my co-workers. The county is proposing cuts that total a 16.76% loss of pay for myself and my coworkers. I don't have to explain to you, my coworkers have, the ways in which these cuts would be devastating for us and our families. The cuts proposed by the county have no end date, and the county has refused to support less drastic shorter-term solutions such as mandatory furloughs.

The members of our community are being misled into thinking that by making these cuts, the county is addressing the concerns voiced by the community about overpaid county employees with their big retirement packages. However, the cuts proposed affect only those of us who are already on the low end of the pay scale. Those in management positions, those who have six figure salaries and receive bonuses Barbara County Supervisors meeting However, what the county is doing is taking advantage of the current economical and political climate and the cries for pension reform.

And they are making a big show of digging deep and making big cuts when really the proposed cuts would end up saving them so little just 0.1%. So please ask yourselves if it seems reasonable for the county to continue to give managers six-figure salaries with bonuses on top While they suggest that I take a 16.76% pay cut to my $60,000 a year salary with all due respect don't be fooled and please consider asking the county to do a little more to support the employees. Thank you thank you for your thoughts. Ray Ybarra.

Our next speaker is Ray Ybarra followed by Bruce Korshoff.

Good morning. With all due respect, could I defer to the folks in Santa Maria? Some of them have to get back to work. Some of them have calls.

Oh, I thought you had given us a list.

And I did. I

was supposed

to be the

last one if

possible.

Let's go to the folks in Santa Maria. Do you have a way you want that one done? Just do it.

We'll go to Santa Maria. Our first speaker there is Dave Stockdale.

Dave Stockdale? And followed by?

To be followed by Tara Brown.

Tara Brown.

I'm not speaking for SEIU, but my name is Dave Stockdale. I am requesting that you restore full funding for the North County Jail and direct the Sheriff to use those funds accordingly. I appreciate your situation. All week you've heard pleas from one interest group after another claiming the sky will fall if their project is not funded. But the North County Jail is manifestly different In this case, Mayor Lavinino and Mayor Alvarez eloquently and urgently stated that reducing hours at the jail would be disastrous.

The chiefs of the three most affected agencies, the Guadalupe and Santa Maria Police Departments and the California Highway Patrol itself all said exactly the same thing. It's a disaster. This is a chorus of people who deserve to be listened to and a chorus that our supervisors should not ignore These people have earned the right to be heeded on an area so critical to their constituencies.

So where will the money come from? Simply put, the $1 million recommended to be set aside for a new jail in the future should be allocated to keep the current North County Jail functioning. I agree wholeheartedly with Supervisor Wolf that it makes absolutely no sense to set aside a million dollars toward a future jail when there is no funding source to either build it or maintain it.

Make no mistake, the voters will never approve a dedicated tax for a county jail. We are tapped out. The message of the defeat of Measure S was not merely that we wanted you to plan ahead The message was that we want structural change. We need you to reduce excessive salaries and pensions, and encourage business growth to increase revenue. This won't happen this year, and setting aside a million dollars won't make any difference.

I disagree firmly with Supervisor Carbajal's statement that it is up to the county to take care of the county and let the cities look to themselves. Each taxpayer's taxes fund them all. It makes no sense to a taxpayer for the county to save $1 million by closing the jail, and for the city and CHP to spend millions more driving offenders to Santa Barbara. No one is foolish enough to put a dollar in one pocket if he knew it would cost four dollars from the other pocket.

Yet that is exactly what the Sheriff's recommending. He should know better. He appears to be playing a game of political chicken that is beneath his office and a disservice to the people of Santa Barbara County. Supervisor Farr has been a firm supporter of the North County Jail until this year, I urge you to continue that support and not relent just because the Sheriff persists yet another year in playing politics with our safety.

I commend Supervisor Lavinino for fighting the good fight on this. I hope my own Supervisor Gray will stand with you in demanding full funding And not fall prey to the alternative of only opening three nights, which is no more than a band-aid. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Tara Braun to be followed by Wendy Summers.

Good morning. As many of my colleagues who are here know I have a terrible fear of public speaking yet this proposal is so crucial to me and my family that I'm here doing one of the things I hate the most I'm a county employee, but I am so much more than that. My name is Tara Braun and I am a social worker. I am a single mom. I feel very blessed to own a home.

And I'm proud that I was able to purchase it on my own. The paint is peeling and the front yard is weeds, but it's my family's beautiful mess. And in my dreams, I envision it painted with a pretty front yard, working sinks, and toilets that flush. I've been waiting for the day when I can afford to make all that happen Right now, we live paycheck to paycheck. There is no savings. We don't have Netflix. We don't have a gym membership. We don't have a gardener. We've canceled the newspaper. We haven't had a vacation in four years.

We do however qualify for reduced utilities. It appears that the proposed budget cut will not have a dramatic effect on the state of the county but it will have a dramatic and devastating effect on my life and the lives of many of the other county employees If this proposal goes through, I will not be living paycheck to paycheck anymore dreaming of the time I can make home repairs.

There will not be a home on which to make repairs. I will lose it and I know that I will not be the only one. We are partners in this. The economic outlook is bleak but we can come up with an alternative solution together. Can't we? I recognize that the board has a difficult decision ahead and I know it won't be made lightly I hope I and many colleagues here in Santa Maria and in Santa Barbara have made a difference in the outcome of your decision. And I thank you for your time.

Thank you for your time.

Is Wendy Summers to be followed by Dawn Manalo?

Good morning, my name is Wendy Summers and I too am a social worker You've already heard from many of my colleagues and so I don't wish to reiterate what they state. I think that you really do understand the impact that our job has on the community. We don't know what's behind that door when we call on it, and you've heard many stories about the difficulty of our job but of course we do this because of the intrinsic rewards.

The intrinsic rewards include helping families. I came across a mom yesterday who hugged me and thanked me She was suicidal when I came across her. She was like many of us, she's hardworking, she's an outstanding member of the community and her mental health conditions because of the economy started to deteriorate. We were able to be there in time, get her the help that she needed and she thanked me yesterday for being alive for her children and her children still have their mama.

I had another gentleman yesterday who came up he is a 50 year old man Had lost his job, a master electrician. He's lost his home and ultimately he has come to drug and alcohol to self-medicate and put him in a situation where he can no longer care for his children not out of lack of desire because he desires to be a good father but just because of the conditions in the state that he was in we were able to provide help for him, for his family And he hugged me yesterday and thanked me for helping him become a better man. He's the one who did the hard work, but we were the ones that were able to provide him the guidance that he needed.

We have children that come up to us and hug us and thank us and say thank you for listening. Thank you for being the one who heard me. Thank you for being the one to protect me. And those are the intrinsic rewards that we receive for doing this job. As most of you know, we are on the lower end of the pay scale In my unit, the Assessment and Investigations Unit, there are seven of us that work here in Santa Maria. Four of us possess master's degrees.

We already earn 35% less than the national average of a person who has gone to pursue higher education and get a master's degree. Again we do it for the intrinsic rewards. We do it for the essay my son wrote last year about who his hero is. And his hero was me, his mom. Because his mom goes out into the community and helps people, it makes a difference in families.

My son is now 16. He's a product of when our economy was doing well and when his mom was doing well. When he had everything he could ask for not a care in the world financially. He doesn't regret all the sacrifices that he has had to make so that I can take a job that is more fulfilling and more satisfying. He never holds it against me when I tell him that there are things that he wants to have That he cannot have because we can no longer afford them. We've already lost our house and our cars and everything else due to the economy. My husband is a contractor, and I am now our primary source of income because of the economy.

Thank you. Your time's up. Our next speaker, Mr. Allen? Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dawn Manalo to be followed by Andy Caldwell who's our final speaker in San Mario.

Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the Board. My name is Dawn Manalo. I'm a social worker for Child Welfare Services and I've worked for Santa Barbara County for nearly 20 years. I hold a master's degree in Social Work and I am proud to serve the children and families of this community in public service. My colleagues and I routinely work well over 40 hours per week that we're paid.

We're on call evenings weekends and holidays to protect children and serve families. You've already heard Some of the circumstances in which we work, we do this work to assure and promote safety and well-being. We work at risk to our own personal safety and to the detriment of our own families. Supervisor Lavinino I am your neighbor. I live just down the street from you. I live very modestly in a tiny cottage and I drive a 22 year old car.

If these wage cuts are enacted I'll lose my home Please don't balance the budget on the backs of your dedicated employees who already work tirelessly to protect children and help families in this community. Thank you, and now you'll hear from our Chapter President Ray Ibarra.

Thank you.

One final speaker in Santa Maria and that's Mr. Caldwell to be followed by Ray Ibarra back here in Santa Barbara.

Madam Chair, members of the board. I'm using general public comment right now to repeat what I said yesterday and that is the public cannot speak to what the board has proposed with respect to restorations until we know where the money's coming from I've been searching the county website this morning on every agenda this week, including today's. And I still see no indications other than what Supervisor Farr mentioned the other day of where you plan to get the money for your wish lists.

And then asking you to continue this meeting until you publish that list because that money has got either come out of reserves And you're already down below $10 million in reserves, or it's going to have to come from cuts elsewhere. Unless you're planning and hoping and wishing and praying that you're going to be able to make these restorations due to the salary and benefit cuts you're gonna take out of employee checks which is I'm assuming why SEIU is here en masse.

We want to reiterate, you have a $220 million backlog in public works. A $275 million in capital maintenance, $75 million backlog there. You're probably about a billion dollars short in your pension funds and not only do we want Chandra Wallace's plan to start setting aside money for the new jail, we want the existing jail in North County maintained Many of you give speeches throughout the year that we're not a North or a South County, we're one county. And yet you're contemplating taking cops off the streets in Santa Maria, taking highway patrolmen off the freeways and highways, and you're thinking of taking county sheriffs off their beat. Supervisor Gray, we're going to call on you to ask the sheriff just how many people does he have on patrol in Orkut And Los Alamos and Vandenberg Village in the evening to begin with.

Are we going to be left with absolutely no cops on the beat because they're hauling somebody down to Santa Barbara, because we've closed the jail? And thus far on the wish list Supervisor Lavinino looks like he's the only one that's pushing for the funding. If you can't do better than this I think it may be time for some of you to resign Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ray Ibarra here in Santa Barbara, followed by Bruce Corso.

Good morning, Chair Gray and I appreciate you accommodating us so that our fellow county employees can go back to work and serve the public again. And also, I want to thank my fellow employees in Santa Maria. And also just a comment, I would also like to work very closely with Andy Caldwell on bringing more revenue into this community. We need to bring revenue in here. But anyway, you'll be hearing about that a little later on.

Okay good morning ladies and gentlemen members of the Board of Supervisors. My name is Ray Barra, Chapter President, Santa Barbara Chapter, SAL Local 721. Before you I don't know if you received but you were given some Some binders with comments and quite frankly, photographs of the county employees. And I invite you right now to thumb through these. These are your fellow county employees.

The sign behind me, and these are the everyday people that you see for example like your neighbor down the street. These everyday people they're not faceless. They're people that help the community there they serve their community. These are the individuals that go out on calls late at night in support of law enforcement, the sheriffs. Take children into custody, children that have scabies, that have been abused, have feces all over them. These are the members of your community to work with. Also those people who work in the reception area when you have clients that come in and they're upset And they look at you folks, because you're the folks they believe write the policies. Who are the first people that get something thrown at them? It's the people in the reception area.

I'm an eligibility worker. I've always been proud of being a public servant. I've never made bones about that. I deal with those folks that never thought they'd find themselves having to deal with the economic reality of the Wall Street manipulation. OK, these are small businesspeople The other things that I have to tell you and then I could go again reinforcing, I don't want to take too much time. But I invite you folks to look at that. These are not nameless people.

As a matter of fact we have a bunch of these cards from people that are supportive, that are concerned about what's happening out in the community. Your negotiator to work with us in good faith. I believe it was you Supervisor Wolf who when I was up here the last time wanting to partner with you, we know we have to work with you. I've never made bones about that. I said it to you publicly. I said it to you privately. We need to work on this together so you need to insist that your negotiator working good faith and give you the full information. You know we've provided 50 proposals.

The scene was proposals that we provided. Remember a contract from our recovering law student, a contract is a bargain for exchange. Okay? We need to work together on this. Every time we sit across from the negotiator it's the same thing no no no I feel as if I've been at these negotiations with the same comments year after year so I appreciate the time and your hard decision thank you.

Do we have other speakers?

Madam Chair, our next speaker is Bruce Corsaw to be followed by Dominic Pallera.

Hang on a minute. Rachel did you want... Did everyone want to go back to work? That was what you indicated to me so do you want me just kind of take a moment and let you go? Okay Mr. Corslaw.

You're ready.

Thank you.

Madam Chair, members of the board. I've been here most of the week listening to your budget. Unfortunately, I was not able to cover one thing on Wednesday after HR made their presentation and that was their pride of cutting $11 million in concessions from their employees. Local 620 was the majority of that $11 million. Year prior we had an excess of $5 million in concessions.

Currently, we are at the table. The county is asking for an excess of $25 million from local 620 members. We've offered up so far over $10 million in concessions and we're still negotiating. The thanks that we get for this is that many of our people who do not hold masters, who do not have higher education, who does the front line work will most certainly lose their house. The thanks we get for this is also 80 layoffs proposed We don't know what much more we can give you. Every department we have is down to such a minimum staffing level that you might as well start closing down departments.

Then, you can have your management there but you will not have enough staff to help the public. Your job is to serve the public. Our job is to serve the public but if we're not there they're not going to be served. In regards to the jail, we also support maintaining the opening I've maintained the small jail up in San Maria. If you close that jail, there'll be increased costs as well.

What concerns me about this budget process is we requested budget meetings, workshops prior You guys in one week have been given the opportunity to review each department's budget. I know many of you have not received your full answers to your request for information, I can guarantee you we have not. I also agree that you should not pass this budget today until you do enough sufficient investigation And work to pass a budget you can be proud of.

Not just a budget to say, you've got one done and protect the services of the public and protect the employees that have been loyal who sacrificed for you. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker. All right. I'm going to let you folks go back to work. Thank you very much for being here. And we'll just take a moment and let you

Thank you.

Okay, we're ready to go.

Our next speaker is Dominic Pallera to be followed by

Sean Lambert.

Dominic? Good

morning Chairman Gray and members of the board. My name is Dominic Pallera and I'm here today representing the Insurance Managers Association. The Sheriff's managers are acutely aware of the budget crisis facing the county, not only as it relates to the sheriff's department but our other departments within the county family. We know that the cuts that are proposed this week and that will be made today will have a ripple effect and the problems that it will cause will be faced by the men and women both on the street and within our jail.

And as I look at the department as it is going to come out of these budget cuts, depending on what is here today. I see a department that looks like it did in 1983 when I was hired and I assure you the many mandates problems and challenges facing the men and women on the street today and in our jails is far greater than it was in 1983 And yesterday I also heard Supervisor Carver-Hall mention that his priorities for restoration was going to be made based on where he believed concessions were going to be had.

And I can tell you the Sheriff's Management Association has stood by Sheriff Brown and worked with the county over the years as we have come through these hard and difficult budget times. We have taken a reduction in our staff of over 28 percent, we have not come before this board or asked the sheriff to fight for those positions because we understood anything that we did would save jobs both on the street and in the jail.

And anytime the county has called the Sheriff's Management Association, we have been the first to respond and meet with them and offer solutions. And I also hear today where people accuse the sheriff of playing political football with some of the proposed cuts he has. And I can tell you, we have been living with this for months. We have worked with the sheriff. The sheriff's managers know what each and every cut proposed by the sheriff is going to mean to the men and women and to the citizens of this county.

It is not political football that he is playing and we stand behind him on his proposed cuts. And finally I ask you all, you all have stated that public safety is the number one priority. Well if it's the number one priority today is a day where you show where you put actions behind those words because the citizens of this county deserve to live in a community where public safety and their protection is the number one priority And again, the Sheriff's Managers fully stand behind the Sheriff on these proposed cuts and we would ask you to consider restoring some of the reductions that he is faced with. Thank you very much.

Our

next

speaker is Shawn Lambert followed by Dee Hemby.

Chair Gray and fellow board members. My name is Sean Lammer, and I'm a director for the Deputy Sheriff's Association. I'd like to say that first of all we fully understand the position that all of you are in. It's a position that I would not want to change. The DSA Board and DSA membership understand the state of the economy. Every one of our members feels it just as much as the county as a whole feels it.

I'm here today to speak to you based upon comments that were made during yesterday's session, to develop an understanding of what the DSA has done and what we are currently doing. The DSA is a proud organization that has historically and consistently made concessions that benefited the county as a whole. We have always voted to do what we felt was right between balancing labor needs and the county's needs.

Currently, the DSA is providing a cost savings to the county at a rate of $1.6 million for this year and the same amount in the next fiscal year for the total cost savings of 3.2 million. The DSA is actively meeting with the county in efforts of saving jobs for our represented employees. The DSA has already met several times mid-contract and our next meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday with the county at 9am.

I cannot speak on what we will be discussing, but can guarantee that the board will be making every effort to best serve our members as well as the county. We have always and will always be open to dialogue with the county as we take our community's issues very seriously. Thank you all for the opportunity to speak today. My comments were simply to remind the board what the DSA has historically done and what the DSA is currently doing to assist the county. Please keep in mind that the DSA is actively participating in dialogue with the county as well, thank you.

Thank you for your comments

Our next speaker is Dee Hamby to be followed by Leah Juniper.

Good morning, Chair and members. On behalf of as a community member and a child and parent advocate I'm calling for the restoration of the two deputy district attorneys who work in the drug treatment courts and two social workers at the public defender's office as well. The loss of these social workers would mean the withdrawal from all treatment courts And the impact of these loss of these social workers include the inability to get people out of jail and into treatment, which will result in lead to continued overcrowding in our county jails. So I respectfully ask for your support in keeping these or restoring those positions.

Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker?

Our next speaker is Leah Juniper to be followed by Emily Allen.

Hi, I'm Leah Juniper with Consumer Advocacy Coalition. Good morning Chair Gray and the rest of the supervisors. I find it hard to believe that not one of you prioritized funding for CARES. The Santa Barbara grand jury report focused on the mentally ill Possibly substance abusing, uninsured, indigent, hopeless, homeless, cycling in and out of our county jails.

These are exactly the people who need more alcohol drug and mental health services not less. People with mental illness have already lost important services over the last years. Please do not cut more. Thank you our next speaker is

Emily Allen to be followed by Ladd Handelman.

So good morning chair and supervisors I'm very glad to see that most of the rest most of the restorations that many of us have supported are on your list for today's deliberations however I'm concerned that some important items do not appear to have your full support first as was already mentioned the social worker at the Public Defender's Office I moved to Santa Barbara in first grade. Before that, I lived in Mendocino County where my father was the chief public defender and then later the elected district attorney. And I grew up with the understanding that for justice to be served both sides need strong teams.

You've already heard what from many people in the community why social workers in the Public Defender's Office are very important. Later when I was in law school in Los Angeles, I started volunteering with Public Council, an organization that did outreach to people who are homeless. I continue to do that work here in Santa Barbara and I frequently find that I'm helping homeless people who are also veterans.

I'm very concerned that there does not appear to be full support for the Veterans Service Program, which assists approximately 1,600 county veterans annually in obtaining benefits from the Veterans Administration. We know that the urgency of the problem is only going to grow as more veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan. If you want to address the problems identified in the grand jury report of the vicious cycle of mentally ill, possibly substance abusing uninsured indigent homeless individuals cycling in and out of the jail. This budget does not do that.

The cuts to cares in the Veterans Service Program will only make the problem worse. Right now it appears that there are more helicopters than we may need and less services for the people who need them most. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for being here.

Our next speaker is Lad Handelman to be followed by Dale Pavich.

We're going to have to wait for Lad, I think.

Thank you for this opportunity and I've requested you. I'm not able to sustain my sentences because of my condition, so I've asked my friend Abigail to read my statement to you.

Okay? Thank you Mr. Handelman.

I am Ladd Handelman, local resident and co-founder of the educational nonprofit SOS. Most of you are aware that none of this would have been necessary had you opted to support offshore oil development a few years ago when the opportunity came up. Expert and objective economic analysts, such as Mark Schneip, have demonstrated that property taxes alone from development would bring in $340 million per year for over 20 years.

This injection of $340 million per year would solve our budget problems and then some. The record demonstrates that utilizing and enforcing much stricter regulatory requirements has eliminated the cause of the 69 spill. Staying with that regimen and limiting development to slant drilling and or conventional shallow waters, what happened to cause the 69 spill will never happen again.

The key initial step to start the new development process is only for you, supervisors, to state your support. And yet you sit here today turning your back on this economic solution because of the so-called risk. You deny us revenue and instead place our community at indisputable risk. You base your opposition to development solely on the risk of another 69 spill, even though all statistical and factual evidence points otherwise. To claim this risk is speculation.