BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

¶¶ Good morning, everybody. I'd like to bring this regular meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to order. Mr. Allen, would you call the roll please?

Mr. Lavinino? Here. Mr Carbajal? Here Ms Wolfe?

Here.

Ms Gray? Present. Ms Farr?

Here Would you

Madam Chair and members of the board, I just have two items to note on item A1 which is a resolution from Supervisor Carbajal. We wanted to note that this is a resolution recognizing the I will not be silent campaign and then on item A11 This is from the Planning and Development Department. This has to do with the Outpost Trading Boutique in Santa Ynez for a Type 42 on-sale wine license. This item is going to be continued to your meeting on April 11th, and you can make that a part of the motion on the administrative agenda at that point.

Okay, so I have items. We have public comments slips on A8, A21 and I think Supervisor Carbajal you wanted to pull A12? Any other items on the admin agenda from the rest of the board to be pulled? Okay, so then we will go ahead and have a motion on the rest of the admin agenda as amended by Mr. Allen. Second. Motion in a second all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The motion carries. All right let's go ahead and go back to the administrative agenda then and we'll do our resolutions. Supervisor Carbajal I think you have the first one.

Thank You Madam Chair If Cecilia Rodriguez could come forward from COM, I believe somebody else is coming out with her. I'll let her introduce herself as well. Again, I'm very honored to present this resolution regarding April 2012 as National Child Abuse Prevention Month and to recognize the I Will Not Be Silent campaign. You know, many years ago I worked for Head Start and I remember working with Cecilia way before she was Executive Director and I ever got involved with county government but I know the good work that CALM does day in and day out to prevent and to deal with the survivors of child abuse and all the work that goes into that effort So I think this is an important day to recognize the good work of everyone in our community that is trying to eradicate this problem in our communities.

Mr. Allen, if you could read it please?

Madam Chair, members of the Board. This is a resolution in honor of the I Will Not Be Silent campaign throughout Santa Barbara County. Whereas Child Abuse Listening Mediation Calm is dedicated to assessing treating and preventing child abuse and works to ensure the health and safety of all Santa Barbara County children And whereas everyone in our community can help prevent child abuse, in private as well in public.

And whereas CALM has launched its I Will Not Be Silent campaign to ensure that no one is silent in the face of child abuse and that all instances of alleged child abuse are properly reported. And whereas, CALM staff and volunteers help survivors of abuse and neglect heal emotionally and psychologically and provides them with a path to a happier future. By addressing root causes of abuse and neglect and preventing abuse before it happens, CALM works to ensure that all children and families in Santa Barbara County are healthy and safe. Now therefore be it ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors commence CALM for its I Will Not Be Silent campaign and its good work and encourage us all to participate in this important effort passed and adopted today.

Thank you so much. I was almost late here to this meeting because I got a phone call this morning from the police department that a 10-year-old was wandering around the streets of Santa Barbara at 2 AM and that she needed to be interviewed immediately, so I decided that's what I needed to do. So at quarter to 8 this morning, that's where I was but I'm telling you that because you need to know how vital the services are and how children are at risk in our community I want to thank you, especially Supervisor Carbajal for your support of the children of our community and your decision not to be silent about abuse in creating a community here. where we will speak up for kids just like I did today. And I know that many of you have signed the pledge, our I Will Not Be Silent Pledge and I want to thank you for helping to create that kind of community and I hope that we can continue to have people sign our pledge on our website this is our bag that I'm going to leave here for you More back there so that you can take to the farmers market.

You can carry this as a sign that we will not be silent in this community and that we will stand with calm in supporting the children of this community, maybe my board president Bridget Foreman will say just a quick

word.

Thank you.

Good morning. So I'm Bridget Forman. I am the current president of the Board of Trustees of Calm, and I just want to thank all of you for your continued support and hopefully ending child abuse in our community. It's very important that our county and our Board of Supervisors has supported us throughout the years to continue to support us in this vital work so that we can have a safe community for our families. Thank you.

Thank you, thank you for the work that you do day-in and day-out to protect our children. All right, we will go on now to our second resolution to be presented both by Supervisor Carbajal and Supervisor Wolf. I'm not sure which one of you wants to go first on this. Supervisor Carbajal?

Thank you Madam Chair. This resolution, Supervisor Wolf and I are co-sponsoring it recognizing April as National County Government Month. And this year's theme is healthy communities. And we're also recognizing that April 8th, April 2nd through the 8th. It's National Public Health Week in Santa Barbara County. So Supervisor Wolf, if you could make some comments?

Thank you Supervisor Carbajal. I think this is an important resolution to kind of highlight what the county does and that is that we really do focus on health and safety for folks who are most vulnerable. We do a lot of planning issues. We have our county fire, our sheriff's department, our probation department. We are an arm of the state and the state provides us with funding to do the job that we all know is so important. As Supervisor Carbajal said this month we're focusing on healthy communities And I just read in the LA Times today that Marin County was number one out of all California counties. And so, I went to our public health folks and I said where are we listed on that? Because it wasn't in the newspaper article. Well, we're not number one but I think it was about 15th or 17th.

You know, we are a very diverse county. I think with the work that our public health division has done, I think being at that level is pretty darn good. We can always strive for more but I'm very proud of our Public Health Department. I'm very proud of our community and I think the folks who work for County Government deserve a lot of credit for making us what we are so it's a pleasure to present this with Supervisor Carbajal

All right, so we need Dr. Wada and Dr. McCann to come forward. Mr. Allen, you go ahead and read the resolution then.

Madam Chair, members of the board, this is item A2. It's a resolution proclaiming the month of April 2012 as National County Government Week Month rather in the week of April 2 through 8 2012 as National Public Health Week whereas April is national county government month with the theme of healthy counties healthy families and whereas Santa Barbara County takes seriously its responsibility to protect and enhance the health welfare and safety of residents Children and children's health are priorities in Santa Barbara County with key programs and services in public health, social services, first five, alcohol drug and mental health services, child support services, probation and other departments.

And whereas, county departments work closely with municipalities, non-profit agencies, schools, medical providers and other organizations to coordinate and provide safety net services. And whereas the first week of April is celebrated as National Public Health Week throughout the United States. And whereas the public health department's mission is to improve the health of our communities by preventing disease, promoting wellness and ensuring access to needed healthcare.

And whereas, hundreds of thousands of area residents benefit from public health programs and services including communicable disease control, environmental health, animal services, tobacco prevention, maternal, child and adolescent health, and disaster preparedness. And whereas the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department provides medical care at healthcare centers throughout the county serving over 33,000 uninsured and under-insured residents and providing more than 127,000 patient visits each year.

And whereas in honor of Public Health Week and National County Government Month, a variety of health promotion activities and services such as the Best Practices in Health Promotion Conference are being offered by the Public Health Department and other organizations throughout the county. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved That the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County does hereby observe the month of April 2012 as National County Government Month and the week of April 2nd through April 8th, 2012 as National Public Health Week in recognition of the role of county government in promoting health and contributions of the public health department and other organizations and individuals working in prevention and healthcare settings in the County of Santa Barbara.

Passed and adopted today.

Madam Chair, members of the Board of Supervisors. Thank you for recognizing the month of April as National County Government Month with a theme of healthy counties, healthy families and the week of April 2nd through 8th as National Public Health Week. Each and every county department program and service plays a key role in improving the health wellness safety and quality of life here in Santa Barbara County. The health and human services most directly through departments like alcohol drug mental health Department of Social Services, Child Support, First 5, Housing Community Development, Probation and the Public Health Department. But also through public safety that keeps our streets safe through land use economic development that works on climate change in the built environment to the parks and recreational activities through transportation And all the support departments that make it happen on a daily basis, as well as the leadership of the Board of Supervisors in supporting these departments and programs.

And programs also like the Santa Barbara Health Initiative and the Healthy Kids Program that gives health insurance to a number of residents and children here in Santa Barbara County. The first week of April is also National Public Health Week, where we recognize the efforts of public health and its workers. When people think of the Public Health Department they often think of our clinics where we see and provide patient visits over 130 patient visits annually but the work of public health touches each and every one of us through programs like communicable disease where we control outbreaks and provide immunizations to maternal and child health where we work with at-risk families Through the animal program, through our tobacco control efforts.

Through disaster preparedness and our emergency medical services. Through environmental health that inspects our restaurants and keeps our beach water clean. And through nutrition programs like WIC and our county obesity program. It's a great department and a great staff, and I'm very proud to be here as the Director of the Public Health. The theme for this year's Public Health Week is A Healthier America Begins Today with a focus on prevention and health promotion. And to talk a little bit more about some of our activities, I'll bring forward Dr. Scott McCann. Thank you.

I just wanted to highlight a couple of the activities we'll be doing during the month. Go to our website, the Public Health County website. There's a whole list of fun and games things like rating your own health behavior, coming up with a plan on how to improve it, the new Healthy for Life TV show focusing on our healthcare centers. We've got How to Find Your Perfect Pet through our animal shelters so definitely pick one up.

Let's see what else. Oh, check on your favorite restaurant and see if it has had any major health violations. You might want to know that before you go there again. Hopefully not. These are all services connected with the Public Health Department. Last I'd like to mention the public health conference we're doing in a couple of weeks. We're focusing on obesity prevention and fitness promotion because with one of the lowest smoking rates in the country actually Obesity is really the biggest health threat these days, so thank you for this recognition.

Thank you very much for being here and what you and your staffs do all the time to keep us safe. All right, our next resolution jointly presented by myself and Supervisor Wolf. A resolution proclaiming the month of April 2012 as National Poetry Month in Santa Barbara County. And I see Ginny Brush here from the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission. I don't know if there's somebody else that wants to come forward too? Oh yes, okay. Our poetry award winner, Supervisor Wolf.

Thank you, Supervisor Farr. I'd like to call up Jenny Brush and also Madeline Cintrella. She's our sophomore from Dos Pueblos High School and I'll say a little bit more about Madeline in a moment. This is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the Arts Commission in Santa Barbara County for all that you do I would say in so many areas that folks may not be aware of, but in particular for this day it's to talk about the cultural activities and promotions that you do. And especially in highlighting Poetry Month. We had a poetry competition and the winner of that competition was Madeline Centrella. I mentioned she is a sophomore at Dos Pueblos High School I had an opportunity to just meet with Madeline. Her mom and brother are here with us today.

She, after we present the resolution, Madeline's going to read one of her poems. I also think it's many of you may have read in the newspaper that Dos Pueblos High School was also in the state championships for mock trial which Dos Pueblos came in second and Madeline was a prosecutor on that team so she's a very accomplished young woman We look forward to hearing you read your poem and we thank you very much for everything that you do for our community.

Mr. Allen?

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is item A3. It's a resolution proclaiming April 2012 as National Poetry Month in Santa Barbara County whereas the Board of Supervisors formed the County Arts Commission in 1977 to serve as the regional cultural development agency as a state and local partner of the California Arts Council to support and encourage access to the arts for all county residents.

And whereas, the Board of Supervisors acknowledges the vibrant role artists play in enriching our local quality of life and expression of our regional culture. And whereas since 1996, The Academy of American Poets has designated April as National Poetry Month to highlight the extraordinary achievements and ongoing legacy of American poets and increase the visibility Presence and accessibility of poetry in our communities and culture.

And whereas the Arts Commission, in partnership with Paul J Willis City Poet Laureate and other presenters have organized free public poetry events throughout the month including First Thursday downtown cultural nights that include poetry readings by Santa Barbara poets throughout the city. And whereas, Santa Barbara County recognizes the value of the Arts Commission's six years of participation in the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition through a partnership with the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Poetry Foundation. This program helps high school students master public speaking, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage. And whereas Santa Barbara County was represented at the Poetry Out Loud state competition in Sacramento March 25th and 26th by Dos Pueblos sophomore Madeline Santrella.

Now therefore be it resolved that this Board of Supervisors proclaims April 2012 as National Poetry Month in Santa Barbara County pass and adopted today.

Welcome and thank you for being here with us this morning, Madeline.

Thank you for having me here as an honor. Hello my name is Madeline Centrella and I will be reciting The Death of Allegory by Billy Collins I am wondering what became of all those tall abstractions that used to pose, robed and statuesque in paintings and parade about on the pages of the Renaissance displaying their capital letters like license plates. Truth cantering on a powerful horse, chastity eyes downcast fluttering with veils Each one was marble come to life, a thought in a coat.

Courtesy bound with one hand always extended. Villainy sharpening an instrument behind a wall. Reason with her crown and constancy alert behind a helm. They are all retired now consigned to a Florida for tropes. Justice is there standing by an open refrigerator Valor lies in bed listening to the rain. Even death has nothing to do but mend his cloak and hood, And all their props are locked away in a warehouse— Hourglasses, globes, blindfolds and shackles.

Even if you called them back there are no places left for them to go— No garden of mirth or bower of bliss The Valley of Forgiveness is lined with condominiums and chainsaws are howling in the forest of despair. Here, on the table near the window is a vase of peonies and next to it black binoculars and a money clip. Exactly the kind of thing we now prefer. Objects that sit quietly on a line in lower case Themselves and nothing more.

A wheelbarrow, an empty mailbox, a razor blade resting in a glass ashtray. As for the others, the great ideas on horseback and the long-haired virtues in embroidered gowns? It looks as though they've traveled down that road you see on the final page of storybooks The one that winds up a green hillside and disappears into an unseen valley where everyone must be fast asleep.

Thank you.

Well that was really beautiful. Thank you so much for coming and sharing that with us, and I know that we follow the wonderful things that our students do in our high schools here in Santa Barbara County, and we've been particularly proud to follow your work and that of the mock trial as well team at Dos Pueblos High School. So thank you again. Supervisor Carbajal says we want you to come back every week.

Okay, and our last resolution that we're going to be presenting today is a resolution of combination honoring the 100th anniversary and centennial celebration of Bethania Lutheran Church. And Ruth Jackson? No? I'm sorry, Crystal. Come on up to the mic. Crystal is the church secretary and I'm so glad that you could be here to receive this. The church had a celebration a couple of months ago, and of course it's no coincidence that Athenian Lutheran Church celebrates its centennial at the same time that the city of Solvang celebrated its centennial last year being the first church that was built in that community And as I said at the celebration then, you know long before there was county government to provide these services. Churches and other houses of worship were providing preschool, child care, cemeteries, counseling of all kinds in community events and Bethania is still doing that and more so thank you so much and we're looking forward to another wonderful hundred years of Bethania and I'm also very proud to be a member there Mr.

Allen, would you read the resolution please? Mr. Allen.

Madam Chair and members of the Board, this is item A-4 and it's a resolution honoring and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bethania Lutheran Church. Whereas the establishment of the Bethania Lutheran Church is closely tied to the founding of Solvang when a small group of Danish settlers came from the Midwest with the intent of establishing a Danish American folk school and church.

And whereas Those founders were greatly influenced by the Danish Lutheran bishop and hymn writer, N.F.S. Grundtvig who led a theological movement that revitalized the Danish Lutheran Church and who also originated the folk school concept as a culturally oriented program that would help people lead richer more meaningful lives and thereby give them a love of life, people, country, and God. And whereas, in that tradition, Bethania Lutheran Church continues that legacy of lifelong learning through its lecture series, educational events and has served and continues to serve as the spiritual home for many individuals throughout the St. Ann's Valley and beyond.

Whereas the church building built in 1928 was the first Danish style building in Solvang and to this day remains the most authentic Danish architectural replica in Solvang. Built in the style of the 12th to 14th century Danish rural churches, its quirby steep gables were a visual beacon to newly arriving Danes and continues to be an architectural landmark attracting visitors from around the world. The beautiful church interior features fixtures rich in symbolism in which the congregation takes deep pride. And whereas through the church's affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the congregation is actively involved In service to the community and throughout the world, thereby upholding its commitment to making the world a more just and peaceful place to live.

Now therefore be it ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County hereby honors and celebrates the 100th anniversary and centennial celebration of the Bethania Lutheran Church passed and adopted today by the Board.

I'd like to thank everyone for this honor of Bethania's 100th anniversary. I cannot offer a poem, I cannot proclaim the great example and service of calm, and I cannot even match the efforts of Santa Barbara County. But I would like to emphasize Bethania's tradition of education with the Farr Strip Mortensen Lecture Series and Bethania Preschool and Afterschool Program, which those two specific programs that Bethania offers service a great many people. And protect as stewards of one of Bethania's greatest assets the children in the program of the Bethania preschool and afterschool.

I would also like to emphasize that for 100 years Bethania has operated its own cemetery, which is one of the only Lutheran Church-run cemeteries in Southern California. And I must correct Supervisor Farr because Old Mission San Ynez was there before Bethania and we have had a mutual cooperation with the old mission. And again, I emphasize that Athena has been involved in World Hunger and supporting many other charitable events including Food Bank of Santa Barbara and Iglesia Luterana of Santa Maria. Again, I thank you for this honor and look forward to the next 100 years. I probably won't be secretary by then but that's how it goes. Thank you.

All right, let's go now to the rest of the A agenda that was pulled. I think we have a speaker for item A8?

Yes, Madam Chair. I request to speak from Susan Petrovich on items A8 and A21, and I can read those into the record, and Ms. Petrovich would have five minutes on both of those items. Okay,

thank

you. A8 is from fire and the request of the board authorized the Fire Department to accept a donation of one physio-controlled life pack unit worth $30,000. And eight rapid intervention crew packs worth $21,000 from the Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance. And then item A21 is a set hearing request that's from the Planning and Development Department in the request that the board set a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the Las Vargas Ranch Project and that's for your meeting on April 17th.

Ms. Petrovich?

Thank you Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Susan Petrovich. I'm here as the Vice President of the Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance. I'd like to speak briefly about the alliance with your indulgence. It is a non-profit with an all volunteer board The mission is to support Santa Barbara City and County firefighters by providing equipment that keeps them safe and allows them to provide better service to the community.

We raise money within Santa Barbara County solely to purchase life-saving equipment So far our success kind of speaks for itself. We've been able to raise 1.2 million dollars and to purchase that equipment, to donate to both the City of Santa Barbara's Fire Department and the County of Santa Barbara's Fire Department. Our website is sbfirefightersalliance.org If you saw on KUIT the other night the rescue team doing its drill of hauling a Injured hiker up the side of a cliff. The equipment that you saw in action was for the most part donated by the Firefighters Alliance. The same is true for the city and county water rescue teams' equipment.

For wildland firefighters, we bought cargo pants that are lightweight fire resistant yet tough enough to withstand heavy brush. Plus special safety goggles that blocked out the smoke and the soot This is state-of-the-art equipment. We wish that the city and county could afford to buy it for their firefighters, but it's just not in the departmental budgets, but it is necessary to save lives and provide to our community probably at a highest level of service for any comparable community. So we want to thank the community for their continuing support and thank you, the county, for allowing us to contribute.

So if I could speak briefly to item A-21. I wrote a letter to you about the noticing because we wanted to ensure, I'm here on behalf of the applicants, the Doheny family and we wanted to ensure that you with board would have the maximum possible latitude procedurally in dealing with this project at your April 17 hearing so we request that the agenda notice for Before a full hearing on all aspects of the project. This is to avoid the ping pong effect that I'm afraid the Planning Commission inadvertently set up.

Essentially, they are asking a very limited question of you But that requires you to prepare for two hearings months apart. We've already had two hearings at the Planning Commission, and we really don't think it's appropriate this project be bounced back and forth between the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. That's not economic for the county or for the applicant. In fact, it's extremely costly. And from your perspective You probably saw that packet, it's huge. Plus you've got an EIR.

That would force your board members to review materials twice because you can't possibly remember months from now what you heard on April 17 and that's just not right to ask of you. And it just makes no sense for public participants either they would have to attend sequential hearings on the same project as I say they've already attended two Planning Commission hearings The Planning Commission request would mean at least three more hearings. It'd be yours on April 17, followed by another one at the Planning Commission or maybe two I don't know then another one back to you so I would ask why not at least allow yourselves the leeway to wrap it up on April 17? The trails were the major unresolved issue at the Planning Commission The other issues were limited, they were very simple.

And so I would ask at the bottom of the agenda where the noticing is for today B says provide other directions to staff and or the planning commission concerning the project. I would ask that you include a C that says take any further action regarding the project. That way you have leeway if you deem it appropriate to act on the project rather than forcing you to send it back to the planning commission. Does anyone have any questions?

Thank you very much. All right, and then I think Supervisor Carbajal, you pulled A12.

Madam Chair, can I go back to that what was just discussed?

Is anybody else concerned about that or is that... I saw the packet that's involved with this project and I understand it's not in my district, but I still read all of that. And so my question is are we interested or is there a reason why we would go back and forth?

Supervisor Levin, you know it is in my district I think it is very unusual that the Planning Commission would do this. I'm not sure that I have seen this before and so they've asked for some direction on this particular issue. I think that you know as much as the rest of the board wants to give comments I think that was why that other item was added as far as any other direction But the Planning Commission is not done with it, and I would not want this board to not have their full evaluation of it before we would be making a final decision on it.

All right Supervisor Carpol.

Thank you Madam Chair. I'm wondering if I see a representative from Edison if Patricia Bertoli could come up and also our planning development staff? I just want some clarification on this Mr. Sciutillo submitted a letter on behalf of his client Regarding Southern California Edison's emergency permit for some distribution line work that they recently did under an emergency permit that I believe was issued by planning and development based on emergency findings.

So, I'd like to understand that a little bit better in brief but also understand how that is similar or different from the general broader distribution project and pole replacement that Edison has been working on for a number of years. It came to Santa Barbara County and like the Planning Commission punted to us in the previous item, we punted to the Coastal Commission and the State PUC Southern California Edison and the Coastal Commission are dealing with that very project so I want to understand the nexus between that project and this emergency permit and the work that was done if you could help me understand that would be great

Madam Chair, Supervisor Carbajal.

And the findings that were reached for the emergency permit for this?

Yes. The emergency permit was issued for a length of approximately 2,000 feet of replacing cable wire that had actually failed and caused a small brush fire. So that was the nature of the emergency. We made we issued we made the appropriate findings for based upon that emergency We issued the emergency permit and I should emphasize that does not excuse Southern California Edison from going through a permit process for that emergency permit. They have already submitted the application for that, and there will be a hearing for the actual 2,000 feet of replacement line. They put up a slightly thicker more reliable wire.

In addition you have referenced the larger project which be fully considered by the CPUC and also the Coastal Commission as you indicated. So this was a small emergency that needed to be dealt with prior to the full consideration of that larger project, but the point I would like to leave you with is the smaller project goes through a full permit process with a hearing and the larger project will go through a full permit process with hearings as appropriate.

Madam Chair, just one last question. Is this the same distribution lines or different distribution lines? Ms. Bertoli, I don't know

if... The project is on the distribution level which is... We need

to have you in the mic. Okay sorry.

The project is on the distribution level which is a lower end of the 16 kV that the reconductoring project is one the 66 kV line which is the higher level of power and the wire spans that were replaced were replaced exactly at the same location where they were originated. So if they were on a wood pole, they stayed on a wood pole. If they were on a steel pole, they were on the steel pole. So there was nothing that changed other than their size of reconductoring and it was a condition which is called a choker which means on both sides of those eight spans were this ACSR wire so then because the project stopped at some point Eight spans of copper wire, which you can see the significant difference was badly deteriorated, kneeled and it was falling apart basically.

And there was a temporary fix on it and we knew that it was going to be a fire hazard exposed to the elements of wind and rain So it was kind of waiting to happen kind of situation. So we know we needed to take care of it immediately and we went through the county process of, you know, application permits maps everything discussions, you know did our due diligence to bring this to attention and try to Get it resolved before there was another incident. So that's really where our project has originated and come to this point.

Last question, Madam Chair. And I guess the 66KB distribution lines are the ones that are subject to the broader project that was of great concern by some of the community members in my district?

Absolutely.

Yes, it's

a higher level.

Thank you. I'm just trying to clarify for myself and the public that they're two different items. Thank you very much.

Thank you. All right, with that I'll entertain a motion to approve the balance of the administrative agenda.

Thank you Madam Chair. I'll make a motion that we approve the remaining items to the administrative agenda.

Motion and a second all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The motion carries. Alright now we're going to go into public comment and I'm going to turn to Supervisor Wolf first.

Thank You madam chair. I'd like to call Mr. Gary Emilio to the podium Thank you, Mr. Emilio. As you know I'm the board's representative on the Retirement Board and one of the first duties that we did upon the commencement of my term was to interview and select an executive director to our retirement board And I thought it was only fitting that I bring to you Mr. Emilio as our choice, and I wanted to tell you a little bit about Gary.

I hope that's okay to call you Gary. He is an amazing man and we welcome him to our community. As I said, Gary is our Chief Executive Officer to the County Employees Retirement System. Gary joined the organization on February 17th and I'm happy that he's here with us today so that he can formally meet the board members, the public and his county colleagues. And I might add, it was nice for you to be sitting here and see a little bit about what goes on in county government at least at the initial stage of our meeting.

Gary comes to us most recently from the San Francisco Employees Retirement System where he served since November 2009 as its Chief Executive Officer. While there, he was responsible for a $15.5 billion defined benefit pension plan and a $2 billion 457 plan. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board which administers the Thrift Savings Plan, the largest individual account benefit plan in the world and largest retirement plan in the United States now valued at $280 billion and serving 4 million participants.

His work there was highly acclaimed for minimizing plant costs while improving technology services Gary has also worked as a consultant on a number of international government projects, has served as an executive manager with major United States banking organizations, is an attorney who served as legal counsel on tax and fiduciary matters, has testified before congressional committees as an expert in benefits and investments over a dozen times. And since 2003 has been the recipient of four national awards recognizing his expertise and management skills.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and its law school, Gary was named alumnus of distinction by the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2005. The only recipient in the school's 50-year history and subsequently appointed to that university's Board of Trustees. He was also bestowed as a University Legacy Laureate in 2007. Please help me welcome Mr. Gary Emilio to the County of Santa Barbara.

Gary, if you have a few comments to make?

I just want to say that it really is an honor and a privilege to be here. I certainly appreciate Supervisor Wolf's remarks, I would rather have the threshold bar coming in a little lower than the expectations might be now but if I can assist in any way please don't hesitate to contact our office. I'm glad to come down and meet with you provide information and I just want to let you know that Six weeks since I've been here, I've come to have great appreciation for the staff that we have at the retirement system. They do a tremendous job. I've been very impressed with the board and I know also I guess Supervisor Gray you served on that board prior to my arrival and the way the board comports itself in its meetings it should be a model for any system.

I worked for boards of both types and it's truly a pleasure to be able to serve a board like that So I thank you and look forward to a very long and successful relationship here. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thanks for being here.

All right, and then before we turn to some of our other public speakers, I do want to go ahead and honor our volunteer for the week which is something that we do just about every week. And this week I'd like to showcase volunteer Alice Ola. Is she here? Alice? Not able to make it this time. If you're looking for Alice on Thursday mornings, check the Adderdag Village Retirement Home Exercise Room. Each week Alice who is a long time San Ynez Valley resident offers a free exercise class to residents of the non-profit retirement home in Solvang.

Alice's class helps seniors become more limber and better able to deal with the painful effects of arthritis. Equally important, her class brings people together to socialize. Alice says that getting to know the individuals in her class is one of the high points of her week. She has learned the life history of some including two women who grew up exercising under Hitler's reign and others who remember closing blackout drapes on the windows of their family homes in the valley.

One of her favorite participants regularly exercised until she was 101 years old. There's an example for all of us. Balancing on a three-pronged cane, but doing everything that Alice asked of her with good humor. Alice says the participants teach her far more than she does for them. This isn't Alice's only volunteer experience if you want to find her on any other day of the week look for places where seniors congregate people sing or act or ride horses she'll be there volunteering to make things better for her community so thank you Alice for what you do to make Santa Barbara County a better place for all of us Supervisor Carbajal.

Thank you Madam Chair, I wanted to ask if with your discretion and approval if we could have some of the youth in our audience that I think are here to speak on item number five due to the school responsibilities if we might be able Allow them to speak during public comment and reference the item that they're speaking on, which is Item 5. I think we only have a couple two or three children that might be speaking but it might allow them to get back to school instead of sitting here for awhile. And I know we usually allow public speakers to not just speak on anything other than what's on the agenda. All I'm saying is if we could allow him to speak on something that isn't on the agenda.

Okay. Mr. Allen, do we have a speaker slips for them? Because I know that we have speakers for the regular public comment

time. Yeah, we have five requests to speak on item five and we also have five requests to speak on public comment.

Okay. All right. Well, do we have speaker slips for the young people? Did you put in a speaker slip?

Yes, I can. I can call the slips. We have five if you'd like to proceed. Okay. Diana Vandervoort.

Okay. I think just the youth.