Board of Supervisors — 2013-05-07

I would like to convene our Board of Supervisors meeting. Mr. Clark, can you do roll call please?

Mr. Adam? Aye. Mr. Lavinino? Here. Ms. Wolfe? Ms. Farr? I'm

Good morning. Sequestration has affected programs since it instigated in the past two months. Obama has warned that sequester could imperil the nation's economic recovery. In addition, sequestration is reducing funds to the most marginalized people. Among the vulnerable population, automatic cuts affect. Eventually ill will be among the hardest hit. Mental Health America reports that over the past three years, states across the country have had to cut approximately $4 billion in mental health budgets. Yet there are more cuts on the way with secret station.

Budget cuts to mental health mean that nearly 9000 homeless people with mental illness across the nation will lose social services and outreach programs that put them on the path To transitional and permanent housing. A federal survey conducted in 2005 estimates that approximately 500,000 people are homeless in the US at any given time and one third of the individuals, 33%, have a serious mental illness. The percentage of people at large who have a serious mental illness is 6%.

Under this sequester, 375 children and adults with serious mental illness will lose services that help prevent hospitalizations and homelessness. All flat cuts by sequestration are not created equal. A furlough for a rest in Virginia Defense Department worker does not have the same consequences as it does for a young man with severe bipolar disorder waiting an extra month to see a psychiatrist. Failures in the mental health system due to sequestration can bring about the worst outcomes everyone fears. Suicide, jailing or encounters with the police Where the untreated mentally ill will end up as victims of violence. It also makes the more vulnerable to the last resort highly controversial measure of involuntary commitment.

There's a quote by Hubert Humphrey that states, it was once said that the moral test of government is how the government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are on the twilight of life, the elderly and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. In conclusion, the effects of secret station we felt across a wide array of programs. And in the long run, we were spending more than we saved. Please contact the Senators and Congress people before it has cataclysmic effects on those who are most vulnerable in our society. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Sam Palin to be followed by Bob Field who's our final public comment speaker.

Good morning. My name is Sant Palin. I'm over 70 years old now, and I own three properties in Santa Barbara and I bought those toward my retirement. Unfortunately we've been plagued with problems On these properties and I'm sorry for any problems we cause, but my son and I have worked for the past three years to resolve all the issues. With the building department and the zoning department, and we've got much better tenants. It's very carefully managed now.

And it has been very difficult for us to do this and I probably couldn't have done it without my son's help. He should be in graduate school but he's stayed to help me, and we hope that you've had some feedback from your staff as to what we've done with the properties. And I'd just like to apologize for any problems that I've caused and that This whole episode can be resolved amicably and that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Our final public comment speaker this morning is Bob Pio.

Uh, good morning. My name is Bob field. I live in Sandy Ness. This is actually a part two of the comments. I started what is now almost a month ago. Um, basic subject, I guess his county finances and in part one of this, my comments, I made the point that there's a very dangerous mantra circulating bumper sticker size that says the County needs revenue when in fact the County does not need revenue. It needs revenue that exceeds the associated expenses And the example of the Neanderthal selling apples for more than it cost him, thinking he needed to sell more apples was the answer. So there's a modern day and more local example of this problem and this might get a touch uncomfortable but a few months ago you were sold on a tax break ordinance with the fundamental premise that the county needs revenue and what was presented to you was the income or the tax Proceeds from the project, but they were presented to you as a benefit.

It was presented as though it was the bottom line effect of the deal at the time supervisor Wolf asked if the associated expenses Had been considered and then one of my all time favorite quotes from government. The answer was no, but we could so let's do it now 200 hospitality jobs while the hospitality industry is 75% very low income jobs. The average hotel pay in Santa Barbara County is 1250 an hour average hours worked as 30.

So this means the county is going to incur The support social services for about 150 very low income families. That includes health care, significant subsidies for housing, transportation, food etc., not to mention the demands of a hotel this size on the public safety resources of the county and the demands on the roads. Very unlikely this project will pencil out. Look at the schools, it's presented as almost a million dollars worth of benefit to the schools.

But 200 hotel employees are likely to put two to 300 kids into the school system at a very conservative estimate of 10,000 per student. That's a $2-$3 million expense being passed to the school system in return for $1 million. This isn't $1 million positive, it's one or $2 million negative to the schools. So I encourage you to going forward Please request from staff applicants, maybe demand is the verb.

That the analysis be done of what are the costs that are associated with what you're being asked to do? Because clearly doing more of what the county is doing now will only result in continued deficits. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I had a comment. Supervisor item? Do you have a gardener, Mr. Fields? Yeah, I do. Okay, thank you.

And I pay him $25 an hour.

Thank you very much. We will now... That concludes our public comment period so we will now proceed to our administrative agenda. Do any of my colleagues have any items to be pulled? Supervisor Farr?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to pull A13, A14, A29 and A31.

Thank you. Supervisor Adam? Oh wait. I don't know which one of you went first. Supervisor Adam? 18,

A20, A31 Anybody else?

Mr. Chair, my items have been pulled. Mine were A13 and A14.

How many public speakers do we have?

We have two requests to speak, Chairman Carball. Item 829 and 832.

Since we only have two why don't we go to the public speakers? and if you could read 829 and 32 is a new one that none of my colleagues pulled so that might be good too.

Okay Chairman Carball, members of the board If I might I do have a couple of announcements on the administrative agenda if I could go through those just really quickly First off on item A18 Those are the budget revisions, and this is from the county executive office. And there's a request to pull budget revision number 0002833. I believe it's regarding the TRAN. It was from the Treasurer Tax Collector's Office. And that budget revision is no longer necessary so that would be withdrawn from the agenda.

Further on item 820, this is from General Services. This was regarding the Happy Trails Pony Ride concession agreement at Waller Park. This is in Santa Maria and the 4th District. That item has been withdrawn from the agenda and staff will bring that back as appropriate. And then on Item A41, this is a set hearing From the public works department regarding recommendations prohibiting the use of portion of Ballard Canyon Road by certain vehicles in the third district and staff is also withdrawing this item and this will also return to the board as appropriate.

Those are my only announcements so I'll go ahead and read. Mr. Allen

before you do that, I think I'm going to do it a slightly different way that Organize our day a little better. If I could get the board's motion to approve resolution A1 through A7, including the items that have not been pulled then we could proceed with the resolutions and then public comment in our discussion on those items.

So moved, Mr. Chair.

Seconded. Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Passage unanimously. We will now proceed with our resolutions before we have public comment. There's a lot of people here. We want to make sure that we help everybody get on with their day. The first resolution is one that I am sponsoring. It's a resolution accommodation honoring Tony Baratoran Somebody please help me with the name because I may not, my name is difficult now so I know how challenging it is sometimes. Tim Martin and Dunn Larson of the General Services Department for being recognized as employees May 2013 Employees of the Month for Santa Barbara County. If you could come up Tony Berateran.

If I said in Spanish it's easier. I could roll it better. Tim Martin and Dan Larson if you'd come forward. Mr. Allen, if you could read the resolutions but before you go I just want to say that this is when we recognize our employees it's one of the highlights for our board in terms of the business we conduct every Tuesday because it just reminds us that at the end of the day county government excellence, county government and the services we provide are all done in the professional manner and the competent manner because of you And you're being recognized because you epitomize our county employees throughout the organization, and today we are recognizing you for your extraordinary good work. So thank you. Mr. Allen if you could read

that. Chairman Carpall, members of the board this is a resolution of commendation for Tony Barodoran, Tim Martin and Dan Larson employees of the month for Santa Barbara County from May 2013. Whereas Tony Barodoran, Tim Martin and Dan Larson are the heating ventilation air conditioning specialists for the facility support services division of the General Services Department providing daily repairs and performing preventative maintenance to keep the numerous and complex systems running efficiency All with a can-do attitude to respond to all HVAC issues given to them. Whether it's a complete system failure or as simple, it's too hot in the conference room. And whereas Tony, Tim and Dan are always ready when willing to help to jump from one emergency to another throughout the day to keep our customers comfortable in whatever location they may be.

All while continually monitoring the HVAC systems using Trend 963 software which alerts staff of any mechanical failures which they can then make corrections to each building prior to the building occupants even knowing there was an issue. And whereas, Tony arrives every day and gives 110% to help the building occupants with HVAC needs and makes sure his South County systems are operating properly and efficiently. Tim maintains the entire North County HVAC systems as part of the general services after-hour emergency response team in response to all types of emergencies. And Dan maintains the South County's 24 hour facilities and without hesitation Works after hours to maintain, repair the jails, main and Los Prietos boys camp refrigerators, freezers and other complex HVAC equipment.

Now therefore it is hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors recognizes Tony, Tim and Dan for their exceptional and continuous support of the HVAC systems as employees of the month May 2013. Passed and adopted today.

Fellow board members and public, I neglected to also introduce our new General Services Director Mr. Matt Ponce who's going to start off by saying a few words

Thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Matt Pontus, General Services Director here happily today to recognize our HVAC technicians. Obviously coming from Kern County, HVAC is very important and it is here as well. We've got a great staff in general services and I'm pleased to be up here today recognizing the efforts of these three gentlemen. And I'm actually going to turn it over to Bob their supervisor to paint a little bigger picture of why we're here today.

Hi, good morning. My name is Bob Clark and I supervise North and South staff. And I just want to compliment these three gentlemen on the fine job they do. HVAC and heating and air conditioning is a big part of our life system to work in buildings so I do appreciate their efforts and they work tirelessly to make sure that the buildings keep running and we're efficient and staying on target. So thank you guys very much.

I just want to thank my fellow

co-workers.

I'd like to thank my supervisors Bob Clark and Lou Anne Sullivan for allowing and encouraging us to excel and grow in our jobs I'd just like to thank all the people that work with me and giving me a helping hand at any time.

Thank you, thank you very much. Mr. Chairman? Mr. Lavinino?

I'm just curious how many years total we have with those three folks there that look like... A bunch of years.

We're not going to let you retire so don't even think about it. That's why we gave you this resolution today though, to keep you here long. We will now

Thank you Mr. Chair, just quickly I appreciate your comments and this is a time to celebrate our public gardens and I know that you're going to be talking a little bit about your partnership in the program for people to get out this month and recognize the beauty that we have in our community so I think it's great that all of you have come together in a partnership Known to all of us and to make sure that we as they say get out and smell the roses Thank you,

and I kept saying parts and it should have been gardens as well. So They're all in it Great. Mr. Allen

Chairman carpal members of the board this item a two. It's a resolution proclaiming May 2013 is public Gardens Appreciation Month in Santa Barbara County Whereas, Santa Barbara County's public gardens inspire us with their beauty and serenity. They play an important role in our cultural landscape and encourage an appreciation and connection to nature while promoting the need for the preservation and enhancement of our environment.

And whereas, Friday May 10 is National Public Gardens Day which is an annual celebration to bring attention to America's public gardens and their important role in promoting environmental stewardship and awareness, plant and water conservation, and education in communities nationwide. It's presented by the American Public Gardens Association and Rain Bird. It's sponsored locally by the Santa Barbara Foundation, Santa Barbara Beautiful Park Foundation, Key TV, and Casa Magazine. And whereas Santa Barbara is home to such diverse horticultural treasures as the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the Guanahuasca Lotus Land, Old Mission Santa Barbara Huerta Garden, Alice Keck Memorial Gardens, Rancho La Paterra and Stowe House, and Casa Del Herrero, each with its own unique gardens.

And whereas the Santa Barbara County manages 65 parks, coastal beaches, trails, open spaces and campgrounds encompassing over 8000 acres with 114 linear miles of trails that offer a wide variety of native plants, trees, wildflowers, birds and wildlife which are enjoyed by an average of 6.2 million visitors each year. And whereas, Santa Barbara's May celebration of Public Gardens Appreciation Month includes special events and activities listed on sbpublicgardens.org which you can check out on the internet. This encourages the community to explore and discover their local public gardens and marks the first countywide collaboration like it in the county.

And whereas, locally more than 20 non-profit public sector hospitality industry community founders and university members have collaborated to form the Santa Barbara Public Gardens Partnership whose mission is to promote awareness of our unique and inspiring public gardens, celebrate their beauty and benefits, and encourage their year round enjoyment by visitors and residents of the Santa Barbara Community. Now therefore it's hereby ordered and resolved that the board proclaims May as Public Gardens Appreciation Month in Santa Barbara County Encourages all residents to participate in planned events throughout the month. Pass and adopt today.

Well, I'm Joni Kelly from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. First, I would like to thank Supervisors Wolf and Carbajal for honoring us with this resolution. And I would also like to thank the rest of the supervisors for their support because truly this is as you can see from the people behind me, this is only half of our partnership And I'd like to introduce them, if you don't mind. This is Robert Adams from Santa Barbara Beautiful, one of our key sponsors who for the last two years has donated time and money to allow this to happen.

Molly Barker from Casa Del Herrero, a very beautiful historic building from 1926 23, sorry. Gwen Stauffer, Kahnawalska's Lotusland. Santos Escobar, City of Santa Barbara Parks and Rec. And the lovely and talented Daisha Harwood from Rancho La Patera and Stow House. One of our newest partners which has expanded us to Goleta so we truly are a county wide collaboration. People who aren't here, and I'll just rattle these off. City of Goleta Parks and Recreation, the Biltmore Santa Barbara, Old Mission Santa Barbara, Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara County Parks, the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens, the Conference and Visitors Bureau, The Simpson House, Master Gardeners of Santa Barbara County, and more.

And we really Felt strongly that this should be a collaboration because it really benefits our community. And we hope to expand to North County, so I'm hoping to work with our new supervisor Adam and Mr. Lavinino as well. And I'm going to turn it over to Gwen Stauffer who will tell you a little bit more about the collaboration. Thank

you, Joni. And thank you Supervisors Carvajal and Wolf for the resolution and all the supervisors for supporting us in this. We were here a year ago in front of you to present the very first part of this collaboration in which we came together to celebrate one day, National Public Garden Day. And we had so much community support behind that, that we actually had many partners come to us saying they want to join in and we were happy to have them. We've more than doubled our partnership and we've got non-profits, we have municipal and county organizations, we even have businesses involved. and also granting agencies helping to support this. And so we've come back to you, uh, to tell you that we have formalized our partnership. We now call ourselves the Santa Barbara Public Gardens Partnership.

We've created our own logo, our own website if anyone wants to find out about what our activities are and what our collaboration is about they can find us on our website at santabarbapublicgardens.org We wanted to share with you that we have expanded from one day to a month-long celebration, May being the Santa Barbara Public Gardens Appreciation Month. That will include National Public Gardens Day which is this Friday.

We are having a countywide celebration and we are doing this to celebrate our gardens and to help people understand that all life on earth depends on plants. And we need plants to survive. And more than that, we need plants to thrive and we need our gardens to thrive and our gardens to find places where we can recreate and play, enjoy our families, enjoy our community. What we want to do this month is help our community become aware of all that our gardens and our parks and our greenways have to offer. We want to invite our community to participate And to enjoy these gardens and to understand and appreciate, and join in with them as they are valuable community resources. And hopefully they will become, as our tagline urges them, to get inspired.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And just really quickly, I'm going to let you know some of the things we have going on this month. Free things these are all free no cost to the community. The city of Santa Barbara is putting on 10 garden talks For free, all of them can be listed on the website. The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and Rancho La Patera Stow House has a free coupon that you can download on the website sbpublicgardens.org There are docent-led tours at the garden at Mission Square to Garden, Rancho La Patera Stow House. The Biltmore never offers these free tours You just make a reservation via the website. They have an amazing garden. They're also having a garden tea on Friday, May 10th National Public Gardens Day there are free carousel rides at Chase Palm Park every Sunday this month sponsored by the Park Foundation.

City College one of our brand new partners is offering free tours of their life scape garden The county courthouse right across the street is offering special garden tours and also a tour of the clock house mural room. In addition, this Friday we have a very special once-a-year Garden Lovers Tour which is only $50 and features Lotusland, Casa Del Herrero And a special docent-led tour with the designer of Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, Grant Castleberg. He actually designed this beautiful public space and I did want to point out that this collaboration is the very first of its kind in country and three of us standing here are flying to Arizona to present this to the nation for the American Public Gardens Association conference in about 10 days.

So thank you for your time, we hope everybody will go out there and explore their public spaces in their public gardens and get inspired. Thank you!

Thank you. That's amazing, all the great work you're doing. Thank you very much. Supervisor Farr?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I really would encourage everybody if you haven't been to the Botanic Garden or to Alice Keck Park or to Lotusland ever or in a while please go they're just really phenomenal but I also want to make a plug for North County areas which were mentioned. Buelton, the city of Buelton and the people in the San Ynez Valley are creating a botanic Garden Park area up there along the Santa Ana's River. You might want to speak to Supervisor Adam I think that there are some nice things there in Waller Park that are going on so Please reach out to the rest of the county as well Thank You mr. Chair

Thank you, you know Yeah, it just we have some amazing treasures All right, we will now proceed with our agenda and

Thank you Mr. Chair. This is a resolution that proclaims May as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County. And as I present this, I'd like to call forward Sanda Copley from... She's our Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Director. Deborah Holmes, Associate Director of CALM. Dr. Susan Welsh from CAC. Carol Ingraham, Psychotherapist at Cottage Hospital. and Chris Seria, a board member from the Postpartum Education for Parents.

And I wanted to welcome all of you to our board chambers and to thank you for being here to highlight a very important and unfortunately prevalent issue that we see among our pregnant moms, and that is postnatal depression. And I'm particularly moved by the honor of presenting this. I have a 33-year-old daughter who is pregnant and she's due the end of July. And I think for all of us who are in that position or pregnant, of course, which I'm not...

I'm glad it's not me. But you know, it's good to bring up these issues. It's important for people who may be listening to this at home or may have friends who are listening to become aware of the issues in our community and to make sure that they I just want to thank all of you for everything that you do. And we'll let Mr Allen go forward and read the resolution.

Chairman Carvalho, members of the board. This is a resolution proclaiming the month of May 2013 as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month whereas approximately 6,000 babies are born in Santa Barbara County each year and between 10% and 20% of expectant new mothers are affected by perinatal depression and mood disorders These new mothers often experience symptoms which can be overlooked and or heavily stigmatized such as feelings of confusion shame and isolation And whereas, heightened awareness and increased education of perinatal depression is critical due to its negative impact on the family and its adverse developmental and behavioral outcomes including attachment disorders in the young children of the affected women.

And whereas, perinatal mental health issues can be effectively screened and are highly treatable with therapeutic intervention. And whereas the Public Health Department's Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Program found that 31% of women screened were at risk for perinatal depression. In response, a maternal child perinatal mental health and substance use coalition was formed in collaboration with CALM to raise community awareness and continue support services. Now, therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors does hereby observe the month of May 2013 as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month to facilitate increased awareness education intervention for perinatal depression and mood disorders. Passed and adopted today by the board.

Mr. Chair, members of the board on behalf of the Public Health Department Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Program and the Maternal Child Perinatal Mental Health and Substance Use Coalition of which we have here I thank you for this recognition We appreciate the spotlight on increasing awareness of both the need and the availability of resources for new mothers and fathers. We encourage mothers to speak up or speak out, and get the help they need. We value the physical and emotional health of all families and hope to foster a community where support for healthcare, mental health, and substance abuse issues for new parents exists, and the availability of this support is made available to our community. Thank you.

Thank

you. The next resolution item A4 is also sponsored by Supervisor Wolf.

Oh, thank you Mr. Chair. I see Ted Myers and Delphine O'Neera and I think we have Lillian Pipersburg our foster parent. Thank you for coming forward, this is a resolution that proclaims the month of May as National Foster Care Month in Santa Barbara County. And really to thank all of those folks who stepped forward as foster care parents in the most difficult and sometimes challenging times of a child's life.

So to all of you out there, thank you and Lillian. Thank you for being here And I'm sorry don't when when you folks introduce yourself. I'm sorry. I don't know your name but Please introduce yourself when we're done reading the resolution Mr.. Allen

Chairman Carbajal, members of the board, this is a resolution recognizing May 2013 as National Foster Care Month. Whereas every year over 450 children and youth in Santa Barbara County need to live in foster care placement due to abuse and neglect in their homes. And whereas every child deserves a home where they are loved and nurtured in a safe environment, and every child deserves to belong to a family. And whereas, foster kinship and adoptive families who open their homes and hearts and support children whose families are in crisis play a vital role in helping children and families heal and reconnect. And whereas young people in foster care need the guidance stability and love that are essential for becoming successful adults from the significant people in their lives while they're in care.

And whereas the ongoing efforts of foster parents, relative caregivers, mentors, advocates, social workers and volunteers help many children face life's challenges without feeling all alone. And whereas thanks to these heroes, many formerly abused or neglected children and teens will safely unite with their parents, be cared for by relatives, be adopted by families or supported into independent adulthood. Now therefore, it be hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara recognizes May 2013 as National Foster Care Month in recognition of our county's foster children and foster parents. And all county employees involved in the juvenile independency system who care for the children and families that watch over them passed and adopted today.

Well thank you very much Chair Carbajal, members of the board and especially Supervisor Wolf for recognizing May as Foster Parent Month among other months. As you know this is When a child is abused or neglected, that's a major crisis in their lives. But the second crisis adds actually when they're removed from the family home and we find that the best place for them to be is in another family home. One that's willing to open their hearts and provide the structure and support that they need through that secondary crisis. We have today with us Lillian Pittsburgh who Piper's Berg who is our foster parent, a wonderful person that Delfino Nara is about to introduce. As well as Annie Rodriguez who is our foster parent recruiter so I will turn it over right now to Delfina Nara, our Deputy Director for Social Services.

Chairman, members of the board. Thank you for being here again and this is just another privilege that we get to have at the department celebrating foster parents, the caregivers that step in for the parents when the parents aren't able to care for their children. And I'd just like to say a couple things about Lillian. She's been a foster parent for a very long time She's fostered over 120 children in her home. She is currently one of our emergency shelter parents, so she takes children at all hours of the night whenever the needs are there but more importantly in our organization She is a mentor to foster parents. She's a mentor to our new staff, she's a mentor to some of our administrators because she has that vast knowledge of experience that she can draw on her and her husband Phillip and they've just been true servants to our community, true servants to the needs of our children.

Foster parents are the people that if they don't just foster, they substitute their love for the parent's love. They step into that breach When the parent isn't there and without them, I don't know how our system would work. It's really their work that helps the healing in the children. It is their work that prepares a child for the next phase of their life whether they get to go back home with their parents, to be adopted by a family or to live with a relative or to be out on their own It's the foster parents that are the key component in that. And we are so fortunate to have a group, a cadre, they're very dedicated and exemplified by Lillian. I'm just so happy to be working with her. And I think if you ask any of our social workers, they would all testify or talk about what a wonderful person her and her husband are.

So I'd just like to introduce her. If you want to say anything off of the podium?

Good morning, Chairman Calderhall and members of the board. My name is Lillian Pipersburg. My husband Phillip and I have been foster parents for over 27 years. And it's with joy and honor that we can serve children and families in our community. We have adopted them not legally but just in our hearts. It's certainly a privilege to work with families who are in need during a crisis. It was never our desire to adopt but to strengthen families so they can carry on their family affairs.

It is with honor that I receive this resolution on behalf of all foster parents in Santa Barbara County, whether they be relative care providers, non-relative providers, individuals who are licensed through the county Department of Social Services or individuals who are certified through family care agencies. I certainly appreciate this. My husband and I are honored that he's not here with me today because he is working with a child who is receiving in-home counseling services, but I enjoy social services. I was a member of the probation department for 25 years. My husband and I both retired from probation, and this is the frosting of the cake to work with foster children. This is truly my heart's desire.

I work currently in the shelter and we get to see children, as they indicated, in their hardest times. Some of them come crying, they're frustrated, they're traumatized and we are able to give those hugs and embrace them and cherish not only them but even their family values and their cultural values I just had a little boy out at a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Gersh Park on Saturday and he enjoyed picking up a soccer game, dancing to the mariachi music. It's always a privilege and how fitting for me to be receiving this resolution after the gardening project because I truly see my children as flowers ready to bloom in a garden of life. We get children from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and it does make for a wonderful garden. Thank you very much for this resolution.

Chairman, may I say one other thing? I'd be remiss if I was asked to say something witty. But I couldn't think of anything witty. But I just want to take this opportunity to thank our interim director, Ted Myers. I believe this would be his last official board meeting and he's been a great support to us, a great leader during this transition period and I think that he, I would like to give him some public recognition for that to being just you know not we haven't missed the step. You know we miss Kathy but we haven't missed a step with Ted there. We'd just like to thank him for being there for us. Thank

Mr. Myers, you want to say a few words since it is your last meeting on such a positive note?

Oh wow! That was a surprise but it's been a pleasure serving the county in this capacity for five months with the Department of Social Services as you know they're a dedicated group of people who are out there on the front lines every day trying to serve and strengthen our community so it's just an honor and a privilege and thank you for that

Thank you for your service. Okay, we will move on now to three resolutions by Supervisor Lavinino, A5, A6 and A7. A4? Did we do a four? No. A5? Hey, you're vice chairman. Well next year you'll be chairman there. When man is sleeping! A5.

Supervisor Lavinino is sponsoring this resolution. Thank you Mr. Chair, well you know it's my honor to bring forth this resolution proclaiming May 2013 as Military Appreciation Month in Santa Barbara County. It seems that we should have every month celebrating our veterans but this actual month we are Focusing on providing employment opportunities for those veterans that are returning. So receiving this resolution will be Frank Campo, Frank's our local veteran's employment representative. He's also the commander for the Santa Maria American Legion as well as the commander for the Lompoc Disabled American Veterans. He has got his finger on the pulse of what our veterans are looking for and what their needs are so Mr. Allen if you could read the resolution please?

Chairman Carbajal, members of the board. This is a resolution proclaiming May 2013 as Military Appreciation Month in Santa Barbara County. Whereas the people of our community have great appreciation and admiration for the many local men and women who served the country in the armed forces to protect and preserve the freedoms enjoyed by our community and by all Americans. And whereas in war, international conflicts, and peacekeeping missions, men and women have been wounded, taken as prisoners, and died in the line of duty.

And whereas, veterans possess a wide variety of valuable job qualifications and skills including experience, maturity, leadership and loyalty that make them ideal candidates for employment. And whereas local veterans employment representatives, disabled veteran outreach program representatives and other employment development department staff are committed to ensuring that veterans receive the services and programs to which they're entitled into promoting employer interest in hiring veterans. Now therefore, be it resorted and resolved that this Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara proclaim May 2013 as Military Appreciation Month in Santa Barbara County. And urges all local employers, organized labor, veteran organizations and other government leaders to support this worthy campaign to increase employment opportunities for the men and women who have faithfully served our nation in the military.

Passed and adopted today.

Thank you Mr. Chair and Board, I would like to thank you first of all for recognizing the hard work that the Disabled Veteran Outreach Program specialists, local veterans employment representatives and all the EDD staff do for our veterans. Currently the veteran unit at the State of California EDD office for Santa Maria, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo consists of one person. That's myself.

We are federally funded even though we are state employees and with sequestration our funding comes from Department of Labor and we've had two vacancies within the last six months So those folks have retired and that's left me doing the line chair of the work. And as I said, I cover from Carpinteria to Paso Robles from Lompoc to Nukuyama so I have a large territory. So I would like to thank all the board for their support in addition to working for the state. I also represent Supervisor Adam on the County Veteran Services Advisory Committee. So that's very exciting to get some stuff done with veterans here in the county But just to give you some statistics, California has the highest population of veterans in the country. Over 2.2 million veterans reside in California.

With that almost 200,000 are leaving active duty every year. The Department of Defense speculates that about 15% or 30,000 are coming back to California. That means these young men and women are going to be needing jobs. Currently we have one war that basically ended, another war that's winding down with a reduction of about 25% to 30% mandated with our armed forces. That's estimated at an additional 15,000 to 20,000 folks will be coming back to California. So we're looking at about 40,000-45,000 veterans returning looking for work.

It's very difficult. As stated earlier, the average earning job here in the county is probably between a minimum wage of $8 to maybe $12 or $13. A lot of these men and women coming back are married, have children. It's very difficult to earn a living and live in the communities on those types of wages. We're fortunate here in Santa Barbara County where the current unemployment rate is 7.2%, whereas statewide it's 9.4%. Now that might sound good if you look at it initially, 7.3% in the county but if you break that down between the cities North County is probably suffering about a 15% unemployment rate whereas South County probably has about 4-5%.

So the need is probably more up in North County with getting folks hired It's been very exciting for myself this past year. I've been working on two very exciting programs. The first was our first annual stand down that Supervisor Lavinino hosted last year in Santa Maria. I know he'll touch on that later on this morning, but I'd like to bring just one success story out of that.

I had approached an employer and invited the employer to attend the event. This employer came to the event who was a veteran. He also brought an employee of his who happened to be a veteran Now this employee had some back child support issues, so therefore his driver's license was taken away or was suspended. So the employer brought his employee they took him to Child Support Services at the table he was able to work through a payment arrangement That satisfied the county and the court, and from there he was directed over to the DMV table where he was issued a provisional license. And from there you know he was able to drive a vehicle for his employer because currently that employer had to drive him around all his job locations. So now with him getting services that he required, he was able to be productive member for that employer.