Board of Supervisors — 2017-03-21

you you

Good morning and welcome. It's 9 a.m. and I call this March 21st 1917 2017 rather meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to order here in the county Santa Barbara hearing room would you call the roll Mr. Allen?

Mr. Lavinino? Here. Mr. Williams? Here Ms. Wolfe? Here Mr. Adam? Here Miss Hartman?

Hagan. It's probably something more for the sheriff to answer and I'm not sure if there's a representative here from the Sheriff's Department but I want to make the statement that this is an important fund. First of all, is there anyone from the Sheriff Department here? Okay, thank

you. Good

morning.

The DNA fund we currently use it in the DNA processing of the jail when inmates come into the jail to pull the DNA. We were severely limited by a court case to pull these that I think is still in the courts I currently, this morning I did ask about the expenses and what we can use this money for. I was told that all of our samples go straight to the state and that we do not pay the state for the processing of those. The money comes directly from the treasure tax collector to the state however we are looking at different ways we can use this funding to see if there are any future uses for this

funding. Okay well that would be greatly appreciated and I know it's, I think its Genesis was Also DNA, but also for rape kits. So we want to ensure that there's not a backlog because I think that's been a statewide issue. So if you can discuss this with the sheriff and perhaps send us a memo on the utilization of these funds because we are almost at $1 million. And not that we just want to spend the money, but it needs to be spent in the area that it was directed to be spent. Thank you for being here. Thank you Mr. Hagan. Did you want to say something else?

Chair Hartman, Supervisor Wolf. It's actually the probation department too that also we reimburse monies to them so they should be included in any kind of discussion regarding this money.

All right thank you.

Supervisor Williams

Well, I just wanted to add a boy or add a gal as the case may be because this is a really important issue. It's something I did a bill to try to fund when I was in the legislature and the backlog has been infamous statewide. Thanks

May I have a motion then to approve the balance of the administrative agenda? So moved. And may we have a roll call vote?

Mr. Lavinino? Aye. Mr. Williams? Aye. Ms. Wolfe? Aye, Mr. Adam? Aye Ms. Hartman? Aye 5-0 Okay

and turning to the resolutions would you read A19

Chair Hartman, members of the board we have six resolutions to present today. We're going to start with item A19 sponsored by Supervisor Williams and this is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the week of March 27 2017 through March 31 as Tsunami Preparedness Week in Santa Barbara County and Robert Lewin and additional staff from And I will go ahead and read the resolution into the record. Whereas a tsunami is a series of ocean or sea waves caused by a sudden large displacement of water, most often caused by earthquakes potentially causing substantial damage and significant loss of life. The Tsunami Warning Centers recommends that people identify their evacuation routes to high ground and prepare a disaster supply kit adequate for all family members and pets.

And whereas there are three levels of notification that people should be familiar with. Tsunami watch, a tsunami may later impact an area. Tsunami advisory, a tsunami with the potential to generate strong currents or waves dangerous to those in or very near the water is imminent expected or occurring. Beaches harbors and marinas may be closed and a tsunami warning. A tsunami with potential to generate widespread inundation is imminent expected or occurring evacuations of coastal areas protect the public from dangerous coastal flooding as possible.

And whereas, warning signs of a tsunami include a strong earthquake, the ocean withdrawing or rapidly rising, a loud roaring sound coming from the ocean and tsunami alerts via television, radio, lifeguards, text or wireless emergency alerts and on NOAA weather radio. When you see these warning signs, NOAA advises the public to keep calm, do not delay, immediately move inland into high ground. Once in a safe location, stay there. Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, news broadcasts or appropriate websites for changes in tsunami notifications and stay away from the coast and low-lying areas including rivers and creeks that lead to the ocean until local officials say it's safe to return. And whereas the public can sign up for local Santa Barbara County alerts and preparedness information via the website www.awareandprepared.org Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors does hereby proclaim the week of March 27 through 31, 2017 as Tsunami Preparedness Week.

Passing it out.

Chair and Supervisors, thank you very much for this resolution. It is not enough to just respond to emergencies particularly tsunamis. We and the community must be prepared. How to be prepared? That we're going to make sure that we're prepared for a tsunami because we've got emergency manager Ryan McMahon on our team and his job one of his jobs is to make sure that we maintain a tsunami ready designation as a county.

If there is a large earthquake The people that live in a tsunami inundation area should immediately go to high ground. And we encourage all of our residents in the county to sign up for Aware and Prepare alerts through awareandprepare.org. Thank you very much.

Okay, we're going to

Chair Hartman, Supervisors thank you so much and Jim will say a few words but I just wanted to say briefly that Jim Clark he is synonymous with truly all that's good at the Los Prados Boys Camp. And Jim as a department, as a chief I want to thank you for never growing weary Your legacy of honor, respect, hard work and doing what is right is going to live on in the lives of all the young men that you directed and guided over the last 30 years.

Jim, you leave large boots to fill at the camp. We say happy trails. God bless you and all the best to you. Thank you.

Thank you everyone. And just briefly thank you Board of Supervisors and the community here for not giving up on those young men. You know they make bad choices but they're not necessarily bad people and we want to keep embracing them and encouraging them to do well They're going to be around another 70 years, and we want to support them to be good citizens in our community. So don't give up on them and keep showing them better options. And it's amazing the success of the program. I see those 5,000 youth in the community every day somewhere, and it's been an honor to serve the community and to help other people. So thank you for all your support and your recognition today. Thank you.

Okay moving on, we're going to go to item A21. This is a resolution also sponsored by Supervisor Wolf. This is a resolution of accommodation honoring Shirley Moore upon her retirement from Child Support Services after over 18 years of faithful and distinguished service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County. Shirley come on up. I'll go ahead and read the resolution into the record.

Whereas Shirley Moore began her career with the county in 1998 as an Administrative Analyst in the County Executive Office and was promoted to Principal Analyst in 2001, where one of her proudest accomplishments was managing the county redistricting process to establish supervisorial boundaries consistent with law and policies with a major emphasis on public outreach.

Whereas in 2004 Shirley Moore became the business manager and child support services where she was responsible for managing all aspects of the budget process as well as the human resources, risk management purchasing workers compensation and accounting functions where she ensured that the department consistently passed state and local audits. And whereas Shirley's intelligence, zest for life, outgoing nature, innate curiosity, perseverance, pursuit of excellence and dedication to the county and her co-workers will continue to serve as a model for county employees who have had the pleasure of meeting and working with her.

We'll be concluding 18 years of service when she retires on March 31, 2017 and is looking forward to many nights of dancing, reviving her interest in cooking, traveling, enjoying time with her friends and family, and continuing to give back in various ways to this beautiful community. Now therefore it's hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors commend Shirley Moore for a faithful and distinguished service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County, congratulates her on her retirement, and wishes her many years of continued good health and happiness. Passed and adopted today.

Chair Hartman, members of the board. I'm Joni Maiden, the interim director at the Department of Child Support Services and I wanted to thank Shirley for her many years of dedicated service to our department, to the county and to our community. Because we're a small department, Shirley's had to wear many hats in her role as business manager extraordinaire. She's overseeing contracts purchasing facilities she manages our child support program accounting unit and she's a HR guru like none other There are many of our co-workers in the audience today

to

wish her well in her retirement. We all feel very fortunate that we've had the chance to work with Shirley who is passionate, calm and professional all at the same time. We're going to miss her very much and we were wishing her nothing but joy in her retirement. Thank you Shirley.

I'll say a few words. I want to thank the board and I want to thank the department for this resolution, and it has been my privilege to spend about half of my career with the County of Santa Barbara knowing that in some small way the work that I do does make a difference in the community. In my position, I work with people in a lot of different departments, and I want them to know that I really do appreciate them They are hardworking, dedicated people. They just want to do a good job. They've helped me in many situations.

I especially want to acknowledge HR, the Auto Controller's Office, CEO and Purchasing, just to name a few departments. And as for my department, Child Support, they are the best department in the world. You can't find a better group of people. Right there. They are so passionate about the work that they do and they're so incredibly generous and they're dedicated and hardworking, and I'm truly honored to have worked side-by-side with them for the last 13 years of my career. So thank you. And I love you all.

And with that, I am retiring.

Okay moving on to item 822 this is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman today. This is a resolution proclaiming March 21, 2017 as National Agriculture Day in the week of March 19 through 25 as National Agriculture Week in Santa Barbara County and we're going We have a slight deviation from practice. We're going to double the fund, we're going to have Supervisor Adam presenting this resolution in Santa Maria to Roberta Alderete. She's with the Santa Maria chapter of the California Movement for Agriculture and here in Santa Barbara Lisa Maloney.

Is Lisa here? Come on up to the mic.

Mr. Allen, we have a couple others that came to join the fund. We have Ruth Jensen, Debbie Adam and Donna France.

Okay, great. And so I will go ahead and read the resolution and then we'll present it in both Santa Maria and Santa Barbara. Whereas National Agriculture Week is celebrated every year to honor the agricultural industry for providing safe, abundant and affordable products, a strong economy, a source of renewable energy and a world of job opportunities. And whereas Santa Barbara County farmers and ranchers build on generations of success by remaining true to their history while also pursuing advances in production technology science research and marketing to meet the demands of a growing world population in a complex global market And whereas Santa Barbara County farmers and ranchers help to feed the world. And whereas, the agricultural industry is one of the largest employers in Santa Barbara County providing over 25,000 on-farm jobs including administrative and professional staff.

In addition to employment for harvesters, irrigators, crew leaders, truck drivers, scientists, researchers, pest control and fertilizer advisors, processors, shippers, brokers and retailers. And whereas the stewardship of agricultural lands conserves the culture and history of Santa Barbara County, preserves the natural beauty in open spaces and ensures a sustainable resource base for future generations.

Therefore let it be resolved that Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors recognizes the contributions and honors the achievements of farmers, ranchers and tens of thousands of workers involved in jobs related to Santa Barbara County agriculture. And be it hereby further ordered and resolved That March 21, 2017 be proclaimed National Agricultural Day and March 19-25, 2017 be proclaimed as National Agricultural Week in Santa Barbara County and encourage members of the public to participate in activities that acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of men and women who work throughout the year in the state's number one industry. Passed and adopted today.

If you want to say something, if you want to say something.

Supervisor Hartman and supervisors. California Women for Agriculture was founded over 40 years ago as a non-partisan all volunteer group. Today we are 2,000 members strong. Santa Barbara County is diverse and strong enough to support two chapters of this state organization. We are active in ag education and awareness, scholarships. We support all varieties of agriculture in our county and state. On behalf of all the members of our chapter and of the North County Santa Maria Chapter we thank you for your recognition of our efforts. Thank you so much.

We have some comments from the ladies up here as well.

Chair Hartman and Supervisors, my name is Roberta Aldaretti I'm the co-president for the Santa Maria chapter and I want to thank you for the resolution today and I want to also thank the county for supporting agriculture in its many ways. Is it working? Yes and also I'd like to present some farmers that we have here, lady farmers. And I'd like to have them talk to you a little bit about what they do for our community.

Thank you, Andy. And thank you for this opportunity. My husband and I are strawberry farmers in the Santa Maria Valley and I know that we are good stewards of the land but not only are we good stewards of the land, we're also good stewards of our employees and of our community. We're very proud and honored to have the opportunity to work with this very important and highly valuable workforce. One story I'd like to share is we have a supervisor that started with us as a picker, and he's been employed with us for almost 15 years. And I'm proud to say that he is a homeowner in the Santa Barbara County. But not only are we able to work and support our employees, we also have the opportunity to invest back in our community through the Boys & Girls Club, Vocational Training Center, the hospital, and many other organizations.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Debbie Adam and my husband and I grow vegetables and strawberries here in the Santa Maria Valley. And his family has been doing so for generations. As a group, farmers are very humble people and they're not going to tell you all the things they do in this community. But as someone who has for the last 32 years spent my time asking them for their time and treasure, It's been supportive of youth sports, of youth education.

Also I feel like as a member of the Food Bank Board they've donated hundreds and thousands of pounds of fresh produce to our local citizens and statewide. And they don't want any recognition. And I just am here to say that they truly do care about our community and everyone in it. And they will break their backs to provide whatever it takes To care for our community members.

Good morning, my name is Ruth Jensen. I am here on behalf of California Women for Agriculture and American Agri-Women. California Women for Agriculture has 22 chapters and is an affiliate to American Agriwomen whose membership ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 members nationwide from Alaska all the way to Maine. California Women for Agriculture participate And in June we'll be in Washington, D.C., hosting a symposium on national security and the role of American agriculture. Thank you. Enjoy Ag Day.

Hashtag AgDay365.

Thank you. Chair Harmon and members of the board, June Van Wingen is also here and she'd like to comment on this resolution as well.

Thank you. I came from Carpinteria so I almost didn't make it. Chair Hartman and Board, my name is June Van Wingerden. I'm the current president of the Santa Barbara County Flower and Nursery Growers Association. I've been asked to tell you something about the nursery agriculture in Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County represents the most valuable production region in the United States.

The 2015 county ag report places cut flowers at the number four crop at 105 million, which is just slightly below wine grapes. On much less acreage. Nursery products produced 85 million, almost 86 million. Most of the agriculture is located in the Carpinteria Valley but some can still be found in Goleta and elsewhere like Santa Maria where there's a huge greenhouse operation.

Currently 77, and this is the statistic that Salud Carbajal always memorized. Currently 77% of domestic flower production is grown in California and over 50% of the value of California cut flower production is produced in Santa Barbara County. The 2015 top cut flower crops were gerberas at number one, lilies number two, chrysanthemums number three. Orchids are an important crop. Flowers are grown in both greenhouses and in the field.

But we also have cucumbers, lettuce, microgreens, blooming potted plants, transplants, landscape plants, and they're all grown in greenhouses. Santa Barbara County is America's flower basket according to a study by Tutulin and Associates for every dollar of flower Farmer earns 92 cents goes back into the local economy. The millions of dollars of flowers and other nursery crops come right into this county from across the nation. Flowers from our own business are shipped across the nation to places like Detroit, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Dallas, Las Vegas and I could name a lot more.

Greenhouse Ag provides year-round employment, sustainable growing techniques, reduced pesticide use, recycled water systems and more. The greenhouse industry has been an incubator for many new technologies that are eventually used in other ag crops. Use of hoops to grow crops is spread to many other crops. In the 1970's 80% of the cut flowers used in the United States were grown in the U.S.

Now 80% are imported from such countries as Colombia. In the 1970s, the Van Wingerden family in Carpinteria produced 10% of the cut chrysanthemums that were purchased in the US. Carpinteria now produces maybe a quarter of a percent. Container plants, bedding plants, landscape plants all are feeling the pressure of increased regulation and increased cost of labor.

Profits are minimal. These products though do not have competition from other countries because soil still cannot be imported into this country.

You're getting close to your time.

Okay, you just cut me off. Colombian flower growers are subsidized by our own federal government as part of an anti-drug effort. Because of that and a myriad of other factors such as greenhouse restrictions, cost of labor etc., cut flowers have a difficult time competing with our competitors in South America. And that's it? I find it a little sad that we have helped growers in Columbia move away from growing an unnamed crop and are pushing our own farmers into growing that same crop which shall not be named.

Thank you.

We're going to also hear from Seth Coonan, followed by Ken Doty. Those

are

the final speakers.

Thanks for letting me appear. I'd like to acknowledge Ag Commissioner Kathy Fisher for inviting me and for the good job she's doing. I'm Seth Kuhn, the treasurer of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association. I am speaking for wine grape growers here. Wine grapes were either the number two or number three crop grown in Santa Barbara County for the last three recorded years. There are over 27,000 acres of wine grapes grown in Santa Barbara, 50 different varieties in six American viticultural areas.

We average just about four tons an acre of grapes and our average price is over $1,700 a ton which ranks us pretty high quality wise and dollar wise. The economic value of wine grapes in Santa Barbara County was 163 million dollars in 2014 the last year we have data for Our economic report for the economic impact of the industry in Santa Barbara County, $1.7 billion and almost 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs are due to the wine industry.

Unfortunately, the consolidation of big brands and distribution and the competition out there is making kind of direct to consumer sales through wine clubs, tasting rooms, etc., etc. Kind of a necessary sales channel for all wineries in Santa Barbara County especially small to midsize operations. And it's really critical to our livelihood that you, the Board of Supervisors allow this important sector of commerce in Santa Barbara County economy to thrive.

Not die on the proverbial vine. We encourage you to support regulations that streamline the permitting process by giving farms and vineyards and wineries more access to the general public in creating simpler, more streamlined permitting processes. You'll encourage more land to be used for active farming and simultaneously generate much needed additional revenue for Santa Barbara through sales, tourism taxes, and dollars spent. I urge you to investigate if you haven't our benchmark Sonoma County The policy, it's called the Sonoma Permit and Resource Management Department. They have a thing called Permit Sonoma. They have a good website. Their mission statement is to serve the people of the county by providing a customer-based, customer focused process for the orderly development of real property balanced with resource stewardship under the general policy direction of the Board of Supervisors and to develop and maintain standards that protect the health and safety of the public.

They have all five of their These are our final speaker on this item.

Good morning, Chairwoman Hartman and board. I'm Ken Doty representing Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau And I actually urge you to support this resolution Today we are here to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture We know that food and fiber doesn't just magically appear at the grocery or the clothing store There's an entire industry of dedicated men and women providing plentiful and safe food for consumption We rely on ag for the very necessities of life, from vegetable crops and wine grapes to cut flowers and nursery products and cattle. Santa Barbara County's ag is working harder than ever to help meet the needs of Americans and other consumers around the world.

As we celebrate the contribution of agriculture in our daily lives, it is Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau's mission to represent and promote the importance of a greater understanding of and to value the essential role of ag in maintaining a strong economy and preserving the rich heritage of Santa Barbara County. Our climate enables us to produce over 250 commodities year-round. According to the 2015 Santa Barbara County Agricultural Production Report, our commodities grossed $1.479 billion in very challenging growing conditions due to five years of drought.

With all of that, agricultural is still the number one contributor to the county's economy and through the multiplier effect contributes a total of $2.8 billion to the local economy. Today each farmer feeds more than 144 people. Back in the dark ages when I was in college I think that number was 22 or 25. It's a dramatic increase over the last couple generations Quite simply, American agriculture is doing more and doing it better.

As the world population grows there's an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the U.S. I think it's important particularly on a day like today to show our appreciation to the many men and women who make our agriculture possible. Thank you

Okay Chairman, members of the board we're going to move on tight at May 23. This is sponsored by Supervisor Lavinino. This is a resolution proclaiming March 24th 2017 as World Tuberculosis Day in Santa Barbara County and Charity Dean is here our Public Health Officer Paige Batson Director of Public Health Nursing and Karen White public health nurse and if you have anybody else bring them on up with you all right I'll read the resolution Whereas on March 24, 2017 in honor of World TB Day the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department joins the global partnership to promote the CDC's message to unite to end TB. And whereas with one third of the world's population being infected with latent TB and each year 9 million people develop active TB resulting in 2 million deaths worldwide prevention and treatment of latent TB infection remains a priority TB control strategy, and whereas Santa Barbara County Disease Control Program recognizes that the treatment of latent TB infection is the cornerstone for TB elimination.

And whereas the Santa Barbara County Disease Control Program continues to educate and promote medical in general communities alike about short-term latent tuberculosis treatment regimens that significantly improve adherence rate, hence preventing the incidence of new TB cases in our community. And whereas through a strong community partnership, finding and treating TB supports a healthy community by enhancing local TB control and elimination efforts. Now therefore it be hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors does hereby proclaim March 24th 2017 as World Tuberculosis Day in Santa Barbara County pass and adopted today

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the board. Thank you for this recognition again of World Tuberculosis Day. And I want to touch briefly on part of the strategic plan for the public health department around tuberculosis. Our strategic plan involves prevention because we know that prevention has a huge return on investment. And I want to just briefly mention what that looks like for tuberculosis. You'll all get packets for World TB Day that show that our strategic plan is focusing on identifying people that are at the highest risk to have latent infection, meaning it's asleep in their lungs. If we can find them and treat them, we can kill the bacteria while it's still asleep. That's been a major focus of our staff, our public health nurses.

And recently Karen White, our amazing public health nurse who supervises the North County operations received a statewide award for outstanding leadership in public health nursing. And I want to highlight that because our numbers of tuberculosis cases in the last three years Have gone from 29 to 19 to 9. I would like to think that is because we are following our strategic plan and identifying people that are infected, treating them before they blossom into active TB. Want to give Karen an opportunity to say a few words about what it's like to do that work. Thank you again.