Board of Supervisors — 2020-02-04

I will call to order the February 4th, 2020 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mr. Adam? Here. Mr. Lavinino? Here. Mr Williams? Here Ms Hartman? Here Chair Hart?

The next item of business is approval of the minutes of January 28th, 2020. Is there any discussion? Can I please get a motion to approve?

Move approval.

Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Oppose and abstain. Matter carries unanimously. CEO Miyasato, is there a CEO report today?

There is a report Chair Hart and Supervisors two items The first is I am pleased to introduce to you this morning Nancy Anderson, who is our newest Assistant County Executive Officer. Nancy began yesterday as her first day at the county. She brings over 20 years of experience in county government and the areas of auditing budget finance and overall county management.

She was with the Kern County CAO's office from 2011 to 2019 and then promoted to the Chief Operations Officer. And prior to that she spent nine years in the Auditor Controller's Office in that county Where she served as Assistant Auditor Controller, Special Accounting Division Chief, Property Tax and Internal Audit. So we're very pleased to have Nancy join us and I asked her just to say a few words and introduce herself.

Hi. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. I am excited to be here. I appreciate truly Mona giving me the opportunity to serve the County of Santa Barbara, your board and the county executive office. I look forward to contributing in any way that I can to the mission of her office so I'm excited to be here. Thank you.

Ms. Anderson, welcome to the County of Santa Barbara family. We appreciate your amazing talents and look forward to working with you.

Thank you. And if I might brag she's an equestrian and lives in the Sunny Nez Valley.

Two or three for one.

Chair and supervisors my next announcement is just something that's overdue we I just wanted to recognize Tracy McCougar public defender if Tracy could come up yeah We're honored to recognize and publicly acknowledge public defender Tracy Makuga, who received the Deborah Talmadge Attorney of the Year Award from the Santa Barbara Women Lawyers in December. The award annually honors an outstanding legal professional who's dedicated to the advancement and success of women, who mentors colleagues, who personifies professional excellence, who has shown a commitment to the community, and who has achieved professional excellence. Her name will be engraved on a permanent plaque displayed at the historic Santa Barbara Superior Court. So congratulations, Tracy.

Tracy you could say something or we could all say nice things about you. It's your choice

and the more you object, the more everybody applauds.

First of all thank you it is an honor for doing something you love and so to be here in front of each of you and especially everyone here and of course my staff and more importantly The citizens and the community that we serve is just a privilege. And all I can say is, if I could say anything, I wish my parents could be here because it would be wonderful to have achieved what I've achieved because of the support of the community, to have them here with me. So thank you very, very much.

Thank you, Tracy. It's really well deserved. It probably was the only moment that you slowed down from working to be acknowledged. Is there any other information in the report? That's it. Madam Clerk, are there any announcements or changes to the agenda?

Chair Hart and members of the board, I just have two quick announcements this morning. On administrative item number three, the sponsorship we are adding an additional sponsor it should have reflected Supervisor Hart and Supervisor Williams. This is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of February 2020 as Black History Month in Santa Barbara County so if you could just include that in your motion. And I also wanted to note for the record we did receive a memo from the department on Administrative item A13, this is from Human Services and is to consider recommendations regarding a resolution providing for compensation of county employees who serve as election workers. And they revised their resolution to that item and the board did receive that late in the day yesterday and that is posted online as well as available on the clerk of the board.

Those are all my announcements.

Thank you very much.

a personality that just lifts you up if you're with her and if you're talking with her. She is a very, very welcome member of the Sheriff's Office family And I just wanted to close my remarks by reading to you something that she wrote. Every time we hire someone in the Sheriff's Office, we ask them to write an autobiography and the very first paragraph that she wrote in this autobiography which she called The Time of My Life starts with a quote from one of my heroes Sir Winston Churchill.

And it's a great quote that says, We make a living by what we get But we make a life by what we give. And she goes on to write, with each new day comes a new opportunity, a chance to make a difference. Every day I strive to spread joy, to serve and support the public and to live a life that influences others through my thoughts and actions giving a piece of myself which changes the world Prosperity is found with service, so make each day count.

And I'm glad to say that she personifies those words in what she does. It's my very special honor to be able to be here as part of this effort to honor her for what she does. I want to thank her for what she does and I want to congratulate you on this very, very well-deserved award. Well done!

That was a very nice introduction.

Thank you. Good morning, Chair Hart, members of the board, colleagues, family and friends. I'm humbled and grateful to be selected by the Sheriff's Office as Employee of the Month for the county. I am overwhelmed by the support of everyone here today. I never imagined in my career I would be standing before the Board yet alone receive such an honorable recognition Ironically, today marks my 16th year in public service.

My first recruiter position with the Ventura Superior Court established my foundation and human resources state and county policies and shaped me into a skilled recruiter. My court colleagues mentored, encouraged, developed which has been influential to my success today. I found my calling as a recruiter and the chance to make a difference Unfortunately, in 2012 my recruiter position with the court was eliminated due to state budget cuts.

I share this with you because this unexpected turn of events is why I'm standing here today. The loss of my job was one of the most difficult yet significant times in my life. It gave me the opportunity to reflect on my meaning in life and purpose, how I want to make my mark in this world, be remembered and experience personal happiness When challenged with adversity, I turned it into growth and came to appreciate the value in all things. So I walked by faith into an unknown future.

Amazingly a month later, I was hired and taking the oath for the County of Santa Barbara as a recruiter for county HR. Shortly thereafter, the Sheriff's Office created a new recruiter position and I was selected. Reflecting back on my new hire ceremony with the Sheriff's As Sheriff Brown and I were shaking hands, he looked me in the eyes and said this is a new position for the sheriff's office. There will be a lot of eyes watching you.

I thought to myself wow that's a lot of pressure. Sheriff Brown, I hope I've met your expectations. My revived spirit for a meaningful life and the sheriff's remark have been a driving influence in me these past seven years I'm honored to work for the Sheriff's Office and to serve along some amazing and dedicated men and women. My rewarding career at the Sheriff's Office affirms I'm right where I'm supposed to be, which motivates me to impact the organization, provide excellent customer service, and to do my best in all that I do. I've gained a sheriff's family, the pleasure to support sheriff's personnel and the public in their career goals, and heightened my own professional growth which I didn't even know I could achieve. Every day, I never forget to count my blessings.

My living motto is a quote from Jane Goodall. You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. I'd like to say thank you to some important people that have supported and inspired me. Sheriff Brown under Sheriff Lindbergh and former undersheriff Malekian You have demonstrated exceptional leadership to our department and dedication to the people of Santa Barbara County. Commander Fotheringham, thank you for your leadership support in recruiting and our brainstorming discussions on civil service roles.

Thank you to the exceptional lieutenants who led the HR Bureau throughout the years. Acting Lieutenant Green Thank you for your unfailing dedication to the HR Bureau. You were the glue that kept us together during historical hiring goals, motivated us to march forward on difficult days and reminded us we were accomplishing the mission when we couldn't see the finish line.

Sergeant Yule, thank you for leading the HR Troop to achieve some unprecedented hiring goals. Thank you to the present and past dynamic HR Bureau. We work and laugh together, support and encourage each other, and in unity all have a fingerprint in the hiring process. Thank you to my colleague friends Carmina, Christy, Judy, Janie, Christi Idle for the late night calls and texts checking in on my mental and physical well-being. You carried me through many difficult days Deb Beach, thank you for your exceptional training. As you retire in the coming weeks know that you made a difference in this county and imparted institutional knowledge in me that I will share with future professionals.

To my sister, brother-in-law, daughter and niece, thank you for your love support and encouragement in my life. To my wonderful parents, thank you for your unconditional love and support for always leading by example and encouraging me to be my best. In closing, I'd like to encourage those who are looking for a rewarding career and a chance to make a difference.

The Sheriff's Office is hiring. You are encouraged to apply. Thank you very much.

Thank you Ms. Ryan for always recruiting.

Okay.

Will the clerk please read item A3 into the record?

Chair Hart and members of the Board, Administrative Item Number 3 is sponsored by Supervisor Williams and Supervisor Hart. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of February 2020 as Black History Month in Santa Barbara County. And we have Wendy Sims-Moten and William Benton here in Santa Barbara and Lawanda Lyons Pruitt in Santa Maria. If you can all please come to the podium.

And anyone else you'd like to join with you? Whereas Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, the distinguished African-American author, editor, publisher and historian founded Negro History Week in 1926 which became Black History Month in 1976 with this distinction Woodson intended to encourage further research and publishing of the untold stories of African American heritage. In addition he hoped to provide themes to bring to the public's attention two important developments in black history that merit emphasis and recognition.

And whereas in 2020, the national theme is African-Americans and the vote to commemorate the long rich history of the ongoing struggle on the part of black men and women for the right to vote even before the civil war, black men petitioned their legislators and the U S Congress seeking to be recognized as voters and do exercise their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th amendment to the US constitution And whereas through launching voting rights campaigns and legal suits from the turn of the 20th century through the mid-1960s, African-Americans made their voices heard regarding the importance of the vote. In 1965, the federal government signed the Voting Rights Act into law overcoming legal barriers at state and local levels that had prevented African Americans from voting.

And whereas we honor the rise of African American elected and appointed officials at local and national levels campaigns for equal rights legislation as well as the role of African Americans in traditional and alternative political leadership And whereas we honor the struggle for the right to vote in this country and encourage people of all backgrounds to respect, appreciate and harness their power to vote. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors declares February 2020 as Black History Month and calls on all residents to celebrate with appropriate ceremonies and activities passed and adopted today.

Mr. Benton thank you for being here today

It's a pleasure to be here, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, ladies and gentlemen. I've got to tell you, I didn't expect to be speaking. I thought I was coming here to support someone but I always like to talk. One of the things about the NAACP that I think it galvanizes my impression of why I got involved is the leadership. That's so important and integral that our conference president, Alice Huffman brings to all of the members, all of our different branches. And so when I think about all the things that I've learned from going and being around them is that sharing the tools to leadership, to help the community is so integral to why the organization stayed around for the length that it has. So I think what I like to do is share that with the people I interact with and it really doesn't matter whether they're people who are members of our organization or people who call us for help It's community outreach and showing leadership to help everybody.

And so that's a part of what I like about the organization, and I don't want to take up too much time because I know Ms. Lyons Pruitt our San Maria branch president is going to want to talk but I do want to say that what's important that I've learned both from her and I think from our President, Conference President is that when we get involved in a community we understand that was most important is that When voting and the rights of people are being established or being heard, we understand that democracy often dies in the dark. And it's our job to make sure that doesn't happen.

And that's for all people of color and that color is the entire kaleidoscope of colors. So certainly African-Americans but people of all colors is who our constituents are. So it's my privilege and pleasure to represent them all. That's it.

Thank you Mr. Banton very much. Ms. Lyons

Pruitt Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. Chairman Hart and members of the board, I bring you greetings from the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For 111 years we have worked tirelessly to ensure the social, political, educational, and economic equality of rights of all people.

We envision a society in which all people are treated equally, regardless of color. Regardless of anything. Which is kind of interesting. A theme is the voting power of African American and we're celebrating black history. And a lot of people ask well why are you celebrating that? That is because for years and years African Americans were not in the history books except as slaves and serve.

And that is my recollection, having grown up in Mississippi of how African Americans were depicted. And I thank you so much for recognizing the significance and importance of black history. And I'll celebrate in it. The 14th and 15th Amendment guarantees citizenship and every person the right to vote, but there has been a long struggle to ensure voting rights. The NAACP has been involved since 1909 when some 53 good White people, Caucasians and seven African Americans formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In fact we only had one African American officer and a lot of people are unaware of the fact that NAACP, that we're not a African American organization. We represent all people and we just want to ensure a society in which everyone is treated the same regardless of their color, their race, their religion, their sexual orientation.

We wanna ensure that They are treated the same. Some of the things that the NAACP has played a significant role in since our founding has been, in 1913, the NAACP encouraged and pressured President Wilson to publicly condemn lynching We successfully campaigned for African Americans to be commissioned as Army officers in 1918. During World War II, the NAACP pressured President Roosevelt into ordering a non-discriminatory policy in war related industries and federal employment.

The NAACP pressured President Truman to ban discrimination in the federal government in 1948. NAACP had a young lad by the name of Thurgood Marsha who won a Supreme Court case forcing state universities to provide equal facilities for all students. Then Justice Marshall, who went on to become a Supreme Court justice won the landmark case Brown versus Board of Education which ended desegregation in schools. And I can tell you that I was a product of a segregated school having grown up in Mississippi and we were integrated in 1970 my freshman year of high school and something that I still remember.

NAACP member Rosa Parks sparked the Civil Rights Movement when she was arrested for refusing to give her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Lunch counters in 26 southern states are desegregated after a series of nonviolent sit-ins by members of the NAACP Youth Council in 1960 and 1958 in Oklahoma. We played a significant role in securing congressional approval for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin.

We persuaded more than 80,000 African Americans in Mississippi to register to vote after Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965. Our list of things that we have been involved in goes on and on. And I stand here as an heir of all those freedom fighters who get paid the ultimate price by giving up their life so that you, and I, and all Americans might enjoy the blessings of freedoms. We thank you for this resolution, and we invite you to join us. We have several black history Celebrations plan. We have one at the Santa Maria Library Shepard Hall on February 21st We have one on Saturday, March 7th from 12 to 4 at the Bittman.

And we moved into March because we couldn't get the park that we wanted. It's from 12 to four at Pioneer Park. I will be sending out the invitation and if you're so inclined and not too tired tonight, we will be in Lompoc at Valley of the Flowers for a regular scheduled meeting black history celebration where we will have soul food. Thank you again.

Thank you, Ms. Lyons-Pruitt and thank you all for coming.

Good morning Chair Hart and members of the board. My name is Lillian Pipersburg, and along with Black History Month we are strong in our faith And I think that's what allowed us to continue on with this fight with this march on The right to vote is extremely important to us, and we will be encouraging our community to do that With our faith We're really strong in that this year, and for 10 years we've been doing a worship and celebration service over at the Marjorie Loop Theater. And we would like to encourage you to participate in that in any way that you can. That'll be on February 16th at 3.30 p.m. It's free to the public and we also have soul food. We have live gospel music and a powerful message from Dr. David Moore. Thank you.

I will make it quick so enough said, well said and I certainly want to thank LaWanda in Santa Maria and also Bill here in Santa Barbara. And Bill, I know you got my text. I told you would be accepting this resolution! So I either need to make my texts much more clear or you need to read them better. But thank you so much. It's always an honor to be here and having been here over 20 years to come and be a part of the resolutions that are coming forth for Black History Month, honoring their struggles and the innovation of all of our citizens in Santa Barbara County is really truly important. I mean every time that we bring a resolution about a culture that's not necessarily in the forefront, we learn something. So we encourage you to go, pique your curiosity and go learn something that you heard about today or find something that you didn't know about.

A friend of mine gave me a quote that said, You don't know what you don't know. So there's a lot of that going on so thank you. So it's important to go seek and find that information because it all informs us a little bit better and makes us a little more open and have a different perceptive on the folks that we work with differently every day. And also you, Board of Supervisors, received a packet of the Black History Month events that will be going on.

Hope you're able to attend them. Thank you as well. Thank you Jordan Killebrew for putting that article together. As well as the organizations that are there, they're part of the Black History Month. They each have a website that you can go and find further information. So thank you so much for your support over the years of the Black History Month and thank each of you for being here today.

It looks like there's something going on every day in the month of February, so please take advantage of that. And thank you again for telling us those remarkable achievements of the NAACP over the 111 year history of the organization. Thank you.

Chair Hart and members of the board I have two requests to speak one on administrative item number nine and one on administrative item number 13.

Okay let's see Would the clerk please read the items into the record? Supervisor

Hart, I also want to pull

13s. OK. Supervisor Lavendino, number 13. So we had a 9, 13 and 15.

Chair Hart, members of the board, administrative item number nine is from community services. It is considered it is to consider recommendations regarding Aurora Borough Ranger Office and site improvements project number 8653 award of construction contract. This is in the second district and there is a four fist vote required. And we are going to Santa Maria for Andy Caldwell. Andy?

Chair Hart, members of the board, I'm Andy Caldwell representing CoLab. I bring up these issues fairly often as far as the construction costs for county projects because it just literally baffles the mind. And to tell you the truth, having done the math on this one and I know we don't have all the details in this scant little report but if you were to build a $1.3 million home In Santa Barbara or even Santa Maria, you'd have to have septic system water system lots and lots of concrete roofing materials and this that and the other. And in Santa Maria if you didn't have to buy the land you could build a pretty good sized house for that amount of money.

And in this particular case the county's not buying the land and they're building a, again if I read this right, a whopping 330 square foot Facility which is a ranger office maintenance shop and a carport, a couple of benches and a fence. $1.3 million for 330 square foot building? That comes out to $4,000 per square foot. Now remember the bathrooms down there that cost like 10 times more than it should have cost, but this one is literally off the chart.

And I know they're making something ADA accessible and they're doing this, that and the other bit, and I know it went out to bid, but there's something wrong. There is something wrong that the county wants to spend $1.3 million for a 330 square foot maintenance facility, carport and a little ranger office. But I said you could build a mansion. I think most construction around here is like two maybe $200 a square foot even if it was four hundred dollars a square foot this thing is coming in ten times higher That's all I got to say on that one.

Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. Supervisor Adam? Maybe we could get some explanation... Mr. Chapman

Chair Harden members of the board good morning. Yes, it's much more than just the building There's a day improvements their site improvements their security cameras all along Cliff Drive There's more improvements to the area than just the building itself when you go into those

a little bit

I'm sorry

could you go into those a little

bit sure? It's it is in the report It's also $1.3 million. There's also security cameras for the parking lots that will all still be installed. So it is the building but much more than that we bid this out We had two bids and they came in within 25,000 of each other So we followed all the processes

well Maybe so but is there a is there a lot of paving or something? That's really well the ADA the ADA a lot of money a lot of paving Okay supervisor Adam. So what how many square feet of paving are we looking at here? I

Concrete work.

How many square feet of concrete? Come on up, Jill. Speak into the microphone. Yes please. Yeah, because it is a little obscene from the face of it. I'm trying to figure out what the hardscape's costing and I know that that is not cheap and I know if you're doing enough square footage or something like that it does add up

Correct, Supervisor Adams through the Chair. The costs did seem a little high but I know that costs are a little bit high right now just overall because of all of the construction in Montecito it's just a very high cost construction market so I don't have the square footage of the concrete, but there's a, I think the Ranger area office itself is about $750,000 which was pretty in line with the anticipated costs. But most of it really is the irrigation and landscaping along Cliff Drive which is quite extensive. It's quite a long linear footage we'll say.

And then that also- Could you

estimate?

I wish I had the numbers in front of me. I'm so sorry that I don't, but let's

see. I

can easily get them to you though.

Well all right, but can you estimate is it a quarter mile or half a mile? I

would say closer to a half a mile.

Okay.

Yeah.

So it's both sides of the road for a half a mile?

Just one side. One side of the road okay. So it's and it's extensive. It's not and it's reworking that the yard itself, so it's not just replacing a building but we're kind of realigning the fencing in the sight lines and putting in some landscaping to help Ranger site view of Based on some things that have happened there in the past. Okay, so Thank you

Thanks for that information Will the clerk please read item 13 into the record

Chair Hart, members of the board. Administrative item number 13 is from Human Resources. It is to consider recommendations regarding a resolution providing for compensation of county employees who serve as election workers and we are going back to Santa Maria with Andy Caldwell.

Mr. Caldwell? Chair Hart, members of the board, Andy Caldwell representing CoLab. I used to do human relations for Union Sugar and there were times when we let our employees off of work so to speak or paid them to go do some community projects. So I understand that happens in the real world. However, we would not have allowed them to quote unquote double dip.

If we were paying them their regular wages and allowing them to go quote unquote volunteer, we didn't expect them to get paid for their volunteer work. And that's what's at issue here, one of the issues but what's worse than that is this memorandum that came from Employee Relations Manager. There will be no general fund backfill for county employees who service poll workers.

The manager's supervisor shall only approve participation by employees in special revenue funded and, here it is, fee-based positions. So some poor schmuck is paying for EHS or some other fund. They're paying a fee, and you're saying hey as long as that's fee based and we don't have to backfill it, we'll let the guy that's getting feed to death out there help pay for this public service.

You're not allowed to use fee-based programs for a program like this. You can only use fee-based programs for doing the fee based program. And I'm shocked that county council or the auditor controller didn't catch this, you can't do it. And moreover where do you get your money? Either get your money from the federal government, the state government, property taxes or fees.

And what you're saying here is if we the county have to pay for this out of general fund, we're not doing it. We're okay spending the state's money or the federal money or a fee-based program's money but if it's costing us, the deal's off.

Andy? Can I, can we stop his time please?

Yes, Supervisor Adam.

Yeah, I think you got that backwards Andy or

I don't know I Stand to be corrected. Thank

you. Let's let's let's before we don't don't give back the rest of your time but Let's get a clarification on that because my understanding is we were not going to have any fee-based or revenue based funded departments participate

in this. That's correct the intention of the language that we inserted is to provide that there would not be, the people would not be released if there was a general fund backfill or need for a general fund backfill So fee-based or special revenue funds, those people will not be permitted to work

unless... They just won't be eligible.

Exactly.

Okay so does that make a better

ending?

Well yeah but that's not the way it reads. It says if they can do so without requiring a general fund backfill. It doesn't say they can't do it. They're saying they can if they can do it without requiring a general fund backfill That's the way the memo reads. So if it had ended the sentence that they can't do it, I'd be fine. But it says, the way I read that is if they can be off work and we don't have to pay money back from the general fund for them being off of work, that's the wait read to me.