Board of Supervisors — 2021-09-14

Good morning. I'll call to order the September 14th, 2021 meeting in the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk please call the roll.

Chair Nelson and members of the board, I have a couple of quick announcements today. I would like to remind the public that the Board of Supervisor meetings are being interpreted and broadcast live in Spanish. We're broadcasting our meetings in Spanish both for Cox Cable subscribers in South County as well as Comcast Cable subscribers in North County. Members of the public can now view our meetings in Spanish by turning on the secondary audio programming also known as SAP under their language settings.

Lastly, I would like to remind the public who are participating in our meeting today of the board's updated methods of public participation. For the Board of Supervisors' methods of public participation and to provide public comment on general public comment or an item on the board's agenda please see page two of the agenda. Members of the public can now attend meetings in person in both the Santa Maria Board Hearing Room Chambers as well as the Santa Barbara Board Hearing Room Chambers.

Please note on September 5th, 2021 a new county health officer order went into effect requiring indoor mask usage for everyone over two years of age regardless of vaccination status. If you attend the board meeting in person, you will be required to wear a face covering or mask at all times regardless of vaccination status information regarding how to properly wear a mask has been posted throughout both locations As a friendly reminder, masks should cover your nose and mouth. Wear the mask from the bridge of your nose to all the way under your chin.

Tighten any loops or ties so that the mask is snug. If you do not have a mask that fits properly we will provide you with one. Individuals that would like to provide verbal public comment virtually may do so via Zoom by registering in advance via the link available on page 2 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing important information about joining the virtual meeting.

Once the chair has announced the item you want to comment on please join the meeting with the information provided in the registration confirmation email. You'll be placed on mute until it is your turn to speak. The clerk will call you by name when removed from mute you will hear a notification that your line has been unmuted If you are using a touch tone phone, you may need to press star six to unmute yourself.

Each person may address the board for up to three minutes at the discretion of the chair. If you have any questions please contact the clerk of the board's office at 805-568-2240 and that concludes my announcements for today.

Thank You Madam Clerk.

No reports this morning Chair

All right, next item is approval of the administrative agenda. Do any board members request to pull any item on the administrative agenda?

Chair Nelson and members of the board, administrative item number 26 is sponsored by Supervisor Hart. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of September 2021 as Suicide Prevention Month in Santa Barbara County. Joining us today in person is Pam Fisher and joining us through Zoom are Victoria Andre King and Gina Carvalho. Pam if you can please make your way to the podium I will go ahead and read the resolution into the record now.

Whereas this resolution recognizes suicide as a national and statewide public mental health problem, and suicide prevention as a national and statewide responsibility. And designates the month of September as National Suicide Prevention Month in Santa Barbara County. This month overlaps World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10th recognized internationally and supported by the World Health Organization.

And whereas the impact of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on many, leaving feelings of isolation loneliness economic impact and job loss and depression which greatly impact the mental health of people and thoughts leading to suicide. And, whereas in our country suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 to 34 year olds and is the tenth leading cause of death for people of all ages.

And whereas each person's death by suicide exposes at least 147 other people with over 6.9 million newly bereaved each year. In 2019, 4,436 residents of California died by suicide and several thousand friends and family members were changed forever by losing those people. And whereas the Board of Supervisors who are dedicated to reducing the frequency of suicide attempts and death And the pain for those affected by suicide deaths. Through research projects, educational programs, intervention services and bereavement services urges that all Californians one, recognize suicide as a significant public health problem in California and declare suicide prevention a statewide priority. And two support the development of accessible behavioral health services for all regions of our county.

Implementing national best practices in reducing suicide risk for people of all ages and backgrounds. And three, acknowledge that no single suicide prevention effort will be sufficient or appropriate for all populations or communities. And four, encourage initiatives based on the goals and activities contained in the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Zero Suicide of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and The Way Forward by the Action Alliance's Suicide Attempt Survivor Task Force.

It is hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors recognizes the month of September as Suicide Prevention Month in Santa Barbara County, passed and adopted today.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Ms. Fisher? Dr. Fisher

Yes, thank you. I'd like to thank Supervisor Hart for sponsoring this resolution and for members of the board for being so supportive of behavioral wellness throughout the year. Suicide prevention and early intervention is so important and specifically during these past 18 months it's just been a really difficult time as we know it and you heard all of the statistics. And so I just want to thank you for all of your support and just let you know what an honor it is to be here today to accept this resolution. Thank you All

right, thank you Miss Fisher. I also have Gina Carvalho on the line?

Yes, yes thank you. I'm here on Zoom. Chair Nelson and members of the board and Ms. Hartman thank you very much for recognizing this immense problem that we have and have had over the years and increasing with COVID We wanna just share with you that it takes a whole community, which we have all the partnerships of the mental health agencies, the governing bodies who have supported the suicide prevention efforts that we've tried to put forward. We have a tremendous amount of support and I wanna thank everyone who works so tirelessly for their mental health in our community.

I want to invite you to two events On September the 23rd, there'll be on Zoom the annual Suicide Prevention Forum conversations about suicide help and hope from four to six on September 23rd. And then the Santa Barbara Response Network is hosting its psychological first aid training which allows community members To help other community members who have been impacted by suicide or any other trauma, and that's offered on September 25th and open to all of you. And to everyone in the community so that we can help each other.

One person can help change a life and the course of our life. So I invite you all to come, and our annual suicide walk which is usually in September but because of COVID we are going to do it in May partnered with the Mental Health Fair and it'll be a larger walk with participation from the community so thank you all and I would love to share these links with people if possible. Thank you again

Thank you, Ms. Carvalho. We also have on the line Victoria Andre-King.

Yes good morning everyone and thank you Chair Nielsen and members of the board. On behalf of the Behavioral Wellness Commission as acting chair I would also like to express our appreciation of this resolution and how much it means to the community especially those who have been personally touched by suicide so thank you all so much.

Thank You Miss King. Supervisor Hart?

Yeah, I just want to thank Director Fischer for being here this morning and also the chair of the Behavioral Wellness Commission Ms. Victoria Andre-King and then Gina Carvalho for all joining us today to highlight how important it is to raise awareness about suicide. All of us you know are going through a very difficult time across the country in the world there's many mental health challenges that we're all facing and the most important part of these kind of resolutions and these days and months To recognize important health challenges like this is to raise awareness, to make all of us think a little harder about our friends and family members who may be struggling with mental challenges. And to be there for them and to also work incrementally to chip away at the historic cultural stigma that's associated with mental health and mental wellness.

We need to change that dynamic conversations about depression and mental health should be as normal And regular as any conversation about any kind of other physical ailment. There is really no difference at all, these are things that are just physical challenges that we need to work through and provide the resources and the help for people who need it. Just as though they had cancer or some other life-threatening disease.

These opportunities to focus in on that simple message, in fact, are really important to raise that awareness and reduce stigma. So thank you all for being here today And for taking this moment to recognize the contributions of everybody to this cause.

Thank you, Supervisor Hart. Supervisor

Williams?

Good morning I just want to thank all three of you for your work and for the staff and advocates that work alongside you and other course all of our board members for the Behavioral Wellness Commission. This is definitely something that individual action and individual effort can make a difference on, and how we treat our fellow human beings in the work we do and the advocacy we engage in.

I want to stress the urgency of the moment as those statistics do. There's a lot of people hurting out there, so society needs this work more

now than ever. All right. Thank you, Supervisor Williams. We've already voted and approved this item, so thank you, Ms. Fischer for joining us.

Thank you.

All right. Next item up is Administrative Item Number 27. Madam Clerk, will you please read that item into the record?

Chair Nelson and members of the board, administrative item number 27 is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman and Supervisor Nelson. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming September 2021 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County. Joining us today via Zoom is Dr. Amy Fierstein. And I will go ahead and read the resolution into the record. Whereas the American Cancer Fund for Children reports that each school day, 46 children in the US are diagnosed with pediatric or childhood cancer. A tragic disease that impacts the lives of approximately 15,780 children and the families and friends who love them.

And whereas one in five children in our country will tragically lose their battle with cancer. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death from disease and the second overall leading cause of death for children in the US. And whereas, studies have shown that 95% of survivors of childhood cancer have chronic health problems and 80% will have severe or life-threatening conditions due to complications from cancer related medical treatment by the time they are 45.

And whereas the cause of most childhood cancers are unknown. While genetic and environmental factors contribute, it is difficult to determine cause making research to develop effective prevention and treatments crucial. Community awareness and financial support are essential for families that are affected by childhood cancer, as out-of-pocket medical costs typically exceed $10,000 annually for treatment. And also require frequent hospital stays and extended parental absences from work to care for a sick child.

And also has a significant emotional toll on children and families. Local hospitals such as Cottage Children's Medical Center collaborate with non-profit organizations like the American Cancer Fund for Children, Inc. and Kids Cancer Connection, Inc., to provide comprehensive support to children and families undergoing pediatric cancer treatment. Now, therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors proclaims September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County and recognizes the human toll of childhood cancer and encourages residents to support children and families in our community who are affected by this disease passed and adopted today.

Thank you. I believe we have Dr. Feinstein available

Yes, thank you so much for having me today. First I'd like to just say thank you to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for your support it for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It really means a lot to the families we work with to know that the government cares about them. Sometimes these families feel very alone and the more support they have from their communities and at the governmental level really means a lot.

Raising awareness about childhood cancer leads to further advances in treatment and additional resources for these families, which is very important after hearing the resolution that a lot of these families need this additional support. These children and families are some of the most brave, courageous and determined people I've ever met. And these are things we should all strive to be even when we're not facing additional medical challenges.

So especially in times like these when We're all facing additional challenges from COVID, from the way the world is right now. It's nice to know that people care about these children and families and that you care so I just wanted to say thank you again.

And thank you for all your work in this. When I was a girl, I volunteered as candy striper at the City of Hope where my mother worked caring for children with cancer and so I know the emotional toll it takes on caretakers and dealing with families and I think that support for them and the children is really critical. So thank you for drawing that to our attention.

Thank you.

Childhood cancer has touched the lives of many in our community and it's touched home in the 4th District. We obviously had one of our staff members a few years ago have her daughter pass away from cancer, and the cancer awareness that came from that was a powerful movement in our community And I just wanted to take an opportunity to recognize the Lexi Brown Foundation and the work that they do.

It's an important battle out there, and it's important that we're all working together to support these families as they go through this trials. Thank you. All right, that concludes our administrative agenda. Madam Clerk, do we have any general public comment today?

Chair Nelson and members of the board. I do have five requests to speak under general public comment today and I would just like to remind members of the public who did register to speak under general public comment via Zoom to please log in now. We will begin in Santa Barbara with Sean Mortland to be followed by Katie Mickey

Good morning, Supervisors. Thank you for allowing me to come speak to you in person. It is nice to see at least part of your faces. I can see some of the smiles through the masks and the eyes. I thought coming in here that what I was going to be talking about wasn't really pertaining to any of the agenda items after listening. And I also want to make the connection but also thank the individuals that came to raise awareness about suicide and also to raise awareness about childhood cancer. I'm very, very passionate about helping children in a number of different capacities and I won't get into that now.

But that really hit home with me. It was very near and dear. And I want to salute all of you that are behind the effort to raise awareness behind The reason I'm here today, again my name is Sean. I am here to speak on or read on behalf of Leslie Weinstock PA and this is regarding the proliferation of wireless telecommunication facilities throughout our community.

Leslie's words who should decide the regulations for the placement of small cell wireless facilities proven to adversely impact climate change health Safety, security, fire risks, property values and the environment. Should it be telecoms whose primary goal is profit? Or should it be our local elected officials who know our communities and whose primary goal is the health safety privacy security and well-being of our residents?

Passage of state bills SB-556 and AB-537 will exacerbate the unconstrained proliferation of 5G small cells. Please go online to iPetition and petition Governor Newsom to veto SB-556 and AB 537, and sign the petition. Allowing the wireless carriers to write the laws are analogous to having a big tobacco CEO be the Surgeon General. Or having a former head of Pfizer head up the FDA.

Or having Exxon, Mobil, the coal companies, Monsanto, Bayer write the laws and direct the Environmental Protection Agency. There's an obvious conflict of interest there that we can see. And I believe the same thing applies to the local ordinances protecting us. Far too many wireless facilities are too close to homes without proof of significant gap in service they lack justification. I encourage you to drive down East Valley Road between San Ysidro and Sheffield and see how many of these so-called small cells have gone up. They're multiplying like rats, and pretty soon they're going to be in every front yard.

Site developers often mislead local governments to believe that they have little or no authority to regulate the placement of wireless facilities. Congress decided to explicitly preserve local government's authority to regulate Placement construction and modification of wireless facilities local governments have prevented irresponsible placement You can stand up to the wireless carriers in closing Leslie will be sending you a 39 page federal law based analysis of the city of Santa Barbara Municipal Code last sentence this document provides a detailed review of of the legal means to deny applications and ensure smart city planning based on the Telecommunications Act. Please read the entire analysis and meet with us to discuss it. Thank you.

Thank you for your time. That is your time, thank you.

We will now go to Katie Mickey to be followed by Joshua Medrano.

Miss Mickey?

Dear County Board of Supervisors, again thank you for allowing us to meet in person to make our public comment. Over the last 18 months of public comment, Safe Technology for Santa Barbara County has shared with you the need and the legal means to set restrictions based on federal law on the placement of small cell wireless antennas. Public health is our county's priority.

I too am very moved by our suicide prevention and our children cancer treatment declarations that were proclaimed earlier Yet, are you allowed to make policy decisions on the placement of small cell wireless antennas based on biological considerations? The good news is that there are many legally defensible reasons that you can base your policy decisions on where to place these wireless antennas.

By its own emission, the FCC does not have the resources to test the radiation emissions from wireless facilities. Wireless companies are free to cause their facilities to emit any level of radiation they choose The potential danger posed to citizens due to the utter void of actual FCC oversight over radiation emission levels is exasperated by the fact that applicants seeking zoning approvals often file false FCC compliance reports.

These reports falsely claim that a proposed facility will be FCC compliant, when in reality the facility may expose members of the general public to radiation levels that exceed the FCC's limits by several hundred percent or more. The County Code as it stands has no teeth to stop the rollout of the 5G small cell wireless infrastructure within feet of residents' homes. The officials who are charged to review small cell applications hands are tied, not by the Telecommunications Act but by our own code's abdication of establishing grounds of denial for these applications.

Our officials reviewing applications can only deny these applications if we state grounds for denial up front in our county code and provide adequate training. Andrew Campanelli, a leading national telecom attorney has prepared this 39-page memorandum federal law based analysis of Santa Barbara County City Draft Ordinance for Safe Technology for Santa Barbara County. This document provides a detailed sophisticated understanding of the legal means to deny applications and ensure smart city planning based on the Telecommunications Act and our zoning laws.

In follow-up to my comment, we are emailing each of you Andrew Campanelli's federal law based analysis. Our request is that you read the analysis and we look forward to meeting with all of you to discuss amending our county code. Thank you.

Thank You Ms. McKee.

We will now go to Joshua Medrano on Zoom to be followed by Jeffrey Schwartz.

Mr. Medrano when you're ready

Good morning. Can everybody hear me OK?

We can.

Great, well good morning to all of you. Appreciate this opportunity to be in front of this esteemed board. My name is Joshua Medrano the Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council and I have the blessed opportunity to be in front of you a few weeks back with regards to a countywide CWA and much to the community's pleasure we were able to get a three and two vote I'm here today because I want to make sure that the community understands that this is not a union monopoly money grab here. What it is, it should be a community money grab.

What it does is it levels out the playing field for multiple contractors to be able to come in and give a competitive bid using Apple's apps. I think there's something lost in translation here because we're not labor executives. Our board is made up of labor officers that have worked 20 plus years to get into the position that they're in, blood sweat and tears calloused hands.

We are labor. We do represent the community. So as a reminder to that community that we serve, we are here to answer any type of questions that you may have. We're not hiding in the shadows. We're here in front of you and we're asking, we're begging, we'r e pleading for you to speak with us to get that education that you need. I want to encourage Supervisors Bob and Steve to contact us whenever you have an opportunity. We would love to sit down, have an open conversation And hey, sometimes we could agree to disagree.

But until you have all the information in front of you, let's not go jumping to conclusions and make any rash decisions. So again, we are here in support of a countywide CWA and we appreciate those of you who voted yes to move forward. And we're looking forward to educating those that need a little bit more on their plate. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Medrano.

We will now go to Jeffrey Schwartz who is our final speaker.

Can you hear me?

I would like to congratulate Supervisor Bob Nelson during the last session when he voted no on the latest measure for COVID tyranny That was a very good decision on your part and I liked what you said about it. Now for the rest of you supervisors, really it's time for you to see the writing on the wall about this. This is a quote from Carl Sagan. One of the saddest lessons of history is this.

If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us, it's simply too painful to acknowledge even to ourselves that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. You guys I think who are perpetuating this COVID scam are just following orders from your political bosses above you.

You know, I don't know if you realize how serious this scam is. But it's going to affect you at some point and your family. Now people are now dealing with these un-American and tyrannical mandates from Biden. It's just ridiculous. These edicts are hilarious, desperate and unenforceable All the power of these tyrants, all their strength is irrelevant in the face of angry men who simply say no.

There are a thousand ways to beat a bully by not giving him what he wants which is control. This isn't about the vaccines it never was. The only public health crisis now is a public mental health crisis. The people who've been broken by the COVID-9 11 terror campaigns have their own issues to work out they can be forgiven They're terror, but it's time for the grownups to talk. The children can be excused from the table. So the opposite of hysteria is needed.

Basically we're just gonna say no. We will not obey tyrannical edicts. So you can say oh well we mandate everybody take your poison shot but thousands millions are going to just go say forget it. Doctors are gonna leave the hospitals Already, bus drivers have left and kids in some counties can't get a bus ride. People are just gonna be quitting their jobs because they know that there is power in simply saying no. So whatever you try to edict is not gonna work out and people are waking up every day to this scam. So it's time for you to see the writing on the wall and stop supporting this tyrannical anti-American agenda, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Schwartz.

Chair Nelson and members of the board that was our final request to speak under general public comment.

All right thank you Madam Clerk. That concludes general public comment and the next item up is departmental item number one. Madam Clerk will you please read that item into the record?

Chair Nelson and members of the board, departmental item number one is from the county executive office. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding an update on the coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19. All right

thank you and I believe we have Dr. Doberonoso available?

Yes good morning chair Nelson and members of the board may I have my slides madam clerk next This morning's briefing will include a recap of data from our COVID-19 dashboard and a preview of hospital data for August. And also with me this morning is Dr. Stuart Comer, our Public Health Laboratory Director to answer a few questions on testing next. This is our Santa Barbara County by the numbers. We are reporting 63 new cases as of September 13th, and that is a decrease from our two week average of 117. We currently are reporting 563 active cases, and that is also a decrease from our two week average.

We are reporting a total of 40,752 cases with our current case rate at 17.1. Unfortunately we did report a new death and this individual was 18 to 29 years of age and resided in Santa Maria. We have 66 community members hospitalized currently with 18 of them in the ICU. Our county experienced a loss of 489 lives through the pandemic due to COVID-19, and lastly our testing positivity as of 9 is 5.2.

Next. This graph captures our daily case rate over the spans pandemic. As I just mentioned, our current case rate is 17.1 which is a 25% decrease from the last time I briefed your board two weeks ago and at that point on August 31st it was 22.8 so I am cautiously optimistic that we will continue to experience this downward trend in our county next Our hospital capacity slightly improved this week, from 67% hospital beds used last week to current 65.5 in use this week.

Our staff ICU beds capacity also improved this week with a 79% of staff ICU beds used last week to 69.7 in use this week. So that's about a 12% decrease in the use of staffed ICU beds.