Board of Supervisors — 2022-09-13

2022 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to order here in the Santa Barbara hearing room. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Supervisor Hart?

Here.

The next item of business is approval of the minutes from our August 30th, 2022 meeting. May I have a motion?

So moved.

Second. And any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Pass unanimously.

CEO Miyasato. Good morning board members. I have nothing to report except that there were two events held recently and I think we wanted to have a quick report on those. One is for the 50th annual Elks Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner that Supervisor Lavenino will speak to and the 9-11 Memorial. I know Chair Hartman had some comments.

Thank you, CEO Miyasato. I just wanted to highlight Supervisor Nelson and I were able to attend the 50th Annual Law Enforcement Dinner at the Elks Lodge in Santa Maria. And some of our employees were honored in front of a crowd of about 250. So those were Santa Barbara County District Attorney Alex Harrison from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.

I didn't promote Alex yet to district attorney, so sorry about that Joyce. But it is Alex Harrison also from the Sheriff's Department. Gary Wilberding who is actually going to be retiring was their honoree and the Chief Probation Officer's Department from Santa Barbara County Probation Department was Maria Story. So Elks have been doing this for 50 years. I started thinking about it when I was at the dinner and I was like my grandpa used to come to this dinner right?

Just a big shout out to all the ELKS members and also everybody in Santa Maria. I think it's important at this time when some communities are really challenged about how they look at law enforcement, that Santa Maria is still honoring those that are stepping forward and We appreciate them and the job that our county employees did, and some great stories there the other night. But I was glad to be with Bob and honor those individuals.

Well congratulations to them. On a more somber note, Ed Quay and the Teen Corps commemorated the 21st anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on our country this past Sunday and I was presented a flag for the county 50 communities nationwide were given a flag that the stripes, as you'll see in a moment, lists the names of the 2,987 individuals who perished that day. And so we'll show you the flag So this was presented to the county and it was a very, very lovely ceremony. And we also learned a lot about the teen court that sponsored this.

It is a restorative justice program for our county teenagers and they were involved in designing the ceremony and it was very touching and we heard Supervisor Hart and Supervisor Williams also give some very touching remarks And we'll get Director of Public Works Scott McAulpin, who knows exactly how to fold up the flag appropriately. Turning Madam Clerk to announcements

Chair Hartman and members of the board, I do have a couple quick announcements this morning. We received a request from Supervisor Hartman to withdraw Administrative Item 26 from the agenda today. Administrative item 26 is from Supervisor Hartman it is to approve the appointment of Breonna Gonzalez to the Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission term ending January 1st 2025. This is in the 3rd district.

We posted an addendum to today's agenda on Friday, September 9th amending the closed session agenda. The closed session agenda was amended to reflect amendments to the Conference with Real Property Negotiators Government Code Section 54956.8 And the respective supervisorial districts and the closed session agenda was amended to include an additional closed session agenda item under conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation. Paragraph 4 of subdivision D of government code section 54956.9 deciding whether to initiate civil litigation one case this amendment was posted online and has been made available to the board in the public.

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 on an item on the board's agenda please see page two of the agenda. Members of the public can attend meetings in person both in the Santa Barbara Board Hearing Room Chambers as well as the Santa Maria Board Hearing Room Chambers. Please note the board is following all local and state guidelines and are no longer requiring face coverings indoors.

If you attend the board meetings in person, you will no longer be required to wear a face covering. But please be advised that the Public Health Department is still strongly encouraging all county staff and members of the public to mask and socially distance themselves in crowded areas. I would also like to remind the public that if you require any special accommodations, please contact the Clerk of the Board to make that request preferably the Friday prior to the board meeting.

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 and the registration confirmation email.

You will 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 touchtone 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. That concludes my announcements for today.

Thank you. Turning to our administrative agenda, I have items A10 and A17. Do any other board members have items they would like to pull?

Madam Chair, A6.

All right. And Madam Clerk, any members of the public?

Chair Hartman and members of the board, we have no request from the public to speak on any items on today's administrative agenda. Thank you. Would you read A6 into the record please? Chair Hartman and members of the board, Administrative Item 6 is from the Community Services Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding the execution of a contract between the County of Santa Barbara and the California Arts Council for California Creative Corps CCC grants administration.

Thank you and Supervisor Hart.

Yeah, I just wanted to highlight this incredibly wonderful grant the Community Services Department applied to the California Arts Council for a $4.75 million grant and we're successfully granted those funds which is extraordinary and shows the tremendous work that they're doing and this is going to be able to be used throughout the county in the region and we're just very proud of the work that community services is doing to elevate

And I agree with you, Supervisor Hart. I've been extremely impressed by how countywide the arts outreach is and beyond visual arts to performing arts and expressive of different cultures within the county. So well done. Congratulations.

All right, A10. Chair Hartman and members of the board, Administrative Item 10 is from the County Executive Office. It is to consider recommendations regarding the circumstances of the existing state of emergency.

Thank you and do we have Ms. Batson today?

Yes, Paige is here. Good morning Chair Hartman and members of the board. My name is Paige Batson and I'm a Deputy Director for the Public Health Department. I want to thank you today for inviting me here today to speak to you about new COVID-19 vaccine formulations next. Okay, one of the new Novavax vaccines that are available is the new Novavax vaccine. The Novavox COVID-19 vaccine was approved under EUA emergency use authorization for individuals 12 years of age and older.

This vaccine is authorized as a two dose primary series given three to eight weeks apart. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, which are mRNA vaccine, Novavax is a protein-based vaccine. And protein based vaccines have been around for decades and include vaccines to prevent hepatitis and shingles. It's important to know that this new Novavax vaccine is not a booster at this time.

Next. So the Pfizer and Moderna booster bivalent COVID-19 vaccines include mRNA from the prevalent BA4 and BA5 strains of SARS-CoV-2. And you've been hearing a lot about the increased transmission of BA4 and BA5, so this will help give protection with this bivalent vaccine. Important to note that monovalent mRNA vaccines are no longer authorized as boosters for people ages 12 and above.

However, children ages 5 to 11 are recommended to continue to receive their booster with the monovalent Pfizer vaccine. Next. So the Moderna and Pfizer bivalent vaccines were approved by the FDA on August 31st The Moderna was approved for 18 years and above, and the Pfizer for 12 years and above. The Western State Scientific Safety Group issued recommendations on September 3rd, and shortly thereafter on September 5th local health jurisdictions began to receive shipments.

Currently, these bivalent vaccines are available at pharmacies, FQHCs, community health centers, private providers, cottage and lawn poke hospitals. In terms of doses, we've been asked a lot about how many doses are available. In terms of federally shipped shipments that we've received, we received a total of 1900 doses of these bivalent vaccines within our health care centers. We have approximately 1000 as far as CDPH California Department of Public Health shipments. We have over 9000 doses available in our community With Novavax, we only have 400. It's based on request and at this time the request for a Novavax vaccine has been relatively low.

Next. Okay so with all these new formulations there's a lot of confusion about the timing of the vaccines what you should get etc., etc. So I am pleased to share that we actually have a very nice chart that clearly depicts the timing of the vaccine, the administration among all these new vaccines. So to the left you'll see the list of vaccines, the age, I'm sorry and then you'll see the list of vaccines and to the right you'll see the dosing. So for example if you look at 5-11 years of age Pfizer pediatric you will see That when it comes to the booster, it is the only vaccine where you can still get a booster with the monovalent vaccine for children 5-11 years of age. So it's a very simple chart to follow. It's available on our website and this particular chart has been pushed out to healthcare providers in our community directly through CDPH.

Next. So the next schedule is for children 12 years of age. Again similar as the previous chart shows individuals 12 years of age it shows the specific vaccine, the dosing timing and then you'll see that forward arrow that shows the bivalent vaccines that are only available for 12 years and up. Pfizer is available for ages 12 and above and Moderna ages 18 and above So again, no more monovalent vaccine except for children 5 to 11.

Next. And so finally this is on this last slide we're getting a lot of calls and we've been pushing out this message people want to get the new vaccine that new bivalent vaccine and essentially if you are 12 years of age and over you can get the bivalent vaccine. And the only requirement is that you wait two months after your last vaccine dose And that's it. Thank you.

Any questions?

Yeah, any questions for Miss Batson? Supervisor Lavanito and then Williams.

Thank you Paige. I think that last slide you had up was very clear and that helps a lot. Can you mismatch? I mean if you've taken the Moderna, you can take the Pfizer.

Yes for the boosters yes you could any one of them will do it and again because if you're 12. You have to be 12 years old or older for the Pfizer and 18 for the Moderna so whatever you choose.

Supervisor Williams.

Can you just explain why the monovalent booster is no longer used in other age groups?

Well, because this is they want to promote the bivalent Transmission of BA at BA four and BA five. So they're just removing it and they want, it's just the new vaccine for added protection.

In the past, we've kind of wanted people who aren't sensitive populations to hold off. I get a sense for how many available appointments there are and how much supplies 9000 are out there that anybody should come forward no matter what their demographic if they desire a booster.

That's correct. We are not anticipating any shortages in vaccine, although we did receive a notice from CDPH yesterday at noon that CDC will be delaying additional doses of Moderna for awhile so they're encouraging us to use the Pfizer but we're really trying to push that bivalent vaccine for the added protection for variants BA4 and 5

And Paige, I have two questions. The Novavax, could you describe that? It's my understanding that it's traditional kind of immunization so people who may have been concerned about the newer approach used by Moderna and Pfizer might be their anxieties might be allayed by this new vaccine. Could you talk about that?

Yeah, and that's true because we have other vaccines as I mentioned for hepatitis. They've been we give them to children. We give him two adults. As you know with shingles anybody 60 years and above the issue we really anticipated that this was going to be. We were going to see a huge uptick on this as a lot of our community they were afraid of the MRNA vaccine. We have not seen that and really as far Very much like other vaccines, a sore arm, maybe a low-grade fever. So we're not really sure why the low uptake on this vaccine.

Statewide my understanding from the various calls I've been to, the uptake is still pretty low so I'm not sure.

And is it time for flu shots?

Yes, flu shots are already available and they're available throughout. You can find them at pharmacies. We have them so we're obviously with flu season we're going to encourage everybody to get vaccinated because We really don't know what will happen if we'll see an uptick in COVID cases, although right now we're seeing a slight decrease. We're not seeing increase in hospitalizations or increase in deaths but with flu it's going to be at least for us and public health and for the healthcare community with individuals coming with very similar symptoms to be able to discern You know, if it's COVID or flu. So we're going to be strongly encouraging in our influenza campaign for people to get vaccinated.

And could you talk about shingles since you mentioned it?

Well there's a vaccine available. It's it's it's a two dose vaccine and we just encourage individuals to get it because if anybody has ever seen a person with shingles, it's not comfortable. It's very painful and while the vaccine itself can kind of slow you down for an afternoon or maybe a day, it is widely available.

And is there an age?

It's 60 and up. Okay, thank you so much for being here. And let me correct that Chair Hartman it's 50 and up. 50 years of age and up

Thank you very much. Doctors don't always tell people and it can be a very painful awful disease that has lingering side effects. So...

And we encourage that our immunization program really pushes that Thank you so much. You've cleared up a lot of my confusion. Well, thank you. Pleasure to be here.

A

17. I'm sorry, Mr Light. Yeah, sorry about that. Thank you. Thank you for the update from public health. I just want to take a little bit different direction on this item. You know over the last two years I've taken some voted for this items. I voted against this item in part early on. I voted against this item because You know, let the public know that we're not in the same level of emergency that we were early on in the pandemic and that we're moving to an endemic phase.

Later on I voted for this item in part because throughout the pandemic we've seen that technology has changed and we can have meetings in different ways. And so this item is not necessarily about the state of emergency but it's about our board being able to take advantage of the state of emergency. And I don't mean in a bad way but in a way to make it easier for us to participate in remote meetings That said, I've been watching state legislature and hoping that they would bring about legislation this last term to address that and update the Brown Act. And they didn't. And so since they didn't do that, I can no longer support this item.

I don't like the Brown Act the way it is right now. I hope it does change. I hope our next legislature really takes this up. I think it's a really serious issue on public participation, but I don't feel like I can continue to support this item using the state of emergency as justification for that we are we've moved from a pandemic to an endemic We have a lot of great resources. We know a lot more than we did two years ago and And so just as far as I'm you know and I don't you know disrespecting others votes in a different direction on this but just for myself, I can't support this item. So I'd hope that we could have a roll call vote on this.

We will indeed Supervisor Williams.

Yeah I mean for similar reasons, I support it. Which is that you know this language asks us to make and re-evaluate the current state of the pandemic and the current state of the pandemic is that There's still a lot of loss of productivity, a lot of infection. And if our boards and commissions can meet remotely and reduce the amount of infections taking place in the community but also maybe more self-interestedly be more productive on the county business then I find there to be adequate reason to support this.

Thank you. And I agree, Supervisor Williams. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll on this item? Public comment, I guess.

Madam Chair, members of the board, we have no request to speak on this item. Madam Chair, do we have a motion for that

item? Yes.

I will move the item.

And I will second and Supervisor Hart, your light is on.

Just in anticipation of the roll call

vote. Oh okay so we now have a motion and a second and let's have the roll call. Supervisor

Motion passes four to one. Thank you

Madam Clerk A 17

Chair Hartman and members of the board, Administrative Item 17 is from the Public Works Department Board of Directors and Water Agency. It is to consider recommendations regarding the Santa Barbara County 2022's Groundwater Basin Summary Report

Thank you. I asked for this, for Public Works to be available to answer some questions about this. We are not just in a COVID emergency but we're in a drought emergency and people have been describing this not just as a drought but a mega drought and now it's being described as a giga drought so the question in my mind is what more can the county do particularly using and treating wastewater for indirect potable reuse, and then recharging it into the groundwater. So I have some questions for Public Works. And the first is could we develop a study perhaps as a supplement to the 2015 Alternative Water Supply Report? Would it be of value to study the wastewater producers throughout our county and assess what we have and what the opportunities might be?

Either Marty or Matt.

Chair Hartman and members of the Board. Yes, absolutely. So our 2015 Long-Term Supplemental Water Supply Alternatives Report looks at a number of different water supply alternatives throughout the county. It does look at direct potable reuse and direct nonpotable reuse. And

you might define those for people who aren't sure about that?

Absolutely. So direct potable reuse is where you treat wastewater and serve it directly to customers. Direct non-potable use is something like the recent Waller Park project where you treat wastewater and use it to irrigate the landscape in lieu of using groundwater or potable water. Indirect potable reuse is where you treat wastewater and you can inject it into the subsurface, let it sit there for a certain buffer time and then pull it back out and serve it to customers directly. And so that is one gap in our 2015 report and so certainly supplementing this report with the study of indirect potable reuse opportunities throughout the county would be very beneficial and Public Works is working towards moving that forward as we speak.

And how many wastewater treatment agencies do we have in the county?

Chair Hartman, members of the board. There are about 14 municipal wastewater treatment plants in addition to a couple others such as the Chumash Tribe and the Lompoc Prison. Of those, about eight are medium-to-large wastewater facilities that take in large volumes.

So they're independently governed and there's not really an umbrella over that would promote regional cooperation, but it's something that the county might be able to do.

Chair Hartman, members of the board, that is true. Most of them are either independent special districts or cities. Laguna County Sanitation District happens to be the one district that is under the purview with your board as that Board of Directors.

And could you describe in more detail what such a study would entail, both what you would need to bring it forward and what kinds of information more specifically you could glean?

Chair Hartman, members of the Board of Directors of the Sanitation District. The item A-18 is to specifically look at what was required. One, to treat the water till levels normally associated with indirect potable reuse. In our case we would extend the reverse osmosis to not just a portion of the flow but all the flow. The second mechanism of disinfection in addition to ultraviolet we would probably add ozone or it's called advanced oxidation And then there would need to be a means for disposing the additional brine generated. The sanitation district does have one brine disposal well, we probably need at least a second.

So physically those are the additional levels of treatment required. From there, we'd also have to study how to achieve indirect POVA reuse whether it's shallow well recharge with a 60 day or greater, greater than 60 day extraction point Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting It'll be in service later this month, early October. But the plan is that in the high time or high demand use such as in the summer they could use two-thirds of the volume of that in a day so it would fill as available in combination with other recycled water users.

So to answer your question, it would turn around every couple of days in the high time

So in other words, we're producing an enormous amount of wastewater that isn't always being used either through purple pipes. It's just being discharged. That was a purple pipe kind of application right?

That's correct, Chair Hartman and members of the Board of Directors. The Purple Pipe project is one of the bigger ones. We do have others. We do irrigate food crops at the airport district and then any water not used does get reused on district property for cattle pasture but Purple Pipe is one of the more customary ways to recharge but other agencies especially the really large ones have been doing groundwater injection such as Orange County Sanitation District for a very long time now and then re-extracting it

Thank you, so I see some other lights but I'll just say that what I would really like to do is give direction to our water agency to work with the other wastewater agencies and develop a report with some options and bring it back to the board. And we'll go to Supervisor Hart and then Williams but maybe you could talk about what the budget, what that would require from us.

Supervisor Hart?

I wholeheartedly support this direction and appreciate Chair Hartman bringing it up. One of the other things I noticed in looking through the report is that I think almost every basin that's being measured with the exception Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're not being used because of the existence of the desalination plant in the city of Santa Barbara. I think that's really important in looking at this regional context, that there's a unique asset in our water portfolio that is only benefiting those jurisdictions but it's a significant change in the trend that's going on everywhere else and I think that's something we need to always be cognizant of, that there is a very large permitted I'm going to start by saying thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

important to remember and recognize and I think congratulate the City of Santa Barbara for creating because it helps diversify our water supplies and gives an opportunity for the groundwater basin to rest even during a drought that we're experiencing where every other Basin is having to be hit very hard to maintain flow

Supervisor Williams

well, I For various reasons, I think this is really important for us to follow the direction that's being suggested by Supervisor Hartman to determine whether there are other opportunities for recycled water. And my examples would be even that it is superior even than the question that takes up a lot of oxygen in the room which is desalinization and is fundamentally The technology is desalinization, but it happens to be a lot easier to clean hoop water than it is to clean saltwater. It takes less energy.

You know, it's an easier process. It's cheaper and you know its been held back by sort of community acceptance because people I just have news for everybody. That water sitting on the desk over there, that has been poop water too. This has been poop water. All the water sitting on everybody's desk has been poop water at some point in the last million years. It doesn't matter what it was at one time. It matters what processes were done to make it clean enough for drinking now.

You know, and I think it's also part as Supervisor Hart alluded to a diversity of strategies in order to be more drought resilient for the future.

And Supervisor Nelson?

Yes, thank you Chair Hartman. I think the first step is to stop calling it poop water. I just embrace it. You know me, I'm a straight talker. So I'd start there. No, you know, I think that I really appreciate what the county is looking at and I appreciate Chairwoman Hartman's comments because I think we need to be taking all of the above approach to water. I mean, I think that the communities that are doing the best are ones that have the largest portfolio of different water sources. We can't rely on the State Water Project in Sacramento to save us. We really need to have some self-determination here And I think that's what we all want.

So, you know, recycled water is definitely a big part of that. I will be the first to drink the water coming from that. I'll volunteer because I do believe in technology and I think that we're heading in that direction and I'm really excited about that. You know it's not the poop water of the past so, you know, I think we were there getting back that water park project. So because we're able to pump or bring that from the recycled water I just want to lend my support for all of the above as we approach I think DESAL is a big part of that as well. And that, you know, as a community and as a county, the State Water Project was good on bringing us a pipe but now we gotta use it and I think we gotta find our own sources to stick water in it so that's where I stand on the issue.

So could you describe what this would take in terms of resources and process? When you might come back and what kind of additional direction or interaction you might need with the board

Madam Chair, members of the board. So specifically to do a high level supplement to the long-term water supply alternatives report I think we can do that within our existing Water Agency budget for this year so I don't think that we need further direction on that and I think that obviously we need to go out and talk to consultants and figure out what they can do but I think probably early next calendar year we should be able to bring you a supplemental report for your review in further direction

Terrific. And let me ask County Council, do we need a vote on that?

Madam Chair, members of the board I was just thinking you know Brown Act wise where we're at and I was concerned about if we had to add funding but we don't there may be a contract that needs to return to you for the consultant and you would vote on it then I think it's up to you whether you want it. I think addressing the groundwater basin, I think it's appropriate within this item to go ahead and direct staff to do the study since its existing funding but they would come back with a contract for another vote.

Okay so we don't absolutely need a motion but I think there is clear direction on the board. All right, well thank you very much. And Supervisor Nelson agreed to be my Brown Act partner on this and if there's anything we can do to support your efforts working with the wastewater districts, we're very pleased to do that. Thank you. So that was the final administrative item on our agenda. So I would like a motion to approve the balance of the agenda and accept that we're, which item were we withdrawing?

Supervisor Hartman, I'll make a motion to approve the administrative agenda with exception of A10 and the item that was being withdrawn

A26.

Thank you

thank you for tracking that all right all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Passes unanimously so turning to Administrative Item number 31 Madam Clerk

Chair Hartman and members of the Board, Administrative Item 31 is sponsored by Supervisor Williams and Supervisor Labanino. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming September 15th, 2022 through October 15th, 2022 as Hispanic Heritage Month in Santa Barbara County. Joining us in person we have Jacqueline Inda Natalie and Caroline Alcron, Suzanne Requejo, Daniela Aguirre, Elisa Gullan, Lily Munoz. And joining us via Zoom we have Leah Ortega and Marissa Flores.

And I will now read the resolution into the record. Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to recognize the significant contributions and achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans who serve our nation in business, government, the military law, education, science, athletics, the arts, and many other fields. And whereas according to the US Census Bureau of July 1st 2021 62.1 million people or 18.9% of the population are of Hispanic or Latino in origin Representing a significant increase from 2000, which registered Hispanic population at 35.3 million or 13% of the US total population and whereas in California Latinos are now the largest ethnic group and are projected to be a full majority by mid-century And whereas in 1968 President Lyndon B.

Johnson and Congress celebrated the contributions of Hispanic Americans by officially proclaiming the week of September 15th as Hispanic Heritage Week, then expanded it under President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to its current month-long recognition. And whereas the theme for 2022 Unidos, inclusivity for our stronger nation. This theme reinforces the need to ensure diverse voices and perspectives are welcome in decision making processes, thereby helping to build stronger communities a stronger nation and also reminds us that we are stronger together.

And whereas this month is a celebration of the significant contributions of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture and their achievement in the United States. This includes commitments to education, economic innovation and development, social justice, military service and culturally diverse communities. And whereas Hispanic and Latino Americans have had a long history of leading movements for justice and equity. And are now actively participating in serving our communities during COVID-19 pandemic as teachers, business owners, scientists, soldiers, farm workers, first responders, artists, activists, colleagues and many other professions.

And whereas we honor the resilience and commitment of the Hispanic and Latino American communities as they work towards a brighter future for all residents of Santa Barbara County. And now, therefore be it and it is hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors declares September 15th through October 15th 2022 as Hispanic Heritage Month in Santa Barbara County and calls for all residents of our community to join in supporting any activities that will occur in a manner appropriate with COVID-19 regulations Passed and adopted today.

Supervisor Williams?

Well I want to make sure there's plenty of time for our receivers to be able to speak but I also want to make sure that our Comments are not just the positive and the things that are universal in thought. Maybe I would say that we need to sometimes go beyond the vanilla to the carne of the matter, and that is that we all love Hispanic heritage in our communities. We love the culture. We love the food. We love our neighbors.

But it is a culture that is very much under economic threat. We are seeing widespread demographic change on the west side, the east side and in parts of Carpinteria where people are being priced out of rentals and for sale housing And I hope that as we celebrate Hispanic heritage, that we redouble our efforts to look at our housing policy in order to make sure that we don't end up in the same way.

That we treat our Asian American population and black American population in Santa Barbara where we love the culture, we celebrate their history but The majority of both those populations are no longer here because we priced them out and exiled them. So it is my hope and deep commitment that we redouble our efforts so that the same does not happen to Latino Americans in our community.

Supervisor Lavanina?

Thank you, and my district is now 77% Hispanic It moved up a couple of percentages. I think anybody that lives in the City of Santa Maria knows that if you're going to enjoy the City of Santa Maria, you're going to embrace diversity and I think multicultural cities just make better places to live. You know? I think it's so exciting to go and go to all the different I'd like to welcome you all.

And so a lot of times they're not active. And the number one activity that I would encourage people in Hispanic community to do is register to vote, have your voice heard at City Hall, get involved because the power of your voice is the power of your vote and so get out there, get active in your community. We see so many people that are active in their neighborhood and their leaders in their community But we've got to stretch that out just a little bit more so that you

And Supervisor Nelson, your light was on. Okay and would you like to speak anybody?

To have these very familiar faces and to acknowledge all the amazing work that they're doing. So thank you.

Thank you.

Supervisor Hoffman, members of the board and community. My name is Jacqueline. I'm here in representation of La Casa de la Raza. La Casa has been deemed a historic building. It's a space that has developed different groups, activisms, organizations throughout the county. So talk about having a space where people have the ability to grow and think and create programming that then develops into organizations that function throughout the entire county. That's what La Casa means to not only the residents of the east side or the residents of Santa Barbara, but all of the different activism that has now branched out from the small tower when it used to be caused all the way through Pueblo that now is caused throughout the entire county. All of those different efforts come from the ability to have access.