Board of Supervisors — 2024-02-06

Good morning everybody. I'd like to call to order the February 6, 2024 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk could we get a roll call please?

Good morning Chair Lavinino my apologies but if you wouldn't mind restating the convening of the meeting we were on mute at the moment

All right, second chance. Second take, hold up. Let me get this right. Cue, go! Good morning, I'd like to call to order the February 6th 2024 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk may I get a roll call please?

Chair Lavagnino, members of the board just a friendly reminder if the makers of the motion and the second can please use their tablets.

Here we go.

Fabulous, thank you very much.

You gotta train us, this is good. Yes, throw little treats. Okay next up is Madam Clerk are there any announcements or changes to our agenda today?

Chair Lavinino and members of the board, yes I do have a few announcements this morning. We posted an addendum to the agenda to withdraw administrative item number two from the agenda. Administrative item number two is sponsored by Supervisor Williams and as a resolution in support of Amara people of Ethiopia this withdrawal can be added to the balance of the administrative agenda. Additionally we received a correction memo from the Human Resources Department regarding administrative item number 13.

Administrative Item Number 13 is regarding Social Employees International Union Local 620 Equity, the effective date in Recommendation A should be corrected to reflect February 5th 2024 and not February 6th 2024 as previously published this correction can also be added to the balance of the administrative agenda Additionally we received a request from the department to continue departmental item number one to the March 19th 2024 meeting. Departmental item number one is from the Public Works Department, it is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding reports on pavement impact studies related to utility cuts heavy vehicles refused collection trucks mass transit bus fire trucks and construction vehicles and consider options for pavement impact mitigation.

Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second. Okay so let's do this electronically. Let's see. We're waiting for it to pop up. Okay, well let's do it for the public too so all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously okay so

Good morning, Chair Lavanino and board members. This morning we are going to give you a quick update on the storm as you know we have been working in the EOC and out in the field on the impacts of the storm really since Thursday and Friday in preparation and today we have Under Sheriff Bonner on Zoom, Chief Hartwig, Chris Nedden and Walter Rubel-Cava from Public Works, Kirk Lougerquist from General Services and Kelly Hubbard from the Office of Emergency Management. And I first want to say thank you to all our staff and all the staff from the cities who helped in this effort. We're a strong county because we have such great collaboration among our staff and with our partners, and so with that is Under Sheriff Bonner will begin the presentation on Zoom.

Good morning Chair Labadino and Supervisors In collaboration with our multidisciplinary partners within the Storm Risk Decision Team, we heeded the warnings from the National Weather Service which called for four to six inches of rain across Santa Barbara County and eight to twelve inches of rain across the mountains above South County. Amounts that were likely to have significant life safety dangers as such we called for evacuation warnings that were subsequently turned into evacuation orders shortly prior to the storm coming ashore.

Sheriff's deputies, search and rescue and Santa Barbara PD officers went door-to-door providing notifications within the areas impacted by the evacuation orders. A total of 506 properties were within the evacuation order areas 428 of which were within the unincorporated areas and 78 were within the city of Santa Barbara The evacuation orders went into effect at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and during the ensuing 36 hours our county experienced widespread moderate issues associated with the rainfall including localized flooding down trees and power lines all of which affected traffic safety and caused power outages however Quite frankly, fortunately we did not experience the loss of life or serious injury specifically associated with the storm.

We were prepared for the worst which fortunately for our communities shifted 100 miles south and spared us from the significant life safety impacts that we saw in Los Angeles and Orange County. The evacuation orders were lifted at noon on Monday, just as soon as our multidisciplinary team and their crews were able to confirm that the evacuated areas were safe to repopulate.

And that is the end of my report and I believe Fire Chief Hartwig will be sharing some additional information with us.

Well, quick comments related to the fire district response and the type three incident management team. We activated the Type 3 Incident Management Team countywide team. It was activated for 48 hours and we also applied with Cal OES for prepositioning funding for resources to be staged throughout the county north central and south. Projecting that with this storm we would be isolated in some manner.

We as Chief Bonner said, I think we skated or under Sheriff Bonner we skated on this and a lot of that is due to the public's heeding of the warning just a couple quick stats for you We had one air rescue right before the storm out on the islands. It was a rescue of a sick hiker with the air support unit, a couple of requests for an airship for traffic collisions that we were unable to fill because of the weather and they were transported by ground. I don't have any information on the outcome of that I'd like to And I think one of the things we don't talk a lot about is live wires down, and a lot of them in this storm because of the winds. And no serious injury or loss of life.

Good morning, Chris and with public works on the. The public works infrastructure so similar theme for this short version is there's a lot of minor damage and some desalting work to do we don't have major damage or long-term damage at this time that's been reported. Working north to south As was mentioned there's a lot of wind in the north and central County so we had a lot of Pete trees and power lines that were down.

That should all be from a roads perspective all that work should be cleaned up and dealt with by the end of today. Hallama Road is currently closed they're doing some additional cleanup work up there today, but it should be open by the end of the day today Thank you very much. In the South Coast there was some localized flooding as is mentioned we're working on some repairs that see in a Gators Creek to a piece of channel lining that needed repair and we're we're don't desalting atascadero Creek at war drive. So we're communicating with the city of Goleta and UCSB about beach nourishment once I materials dried off out enough to move And then the South Coast basins have various levels of fullness. They they still have a lot of capacity left in them, but we're waiting for the waters to recede to get The current estimated cost for response damage desalting and repairs is about 5 million dollars will be refining that number as we get more assessments of the water levels recede and we get more information about what needs to be done.

But we also really appreciate the proclamation because that allows us to expedite the work that we need to do to get everything back in order. So thank you.

Good morning Kirklard Equest General Services from county facilities perspective we actually fared quite well. We took a lot of lessons learned from the December 21st rain event and our facilities maintenance team was out in full force last week preparing and making sure that drain lines were cleared Drain spouts were away from the buildings and the only major thing we saw over the weekend was the sunken garden at the courthouse. The pump circuit breaker tripped, we were able to get that back online and had some auxiliary pumps so otherwise just a minor flood in here and there but nothing overly damaging thanks

Good morning Chair and Supervisors. Just a couple comments to close this out one I want to recognize State Department of Water Resources flood fight division they really stepped up when I called and asked for resources for the Guadalupe area and we now have a pre-stage container materials should we have any issues with And we're going to be working with the city of Santa Maria and the city of Santa Maria I also want to thank all of our staff and our departments who came out and worked. I know it's hard to bring in staff on weekends and in bad weather, and they were responsive and supportive. We had many agencies who were responsive and supportive. National Weather Service flew someone down to be in our office.

We had Caltrans was there very helpful to have them right there in person. And so it was a great response and well coordinated from all of our partners A couple considerations for our community and those here in the room. We do still have a flood watch in South County until 4 p.m.. Today, and so just be cognizant that we may still have some showers and rain coming through We have a winter weather advisory in our interior mountains as well So just some of our interior areas may have some extreme cold even snow in those upper mountain areas And in Quyama may have some cold Times in the next day or so We are working on initial damage estimates from all of our community and agencies. So we're collecting information on how much damage is not just from our public works in our own facilities but from all of our member, all the agencies in the county.

And then we are asking that our community that if they have damages to report those at ReadySBC there's a link there. We really need to collect that information so that if we can try to appeal for any state or federal assistance for our community members. So far, we have about 35 reports from the community on damages. We know there's a little bit more than that but it's not quite enough at this point to meet the threshold request for any federal assistance for our community members.

We are putting up a recovery information page today. There's I think already some information published, but at ReadySBC there will be recovery information for our community on what resources are available. We'll be reaching out to our nonprofit partners about what might be available for our community members who may need assistance and I think with that that's all I have this morning unless there's questions.

Thank you Kelly. Any questions from board members? Yes, just a question on one of the previous stats. So the storm 13 months ago I seem to remember just between the City of Santa Barbara and the County we had Over 400 calls for service. I don't know if I heard the chief say that we only had 82 in this incident and you do credit a significant part of that as people staying off the roads, etc.?

How's that? Good. Supervisors. Through the chair, yeah we had in a 124 hour period 82 just for lines down and public assist. We had relatively few rescues and that just means there were a lot fewer people on the road so we do credit that to people who took seriously as Under Sheriff Bonner says. It is a little misleading because you can double that typically county wide so county fire is about half the call volume.

Thanks, that helps me.

Supervisor Nielsen? Yes. Excuse me, thank you Chair Lavinino. My question is for the Sheriff's Department. I've got a lot of feedback from constituents in North County about the closing of schools and what came into that decision-making process and to make their recommendation. I know a lot of our school districts felt between a rock and a hard place on whether they should close once the sheriff made their recommendation and it turned out to be a bright shiny day at those times when It would have been school hours Monday. So I was curious on what went into that and how we might look into that in the future. In the Santa Maria Valley alone, there's over a million instructional minutes lost and hundreds of thousands dollars of lost wages for parents who had to stay home instead of going to work to take care of their kids.

So it does have significant impact so I want to know a little bit more about what went into that decision making process.

Thank you, Supervisor Nelson through the Chair. So that decision was not taken lightly. Ultimately Sheriff Brown had a direct conversation with Superintendent Salcedo discussing what appeared to be coming our way i.e., those higher rain amounts that were quite frankly double what we ultimately ended up with And the significant life safety issues that would occur if people were out on the roadways moving around, if we in fact received what we were supposed to receive. And again, the only thing we need to look toward is what has happened in Los Angeles County and Orange County to understand what we were supposed to receive.

And it was only after that discussion with Sheriff Brown and Superintendent Salcedo that they decided it was prudent To push that information out to the individual superintendents who ultimately had their own decision as to whether or not they were going to take school out of session. And they did the wise thing and essentially took Precautionary measures to ensure our communities were safe and our students were safe. And again, look to Los Angeles County and Orange County to understand what we were supposed to receive. And it truly was the right thing to do.

Supervisor Kaps.

Thank you. Well, what a relief today I was anticipating. I think we all were a much different conversation this Tuesday morning. So thank you to all the first responders that adage an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is true today because, and I know we're not out of the woods and that's the nature of my question that's coming. But I just want to also thank the public for really taking the warning from the National Weather Service so incredibly seriously. I was at the sandbag place for a little while of the county and the line was about 45 minutes long. I talked to a gentleman who had been making the rounds trying to get extra bags from Home Depot because a city site had ran out Home Depot apparently donated and heard another story of other people just bringing them back for their neighbors.

Just really a lot of good, good prevention out there and people really staying off the road it was very evident so that's what we need to do come together and help each other out like that. My question I think is for the Chief because what can we expect now? I know we're not out of the woods and I'm particularly focused on Bluff safety, knowing that I think Shoreline Park which is in the city had some trouble already. What can people especially those of us like myself who are anxious to get back out on the trails go for a walk near the beach what should we be worried about in terms of bluff and potentially trees that still could be a danger?

Supervisor through the chair if I could. In fact, the Elwood specifically because of the trees and the bluffs not being inspected very well yet are closed. And so even if they're not closed I would say stay away from the bluffs until they're inspected we are working with some of our county partners to get drones up to make sure we're inspecting the bluffs and then there are arborists out in some of the areas that lost trees and downed trees to check some of those stands that were especially weakened. I would say a combination of both saturation and very high

winds. Thank you for that, is there a time frame when, I know you can't predict exactly but How heavy are the bluffs, how heavy are the trees and how long is there an imminent threat to that?

Yeah I would assume right now there is an imminent threat until it's proven otherwise. So stay away from underneath trees specifically throughout every neighborhood as we drove around we could see trees down some just completely uprooted not branches falling down so I would assume It is unsafe to be walking under trees or around the bluffs until they're inspected and taken care of. And I know Public Works is out with some of the trees in the county areas specifically.

Thank you, and finally I heard in Isla Vista specifically there might be drone monitoring to make sure that those bluffs are stable, is that right?

Yeah we're working with some of our CSD partners and then our other county partners to make And of course the ASU is up doing some reconnaissance as well, but some of the areas along the drones to make sure we get really good information.

Thank you Chief and again thank you to all the first responders and to all the staff who aren't here in this room I appreciate all of the work that went in over the weekend

Supervisor Williams. And that's all the bluffs, right? That's Summerland, Moore Mesa, you know not just Elwood correct and we're talking about trees whether or not they are close to the bluffs because we still have saturation all over the county.

I think the three deaths I read about supervisor through the chair were people who were struck by falling trees. I just want to add to my colleague Supervisor Caps remarks of thanks is the thanks of having

sort of the courage for preparation and I mean both to staff up, have fiscal courage to ask for help, to spend money that you don't know whether or not you're going to get reimbursed. That's very difficult to do right because you hope that we'll get reimbursal and I just want to appreciate that on all of maybe all four branches of this response.

Excellent, thank you very much for that in-depth report. Appreciate it. Anything else? CEO Miyasato.

That concludes our report, thank you. Okay,

excellent. So the next item of business are the resolutions to be presented. I'll now entertain a motion to approve those resolutions which are administrative items numbers one, three, four and five.

So moved.

Chair Lavanino and members of the board, Administrative Item Number One is sponsored by Supervisor Lavanino. It is to adopt a resolution of accommodation honoring Michelle Perez Ibarra of the Probation Department as the February 2024 Employee of the Month in Santa Barbara County. And joining us in person today, we have Michelle Perez Ibarra And Holly Benton.

And I will go ahead and read the resolution into the record, whereas Michelle Perez-Ibarra exemplifies the county's organizational values of accountability, customer focus, equity and inclusion, innovation, trust and ethics. And whereas Michelle Perez- Ibarra models the transformative behaviors of collaborative problem solving alignment with the county's vision risk taking data driven decision making and strategic thinking And whereas Michelle has served the department commendably, is always approachable, undertakes assignments enthusiastically and provides exceptional customer service as a team member on all projects big or small.

She has played an integral role in the remodel projects at the Juvenile Justice Center. She submits facility work orders upon request and provide status updates to the administrative team. She consistently assists her colleagues due to recent staff shortages in the institution She jumped in to support the administrative team on numerous additional duties. Michelle supervises eight AOPs and is always willing to jump in and assist anywhere she is needed, as well as training support staff on the operations of the Juvenile Justice Center's Master Control Room MCR. She places a high value on security at facilities and ensures that training is conducted accurately and is thorough in her inspection.

Instruction, excuse me. She is the juvenile court liaison and is responsible for the retrieval of minute orders for juvenile case proceedings. And whereas Michelle coordinates reporting requirements for the Board of State Community Corrections, BSCC, and assistant preparing of inspections for the Santa Maria Juvenile Justice Center and the Los Prietas Boys Camp. She has a keen eye for detail and asks questions or points out inconsistencies to ensure the department shines in each inspection. She's responsible for the submission of statistical reports for federal and state reporting, submitting facilities work orders and other materials for the administrative team.

And whereas Michelle is strongly committed to her family and spends much of her non-working hours with her two sons Lawson and Travis who is actively serving in the United States Air Force. She is also dedicated to helping family and friends whenever a need arises. In her downtime, Michelle enjoys traveling and organizing social events as a board member of the Mexican Ladies Social Club. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors recognizes Michelle Perez Ibarra as the Employee of the Month for February 2024 passed and adopted today.

Chair Lavagnino and supervisors it is my pleasure to introduce Michelle Perez-Ubarra to you today. She is as you heard currently assigned to our Juvenile Justice Center and through her daily actions it's clear she's committed to the success and the well being of the community she serves and the team she works with. She's a leader who leads by example encouraging those around her to work as a team and she promotes collaboration beyond each staff's immediate scope of responsibility She's currently part of the planning effort for Cal AIM, a program which will ensure every youth in the Juvenile Justice Center is provided mental health and other services prior to and after their release. She has been proactive in brainstorming ideas for the successful implementation of this initiative and in conducting research and gathering data for her team.

Perhaps most importantly it has been noted that at busy times in the facility you will often find her simultaneously performing multiple duties always with a smile on her face. She finds time to volunteer in her community giving service to the American Cancer Society St. Mary's School and as a Saint Joseph's High School alumni she provides volunteer services to its events.

Her optimism teamwork and proactive approach to every task presented to her exemplify the county's vision for one county one future. Congratulations Michelle.

Thank you to the board, thank you Chief Benton and thank you to the probation executive team and my fellow co-workers. I am truly honored and I appreciate the recognition. I'm blessed to work with the best and I truly love what I do so thank you. All

right that takes us to administrative item number three.

Chair Lavinino and members of the board, administrative item number three is sponsored by Supervisor Capps. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of February 2024 as Black History Month in Santa Barbara County. And joining us in person today we have Diane Travis-Teak. If you can please come to the podium and I will go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas the 2024 Santa Barbara County theme is black history more than a month whereas we honor Carter G Woodson who established Negro History Week in 1926 His intention was to bring to the public's attention two often overlooked important developments by African-Americans that merit emphasis, education and understanding. And whereas the 2024 theme reflects still the need to call attention to these merits but extend beyond just 29 days this year and how peoples that identify in the African diaspora in the United States and in Santa Barbara County celebrate their history and culture year round. And whereas Black History is a thread and connects us all, and locally we are grateful to key figures who helped make our region stronger.

Individuals like Horace McMillan, Anita McKay, Valencia Nelson, Babatunde Foleyemi, William Downie, Grover C. Barnes, and the late Sojourner Kincaid Roll. Contributions help to shape and make communities healthier. And whereas Black History continues in the present as multi-generational efforts have been nurtured from Martin Luther King Jr., Santa Barbara Committee, Endowment for Youth Committee, NAACP, Gateway Educational Services, Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals, Healing Justice Santa Barbara. Juneteenth Santa Barbara and other amazing organizations taking up the mantle to continue the love and support for community year round.

And whereas the national theme in African-Americans and the arts, African Americans' Arts have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment. Artistic and cultural movements such as The New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, Hip Hop and Afro Futurism have been led by people of African descent And set the standard for popular trends around the world. And whereas black history is not just about the struggles black families have been through but rather it is a time of rejoicing celebrating the accomplishments integrity leadership and determination and showing true character we honor history and celebrate the progress that we have made. We are resilient and resolute in creating new opportunities for future generations now therefore be it hereby ordered to resolve that this board of supervisors declares February 2024 as Black History Month and calls on all residents to acknowledge and celebrate with appropriate ceremonies and activities passed and adopted today.

Mr. Chairman, Representative Capps, members of the Board of Supervisors, good morning. African Americans have played a significant role in the history of our nation and California's economic, cultural, spiritual and political development while working tirelessly to promote equality and a greater more responsible understanding of our shared history. Today is very special, as we recognize Carter G. Woodson who established Negro History Week in 1926 and honor the many Santa Barbara Stoll Awards which included Horace McMillan, Anita Mackey, Valencia Nelson, Sojourner Kincaid Rowe and many others for their immeasurable contributions to our community This year's Santa Barbara theme is extraordinary. Black history, more than a month, speaks not just to black family struggles but also to a time of rejoicing, celebrating accomplishments, leadership, integrity, determination and character.

It is our honor to accept this proclamation alongside those Santa Barbara community members making history daily We are resilient, we are resolute and we will continue working hard to ensure new opportunities for our families, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren and our community. Thank you.

Supervisor Williams

Thank you I just wanted to thank Diane in particular. I love Black History Month and the opportunity it gives us all to reflect especially coming on the heels of Martin Luther King weekend just a couple weeks ago and where we actually get to really see the hard work that the black community in our community puts towards making our community richer and better. And when you had one phrase in the in the resolution of immeasurable contributions, and I look at Diane and so many others everywhere I go to to nonprofit events, Diana's there through hospice or Pacifica. I mean, I could go on and on. So thank you for your contributions, not just you, but but those that are your allies and here in spirit. Thank you so much.

Well I want to thank Supervisor Capps for authoring this year and to me black history is something so vital to celebrate because it is so important for American history. It is American history because African-Americans built this country both economically And in terms of innovation and in terms of values built this country through their blood, sweat and sometimes too often their tears.

So to me it's something to celebrate and it's really exciting that you highlighted this year the local personalities that we've come to know and love over the years so thank you for being here.

Thank you. Supervisor Hartman?

Well I'm sorry, I didn't realize but well I just wanted to thank Supervisor Capps as well. Although she brought it forward I think it really reflects all of our values and I'm looking forward to all the Black History Month celebrations. I hope there will be a calendar widely distributed because that's always an opportunity for a reminder because we are in the area of LaWanda Lyons Pruitt and she will let you

And she will, yes. And one of the celebrations was actually at a little plaza outside the library that's named after my father so she said this one is at Lavanino Plaza so you have no excuse to not be there. So I will definitely be there. Supervisor Nelson?

Yes, thank you Chair Lavinio. So since I have that calendar from Ms. Lyons-Pruitt it is on Saturday February 17th at 2 p.m. at Lavinino Plaza from two to four and as well as on Sunday at Grossman Gallery in Lompoc and there's also a final wrap up event at Pioneer Park on Saturday the 24th. I believe that's going from noon to five so

it's gonna be a big shindig. Thank you very much let's all get out and celebrate Black History Month. Okay, next is administrative item number four. Madam Clerk?

Chair Lavagnino and members of the board, administrative item number four is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the week of February 4th, 2024 through February 10th, 2024 as Scouts Week in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today we have Carlos Cortez, the Los Padres Council Scout Executive and CEO. I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Whereas, February 8th 2024 is the 114th birthday of Scouts BSA and February 4 through the 10th is celebrated as Scouts BSA week and whereas locally the Los Padres Council of Scouts BSA has served youth and families in Santa Barbara County for more than 100 years. And whereas the mission of Scouts BSA is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law, and where a scout law states a scout is trustworthy Loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

And whereas Scouts BSA offers scouting experience for the whole family and notably in February 2019 Scouts BSA formally adopted a policy to allow girls to participate in the organization's programs including the ability to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. And whereas Scouts BSA is committed to helping millions of youth and families succeed By providing the support, friendship and mentoring necessary to live happy and fulfilling lives. And whereas Scouts BSA requires an Eagle Scout merit badge titled Citizenship in Society which focuses on the importance of diversity equity inclusion and ethical leadership. And whereas more than 110 million people have learned scouting's lessons of patriotism courage and self-reliance since Scouts BSA founding 114 years ago.

And whereas the Los Padres Council of Scouts BSA is committed to providing exceptional service to all units within Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Now, therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors celebrates the positive impact that Scouts BSA has had on countless youth in Santa Barbara County passed and adopted today.

Thank you Supervisor Hartman for helping us with this and to the board as well for recognizing all the hard work our thousands of scouts do for our community here and have done so since 1919. Projects that include something as large as helping build a church, to something as simple as clearing a pathway or a trail after a large storm in our county. So with that, we are very thankful for all the work that our scouts had put into our community and look forward to seeing the future as we endeavor to serving more youth in the near future. As we rebuild Camp Rancho Alegre and the outdoor school which we look forward to opening here in March. And we will serve, we look forward to serving all of the sixth grade youth in our county for years to come.

And our scouts are very proud to say that they are not only part of the community but they're leaders in the community and look forward to making positive changes and involving themselves in everything positive in our county. Thank you so much for your dedication to them and to us, and we look forward to keep providing service.

Thank you so much. Supervisor Hartman?

I hope we'll all be invited to the reopening. I know that's been a labor of love and an awful lot of work to bring that back after the fire, Whittier Fire.

Yes, I'll absolutely get an invitation to that. We hope you can make it. It has been a five-year long endeavor that as you know with inflation and everything else turned into $18 million project so we're getting close to finishing that up and we do look forward to now culminating in engaging not only our community with the 6th grade outdoor school program but also opening doors to the general public to use and having access To those that typically don't have access to having access to the environment and nature and being in the outdoors with our various programs that we'll have through there as well.

Thank you for all your leadership on that effort.

Thank you so much. Outstanding, thank you.

Supervisor Williams? You know I just had an anecdote because I take my girls out backpacking and a couple years ago at the fishbowls loop I encountered, I don't think it was from your chapter but scouts out there And there were a lot of young ladies. That's part of why you changed the name nationally and I asked them, so why did you join the scouts? They had very interesting answers. So I just wanted to highlight that because getting out on the trail is great for these young ladies as well.

Outstanding.

Thank you. Thank you for being here today. All right, that takes us to our last resolution which is administrative item number five. Madam Clerk can you please read that into the record please?

Chair Lavinino and members of the board, Administrative Item Number Five is sponsored by Supervisor Nelson and Supervisor Lavinino. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming February 2024 as COMM unifies 211 Community Celebration Month in Santa Barbara County And joining us here in person today, we have Joni Kelly and Patricia Kieland. And I'll go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas the 211 Helpline is an information and referral system connecting people to free or low-cost health and human services and up-to-date incident and emergency related information through call, text, and the web. And whereas the 211 Information and Referral Program was first enacted by the Federal Communication Commission in 2000 And now covers 85% of all households nationwide. Whereas 96% of the population in the state of California has access to 211, and whereas 211 Santa Barbara County was first implemented in 2005 and is a free and confidential service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in 150 languages to every resident countywide. And whereas in November 2014 almost 10 years ago, 211 became a program of CommUnify The Santa Barbara County nonprofit, which empowers people and transforms lives through their 16 programs, which serve the community.

And whereas in 2022 2-1-1 had more than 66,123 web visits including 31,892 new users to 211santabarbaracounty.org with over 12,000 of those visits regarding COVID-19 assistance. And whereas in 2022, approximately 3,000 resources were provided to residents throughout the county by a live call specialist. And whereas in 2022, the most urgent resident needs including calls about housing, financial assistance, pandemic information, mental health and food insecurity. And whereas Communifies Energy Services will be hosting the free 2-1-1 Community Day celebration on Saturday, February 10th from 11am to 3pm at the Minami Excuse me, center in Santa Maria with over 50 nonprofit agencies, free health screenings and vaccines. Children's activities, food entertainment and more.

Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors do hereby proclaim February 2024 as 211 Community Celebration Month and acknowledges COMM unifies 10 years of serving the residents of Santa Barbara County passed and adopted today.

I am CEO for Communify. Since 2014, Communify has proudly operated the 211 Santa Barbara I want to thank the County Board of Supervisors for investing in and prioritizing this essential service. 211 Santa Barbara plays a crucial role in connecting residents with vital services and resources, particularly during times of crisis. It serves as a lifeline for individuals and families facing various challenges from basic needs like food and shelter to mental health support and disaster assistance.

The Helpline's easy to remember number provides a quick and reliable way for people to access the help they need. In the past year, 211 Santa Barbara has handled over 13,600 calls and texts as well as 250 crisis calls from Santa Barbara residents. In addition there were over 66,000 visits to the website. There are a few reasons why we believe that 2-1-1 Santa Barbara is dispensable to this community.

One, it's centralized access to resources. 2- 1-1 Santa Barbara serves as a centralized point for information making it easier for residents to navigate and access the diverse range of services available in our community. Support for Vulnerable Populations. Many vulnerable populations such as the elderly and economically disadvantaged individuals rely on 211 Helpline to connect them to essential services that help them become more stable and enhance their well-being.