Board of Supervisors — 2024-07-30

All right, good morning everybody. I'd like to call to order the July 30th 2024 special meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk can you please call the roll?

Thanks everyone good to see you. I just like to announce that I'm clearly participating remotely per AB 2449 of which allows for remote participation given this was scheduled as a special meeting and I've had plans to be elsewhere thank you

All right, thank you very much. So can I get a motion to approve Supervisor Capp's request to participate remotely under Assembly Bill 2449 the remote attendance record? So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded. Let's call a roll call please.

Motion passes.

Alright so you get to stay around Supervisor Capps Excellent.

No report this morning chair.

No report. Madam Clerk any announcements or changes to our agenda today?

Chair Lavinino and members of the board I do have one quick announcement this morning regarding 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. Individuals that would like to provide verbal public comment may do so via Zoom by registering in advance via the link available on page two. If you have any questions, please contact the clerk at the board's office at area code 805-568-2240. Again that number is 805-5682240 and that concludes my announcements for today.

Okay thank you very much.

Chair Lavinino and members of the board we have no requests from the public on the administrative

agenda. I'll now entertain a motion to approve the administrative agenda. Noah,

I think it just deserves something to be said. The 721 contract in particular all of them are important but in this realm of workers this is some of our lowest paid workers They have definitely been squeezed probably as some of our lowest paid workers. They undoubtedly have faced many challenges in the high inflation environment and, of course it's also a question of competitiveness with other jurisdictions. We want to make sure that they can continue to work for the County of Santa Barbara and so this is, this was a very interesting negotiation it's the first I've ever seen of this kind where you know essentially we insisted on larger wages to make sure that we had competitiveness with other counties and that we do right by our workers. So I think it says something about our values as a board and a county, and something to be celebrated.

All right, Supervisor Nielsen. I'm sorry.

Second the motion.

We got to second the motion and now we've got discussion. Supervisor Nielsen?

Yeah thank you. Since Supervisor Williams brought it up, you know the 4th District hasn't traditionally voted for many of these contracts but this is what I'm actually going to support today. There's a lot in this contract to be proud of as a county as we work through this There's a narrative out there that all county employees are overpaid. And while that may be true in some classifications, there's many within 721 in particular that are not overpaid and frankly are paid lower than the private sector to do similar jobs. Many of these people are also the people that are responsible for protecting some of our most vulnerable in our community including our child welfare services and others that need advanced educations to be able to get certifications needed To do these really important and essential jobs that only can be done through governance.

And so in this contract involves a lot of what we call equity adjustments, where those are places where some of our employees are underpaid significantly and that they may actually be getting raises greater than the rest of the bargaining unit. Also, many of these people in this bargaining unit are what we call post-PEPRA. So many of them are paying significantly more towards their retirement than some of their peers that have been around a little bit longer and it's different than the private sector as well where their take home is significantly lower than maybe somebody that is a peer that might not be participating in that system where our post-PEPRA employees are paying, frankly for our requirements debts of pre-PEPRA employees and others that have already been part of the system.

So again, the fourth district has not typically been someone that's approved these but I really do think this is a fair and well thought and actually a fiscally responsible contract so I'm going to be supporting the motion.

Great. Madam Clerk, Supervisor Hartman?

Yes, I just wanted to add this is a special meeting. The board was usually goes dark during this time we wanted to have a special meeting because we believe in our employees this contract if we can vote on it goes into effect sooner rather than later and the benefits of the contract therefore go into effect so I think the fact that we're all here shows that we care very much about our employees and We wanted to make that clear with our presence.

Outstanding, so can we get a roll call Madam Clerk?

Motion passes unanimously

Okay now it's time for members of the public speak on items that are not on today's agenda. Madam Clerk are there any requests to speak on general public comment

Chair Lavinino, members of the board. We do have one request to speak from the public for general public comment that also includes any public comment regarding the closed session agenda. We are going to Zoom with Carlos Escobedo. Carlos? And Carlos we have unmuted you on our end if you can unmute on your end to provide your comments

Oh,

there we go. Can

you guys hear me?

Yes we can please proceed.

Hello good morning County Supervisor Chair Lavendino and everybody. I'm Carlos Escobedo City Council Member for the city of Santa Maria representing District 1. I am here to first express that I'm happy that you guys were able to get an agreement with the contract with the SEIU Crew and also here to support the fire chiefs and the contract for the ambulance services. I know that it is a closed session item, so I don't have all the information but I hope that you guys can make it work in a legal manner and provide and give them the contract for the ambulance services because at the end of the day, the most important thing is that to have the most efficient and cost effective fire services for the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County residents.

Thank you.

Thank you with the conclude that closes out public comment, okay? With the conclusion of general public will now recess to closed session. Will county council please read the items for consideration today?

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the board. The board's scheduled to meet in closed session in conference with labor negotiators, employee organizations, all bargaining units and CEO Monomi Asato and Human Resources Director Christine Schmidt. And although this one is agendized my understanding is we will not be going forward with this one in closed session today.

We're also scheduled for existing litigation Jane Doe versus County of Santa Barbara United States District Court Central District Pacific Pipeline Company versus Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, United States District Court Central District and American Medical Response West versus the county Santa Barbara County Superior Court. And the time estimate is about an hour.

Okay

why don't we shoot to come back at 1030 then? All right, we are reconvening the meeting of July 30th 2024. Will County Council please report out from closed session?

Thank you Mr. Chair and members of the board. The board met in closed session on three items of existing litigation. Jane Doe versus the county Pacific Pipeline Company versus the County Planning Commission and American Medical Response West versus the county and the board took no reportable action.

Okay thank you very much and now turn it over to Supervisor Nelson

Yes, thank you, Chair Labadino. It's with deep sorrow that I close today's meeting in memory of my friend Con Abel Jr. Con Abel was born on June 8th 1954 in Santa Barbara. He passed away on June 23rd 2024 at the age of 70. He graduated from Dos Pueblos High School as a varsity football and baseball player. Con was sworn in as a deputy sheriff on May 1st 1975 and served for 34 years the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department.

Post in literally every substation throughout the county, Kahn took great pride in his law enforcement career. In 2008, Kahn was awarded the H Thomas Gary Award for superior performance before retiring 2009. Kahn came back to the county and worked in the clerk's office as a marriage clerk and even appeared in People's Magazine in that role. Connor was an officer and a gentleman, a dedicated husband, a friend of many, and the kind of human who graced everyone he encountered with his generous spirit. Connor was a bright light that touched so many people throughout Santa Barbara County over the 70 years that he spent living, working, enjoying the time with family and friends. Connor is survived by his loving wife Jennifer, his sister Terry, and his nieces and nephews and cousins.

A graveside burial service will be held Tuesday, August 6th at 10 a.m. at the Gleada Cemetery in lieu of flowers donations can be made in Khan's name to Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue.

Thank you. We now move to adjournment we're gonna be adjourned until Tuesday August 20th right here in Santa Barbara