Board of Supervisors — 2024-10-01

Good morning everybody. I'd like to call to order the October 1st, 2024 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk can we please call the roll?

Move approval.

Second. Madam Clerk, can we have a roll call please?

Motion passes unanimously.

Next item of business is our County CEO report

Good morning, Supervisors. I've got a few announcements today. The first one is just to congratulate and thank our budget team. The Government Finance Officers Association, GFOA has awarded the County of Santa Barbara with its Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for fiscal year 24-25. The award is given to government agencies that improve the quality of budgeting and provide excellent examples of governments throughout North America. The award recipients must satisfy nationally recognized guidelines and have a budget that successfully serves as a policy document, a financial plan, operations guide and communication device. This is the 28th consecutive year the county has received this so kudos to our budget team on continuing that tradition The second is that the county has received a $4.7 million grant from the California Energy Commission to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure, this was the second highest grant award given.

The grant requires a $2.3 million match from the county in staff time and capital investment and the funds will support the county with zero emission vehicle and advanced clean fleet transition by installing 144 level two and 36 level three charging ports at 14 locations throughout the county. The competitive grant was put together by our county's General Services Department with support from the Community Services Department and Terra Lumina Consulting. So thank you and congratulations to our General Services Department.

And speaking of general services, I just wanted to do a shout out to recognize an employee and that is John Green who was selected as a permanent promotion to the Assistant Director of Facilities, Capital & Energy. John has a real success story regarding succession management. He started in county in 1997 as a building maintenance worker in the shops. He has since worked his way up through the ranks as a project coordinator, project manager, capital division chief and is now the assistant director. John brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the general services team. And we commend him for his, we commend him and thank him for his service and wish him continued success in his new role.

John? For

over 40 years.

And my last item is the county's United Way campaign which is kicking off today and will run through the month of October. We have a short video to share with you today and then we'll be joined by this year's charitable giving chair in our Ag Commissioner Jose Chang.

For over 40 years, the County of Santa Barbara has proudly partnered with United Way helping to build stronger communities through your generosity and support. By joining the United Way campaign you help provide crucial resources to those who need it most.

United Way of Santa Barbara County operates multiple community programs from VITA a program for free tax preparation services to full scholarships for local kids to attend United Ways summer learning and enrichment program Fun in the Sun! It's fun here and there is nothing to do at home

I wish I'm fun in the sun was actually regular school. I loved it so much, especially math.

The number one goal of the United Way campaign for the county. It is 100% awareness of all of the county employees.

public comment on general public comment or an item on the board's agenda. Please see page 2 If you have any questions please contact the clerk of 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

Yes, I understand you're pulling 18. So I'd like to speak on that as well as a roll call vote on 24 and I'd like to speak on 25. What

was the last one? I'm sorry. 25 Yeah, just gonna highlight that 24 also okay.

I'd yeah I'd like to chair I'd Like to pull 22 I don't need a separate vote on it just

want to highlight it got that and I'd also like to pull 818 which is already pulled any members of the public like to discuss any items of administrative agenda

Chair Lavanino and members of the board, we have no request to speak from the public on our administrative agenda today.

Okay I'd like to now entertain a motion to approve the balance administrative agenda except for 18 22 24 and 25 and let the motion reflect also the changes that our clerk read in regarding closed session amendment the addition of 829 the continuance on 83 and the correction on 26.

So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded roll call please

Motion passes unanimously.

Okay that moves us to our resolutions to be presented at this meeting and Madam Clerk can you please read administrative item number one into the record

Chair Lavinino and members of the Board, Administrative Item number one is sponsored by Supervisor Lavinino. It is to adopt a resolution of commendation honoring the advanced revenue and tax administrative employees of the Auditor-Controller's Office as the October 2024 Employees of the Month in Santa Barbara County. And joining us in person today we have Claudia Ornelas, Andrea Labee, Erica Ruiz, Danny Forner, Josh Stewart-Oten Ariel Beltran, Marshall Bagley, Shen Liu and Lamont Grissom.

And anyone else you'd like to join us? And I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Whereas Claudia Ornelas, Andrea Labee, Erica Ruiz, Danny Forner, Josh Stewart-Otten, Ariel Beltran, Marshall Bagley, Shen Liu and Lamont Grissom are recognized for their exceptional dedication to the county as team members in the Advanced Revenue and Tax Administration, ARTA, Division of the Auditor-Controller's Office.

Relentlessly to prepare the annual property tax levy and make corrections throughout the year. To distribute property tax revenues and intergovernmental revenues to cities, special districts, school and community college districts and county departments. And whereas property tax administration and revenue distribution is a complex process with intricate and complicated rules requiring significant expertise exacting precision and continuous education. And whereas ARTA staff accurately and timely distribute over 1.2 billion per year in property taxes, and almost 300 million per year in intergovernmental revenues to nearly 80 separate local governments comprising the vast majority of funding for those entities and over 85% of county discretionary revenues.

And whereas ARTA's customers include County taxpayers, county departments, cities, special districts, school and community college districts, financial consultants, and state and federal agencies. And whereas ARTA staff aim to provide outstanding customer service with patience and a smile and therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that Claudia Ornelas Andrea Labie, Erica Ruiz, Danny Forner, Josh Stewart-Otten, Ariel Beltran, Marshall Bagley, Shen Liu, Lamont Grissom are hereby recognized as invaluable assets to the county as a whole and as individual employees passed and adopted today.

Good morning, members of the Board. My name is Ed Price and I'm the Assistant Auditor-Controller and it's truly my honor and privilege to be here today on behalf of the Audit Controller Betsy Schaefer to recognize a phenomenal group, our Advanced Revenue Tax Administration Group, ARDA for short for the Employee of the Month Award. As their name suggests this team is all about revenues but trust me what they do is much more than just numbers on a page.

Let me give you a quick glimpse of a couple of their core tasks, something they quietly handle with skill and precision year after year. Extending the property tax roll and apportioning collected tax dollars. Now extending the tax roll might sound straightforward but in reality it's an intricate process that involves serious math for every single parcel in the county we take information from the assessor multiply by the tax rate add other levies from other governments produce a tax bill for the Tax Collector's Office to collect But that job doesn't just end there. Once the tax roll is extended, the team switches and takes on a next big task and that's apportioning out those tax dollars that were collected.

Simple in theory but very complex in the actual processing. These calculations involve multiple steps and can stretch to 10 digits past the decimal point. This year ARDR will distribute over $1.3 billion to nearly 80 different local governments in our county That's real impact and that means a lot of local revenue for our county but also for schools, cities and special districts.

So why do I highlight this? Because what may seem to be a routine and simple task is actually incredibly detail-oriented and it provides essential processes for our local governments so they can provide services and continue to thrive. And since the ARDA team does it so well we thought we'd highlight them today Because they are full of precision, professionalism and always do things with a smile. Thank you.

And congratulations. Madam Clerk can you please read administrative item number two into the record?

Chair Lavinino and members of the Board, Administrative Item Number 2 is sponsored by Supervisor Caps and Supervisor Hartman. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of October 2024 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County. And joining us in person today we have Silvana Kelly, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Resource Center. If you can please make your way to the podium and I will go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas in the United States, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. And when breast cancer is detected early and a localized stage, the five year survival rate is 98%. As a result, women should work with their medical providers to establish a plan to detect the disease in the early stages which includes regular mammograms, clinical breast exams and self-breast exams.

And whereas the emotional, physical and financial burdens of breast cancer have significant impacts not only on patients but also on their families, caregivers Caregivers and communities requiring comprehensive support and resources for all those affected. And whereas the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Resource Center plays a vital role in providing support services, patient navigation resources, and educational programs to promote patient empowerment in the fight against breast cancer as do other entities like Ridley Tree Cancer Center and UCLA Health Cancer Center.

Excuse me, UCLA Health Cancer Care. And whereas Breast Cancer Survivors demonstrate incredible resilience and strength serving as a source of inspiration for others in showing the importance of advocacy, education and access to care in overcoming this disease. And whereas Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as a reminder of the need to address disparities in breast cancer outcomes particularly among minority communities where rates of late stage diagnosis and mortality are disproportionately higher. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors does proclaim the month of October 2024 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month to promote the health of all residents in the County of Santa Barbara, and thanks the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Resource Center for the crucial services and support they provide.

Pass it adopted today.

Thank you so much for inviting me here to accept this proclamation. I appreciate it most of all, I appreciate the recognition that in Santa Barbara what we have is a cancer care resource center and all of our services are provided at no cost to the public Many people don't know about us until they have to deal with a breast cancer diagnosis. But we have been here in Santa Barbara for 27 years, we're very unique in our community and I know that the women and their families that utilize our resources are very happy to have the support of the public. We are a non-profit so we depend upon The charity of our community and we appreciate it. What I want to let everybody know here today is that today we kick off what is called Pink Week, which is a series of free virtual webinars for anyone to participate in.

They are to support and inform people about breast cancer, how they can deal with it, and how they move beyond cancer and in their survivorship health. So thank you so much for having me here today. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Supervisor Caps.

Thank you I just wanted to thank Ms. Kelly for being here and for all the work that you and your colleagues do, the free services is just incredible value to our community and I was taken aback last year when you received a Local Hero Award from the Santa Barbara Independent to hear just how many thousands of people your work has touched so thank you.

That takes us to Madam Clerk, can you please read administrative item number four into the record?

Chair Lavanino and members of the board. Administrative Item Number Four is sponsored by Supervisor Lavanino is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of October 2024 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today we have Chris Sherwick Gary Coverdale Andre Montessori and Greg Milligan And if you can please make your way to the podium and I'll go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas Santa Barbara County recognizes the vital role that the internet and information technology play in the daily lives of county staff and residents. And the internet users, and the nation's information infrastructure face an increasing threat of malicious cyber attack loss of privacy for malware and significant financial and personal privacy losses due to identity theft and fraud.

And whereas during the past year, the county has been maturing and strengthening its cybersecurity posture through additional policies and updated systems On September 21st, 2021 the Board of Supervisors adopted 20 detailed National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST based technically cybersecurity policies. Cybersecurity policies are utilized in the governance risk and compliance GRC system for all departments to manage their adherence to these policies and controls. And whereas the county cyber security program has expanded countywide with annual cybersecurity training for all county users required for continued use of County Technology Resources. The yearly required training launches every October and the county has recently added a training and certification path for all department security officers Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County does hereby observe the month of October 2024 as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month to recognize the importance of cybersecurity and encourage citizens to engage in safe cyber practices in their homes, schools, workplace, and business.

Passed and adopted today.

Thank you, Chair Lavagnino and members of the board for this important recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In today's digital age safeguarding our systems and data is more critical than ever and this resolution underscores our collective responsibility to stay vigilant. Our efforts to promote cybersecurity awareness train staff and important implement strong security measures are key to ensuring that the safety and resilience of our county operations and community We are committed to working together to protect our county's digital infrastructure, and this acknowledgment helps drive our ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity practices. Thank you again for this resolution.

Chair Lavinino and members of the board, administrative item number 18 is from the Public Health Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding a volunteer and clinical support services agreement with A.T. Sill University of Health Sciences, ATSU.

I think both Supervisor Nelson and I pulled this item, Director Hamami if you could come up. This is just something that I wanted to highlight. I've had the opportunity to tour AT still and I think this is just a outstanding opportunity for both of us and Director Hamami if you could just kind of touch on some of the basics

All right, good morning. Thank you Mr Chair. As you mentioned this is a win-win situation we are providing an exposure to what community care and community health is for these future health providers and it also adds to us in giving them the opportunity to be educated and learn but also it is a future work So we hope that those that are going to be practicing at our community health centers are going to be our future providers. It's definitely an example on a partnership that we want to expand, especially with A.T. Stills University they have also some future I think AT still is a little bit unique because of their business model is to try to recruit students who reflect the community and they

Look for underserved communities to get them established in. So I think this is going to be perfect for the Santa Maria area, just really appreciate you and your team taking the time to go in and really try to make this happen. And like I said, I think this is just going to be an outstanding opportunity for both sides. Supervisor Nelson?

Yes, thank you Chair Lavanino and I had the pleasure of attending the second graduation of the A.T. Still Physician's Assistance Program a couple weeks ago up at Cal Poly where 90 graduates received their masters and are now gonna be able to participate as physician's assistants. And I'm just really impressed by A. T. Still. You know it's kind of one of the best kept secrets. It's fairly new in the North County but I just think it's a huge opportunity for the county of Santa Barbara and the region And definitely in Santa Maria Valley to bring really a world-class medical center. A.T. Still is the father of orthopathy, so when you guys think about the doctors that are the You know, you got your M.D.' 's and then your D.O.'s. AT Still is again the father of that methodology or that philosophy and AT still is not just some kind of fly by night college.

I mean this if you go look up top I have a daughter who will likely be going through this process and it's very competitive to get into these physician assistant schools. I was talking to AT Still, they have over 2,000 applicants for every class in the class of 90. And one of the goals that they have is actually having 10% of each class coming from the local area which when you think about that on a national scale the opportunity for people In Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, it's huge. And that's just the Physician Assistance Program. If we start to look at what that might look like in the future with a medical school, a dental school, they're looking at moving forward with actually having their first bachelors in nursing program as well through there.

It's a huge opportunity for health outcomes for the community as well as access for those who live in our community to be able to access of education without necessarily breaking the bank. We all know how expensive college debt is, especially on the medical school side and if we can have these opportunities here locally for our constituents I think this is a huge win.

I know I'm a big fan. I know Supervisor Lavagnino's a fan and I hope that we can take every opportunity from this board to promote this. I think this is a huge potential economic driver for the region, as well as for our health outcomes. So I'm just really excited about it as well and since we pulled this item, I'll make a motion to approve this Item A18. I'll second. Thank you.

Roll call on A18 please?

Motion passes unanimously.

Okay, let's read 822 into the record please.

Chair Lavinino and members of the board administrative item number 22 is from the Public Works Department it is to consider recommendations regarding an agreement for services of independent contractor for Cathedral Oaks Complete Streets Project County project number 864 052, this is in the second district and there is a fourthest vote required on this item.

Supervisor Caps?

Yeah thank you Chair I just wanted to highlight this because I get quite a lot of concerns about the Cathedral Oaks Road. In fact it did an event with the District Attorney because some referred to it as a DUI corridor so there's a lot of community concern. I just wanted to ask Mr. Sneddon to elaborate so that my constituents can know what's coming. Good progress thanks

Good morning Chair, Supervisor Caps. Chris Nen, Public Works. Yes this project is a direct result of your board's commitment to mobility and alternative transportation through the active transportation plan that you adopted And through that we were able to obtain almost $500,000 in grant funding to study the corridor. And this fits into sort of the larger regional strategic goals of creating multimodal corridors on the South Coast and across the county And this will tie with the work that the City of Goleta is doing, City of Santa Barbara, the County and Caltrans to really create interconnected systems of off road trail systems for people to use to improve safety mental and physical health and environmental impacts.

Thank you I appreciate it.

Any other comments on that? Okay can I get a motion on 24 or 22 I'm sorry

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded, roll call please.

Supervisor Williams? Supervisor we didn't hear you I believe you froze but can you hear us this is for the vote on A22 I. Supervisor caps I supervisor Hartman I and chair Lavanino

I

motion passes unanimously

that takes us to a 24.

Chair Lavanino members of the board administrative item number 24 is sponsored by supervisor Williams it is to consider recommendations regarding a resolution in support of proposition 35 provides permanent funding for medical health care services initiative

Supervisor Nelson.

Yes, thank you, Charlie. I was looking for a roll call vote on this. I'm abstaining on this item.

OK. Can I get a motion for 24?

I'll move support and also just say this is necessary in order to increase Medi-Cal reimbursal rates, in order to better serve the large population that lives in Santa Barbara County below the poverty line. Supported by Lompoc Medical Center, Cottage Hospital, just about all of the hospitals in the state as well as the California Medical Association.

Can I just ask a quick question? Just process-wise, so did this go through the Ledge Committee or did it come back with a recommendation from Ledger? I

don't believe so.

I do not believe it went through the Ledge Committee because of timing. Okay. Making a recommendation on an election thing after the elections doesn't mean much

True. I OK, I'm going to abstain as well just because for me it's just process wise we you know, I don't want to go through all the propositions and try to vote up here about which ones we support and which ones we don't so but I understand this probably isn't a problem. So

I'll second.

We've been seconded roll call vote

and chair Levin you

know.

Motion passes 3, 0, 2,

And it's the last one a 25. Can we read a 25 to the record place.

Chair Lavinino and members of the Board, Administrative Item Number 25 is sponsored by Supervisor Nelson. It is to approve the reappointment of Steve Strachan to the Parks Commission term ending June 30th, 2027 and this is in the 4th District.

Supervisor Nelson?

Yes thank you Chair Lavinino I just wanted to take a moment to thank my Parks Commissioner Steve Strachan who is getting reappointed here today. You know, the first time I ever got appointed to something was at the Board of Supervisors it was Justin Tenno and I sat there all day to hear my name read in an A item and it got passed with a single vote so on occasion especially I like to pull these just to highlight and recognize those that are getting appointed And so I just want to thank Steve for his service. He's a former county employee, then he became a small business owner specializing in playgrounds for parks and once he retired and sold this business, he decided to devote his time completely to his community. He may be the most active Parks Commissioner we have in the county.

He is all over the place. You know some people call the 4th District Supervisor the Mayor of Orkut. If that's the case, Steve is the Deputy Mayor by far. The Orchid Christmas Parade. He's very involved with Notora and UMA, which are our preservation and our small business groups in the orchid area. And so I just want to thank Steve for his service. And I am enthusiastically looking forward to him serving for another four years as my parks commissioner. So with that, I'd like to move approval of A25.

Great. I'll second that. Can we get a roll call please?

motion passes unanimously

all right now is the time for members of the public to speak on items that are not on today's agenda Madam Clerk do we have any requests to speak on general public comment

yes chair Lavinino members of the board we have 14 requests to speak on general public comment today

So let's do a half hour of public comment so that'll be two minutes apiece. And we will close the roll of public comment, so if your name is on the list you can speak. If your name is not on the list, we'll catch you next week.

And we will begin on Zoom with Karen Drown to be followed by Mark Shatillo. Karen we have unmuted you on our end. If you can please unmute on your end to provide your comments Karen again, we have unmuted you on our end if you can unmute on urine to provide your comments We will return to Karen Momentarily, we will begin here in Santa Barbara with Mark Shatillo to be followed by Sherry Benenhoven mark

Wait a second. Before you start, you got to keep that dude I love the hat. You're rocking it. You're rocking it. I like it. That's on my time. You get your time.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. I'm Mark Shatillo and I'm here today on behalf of All Saints by the Sea who is the next door neighbor to the Miramar project. And as I submitted a letter for your board concerning the request that your board direct this project back to the Montecito Planning Commission while Article 2 does authorize regional projects to be designated in... The time's not running here so do I need to keep track of that? Oh no. Do we have it? Apologies.

We're going fast. Thank you. While the code does allow the County Planning Commission to take jurisdiction over this and other regional projects, affordable housing projects are out of character with the other ones. It also expressly authorizes your board to direct this to go to the Montecito Planning Commission and we would request that you do that. I've been in touch with Commissioner Sandy Stahl who was the third person necessary for a quorum on October 18th date And she is available and has reportedly transmitted that, and I was trying to clarify that with the clerk's office. So there will be a quorum on the 18th. We would request that your board does recognize this as a Montecito matter, as you're going to hear from other public commenters, and really needs to be heard and decided by the Montecito Planning Commission.

If your board cannot do that, I would ask that you direct staff to cancel the October 9th meeting of the Miramar Project at the County Planning Commission. A strict timeline of only five hearings, restricting the number of hearings will prejudice the public's ability to participate as is required under the California Coastal Act. So we, as explained in my letter, we feel strongly that it's important that we have maximum public access and opportunities to participate in this process so appreciate your taking paying attention to these concerns. Thank you.

We will now go to Sherry Bundenhoven to be followed by Philip Dracht. Sherry?

Good morning Chair Lavinino, members of the board, CEO Monos Miyasato. On behalf of All Saints by the Sea I'm here to represent a request that Mark just made to reassign this project to the Montecito Planning Commission. That body has spent the last several months not just looking at the project both formally, but I think importantly as you each do. Each day listening to the people who live, work, participate in institutions of the community so they are well versed. They have kind of lived and breathed this for some time it's an important project for the community. And All Saints is the next door neighbor has a number of comments that we would like to make at the proper time with the proper commission and we're preparing to do that. And so it would be helpful, and I think important for that body to be responsible for hearing the matter.

We would also support of course Mark's note to reassign this to remove that first hearing preserving the county's and the community's ability To hear this, not be hamstrung if you will by a set number of hearings at this date feels really important to us. So we thank you for your time. I'll take, I have a moment. I will thank you for approving us to appear before you in two weeks to designate All Saints as an historic landmark in Montecito and we're grateful for your work on that.

We will now go to Philip Dracht to be followed by Harry Robbin.

Good morning Chairman of the Board, members of the board I'm Philip Dracht and I live next to the Miramar and SB 330 divest local control and oversight over affordable housing projects we can't do anything about that But what we can do is take the authority that you have as the Board of Supervisors to vest the jurisdiction in the appropriate local agency, which would be the Montecito Planning Board.

Absent that, seconding Mark, if you can't do that then we need to preserve the meetings, the public hearings that are available. We only have five. Having a hearing on the 9th essentially burns one of those meetings. So respectfully request that you vest the Montecito Planning Commission We will now go to Harry Rubin to be followed by Paige Robinson. Good morning Supervisors, Chair.

I'm a resident of Monticello Community and I'm here today representing over 270 residents within the community. And we urge you in this matter of the CPC where they were frivolously given the ability to make a decision on our behalf over this immense project, the Miramar expansion. We would like to see this go back to the MPC where it belongs in the first place. It never should have been removed. And given that we only have five hearings to discuss such a huge matter that's going to impact our community literally for the next hundred years, we would like to see the Board of Supervisors reinstate the MPC. Cancel that meeting on October 9th so we can get justice here for our community. Thank you.