Board of Supervisors — 2025-08-19

Good morning everybody. It's my honor to call to order this meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for August 19th, 2025. Madam Clerk please call the roll.

Second.

Thank you Supervisor Hartman and a second by Supervisor Lavinino. All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries Okay, Madam CEO please proceed with your report.

Good morning board members we have several reports this morning the first is some celebratory news about our child support services department they were honored with a state performance award for delivering the fastest results among medium local counties in California last fiscal year The department also made the greatest improvement by reducing the time to open a case, establish an order and issue the first payment to families by 31 days. This remarkable accomplishment was recognized by the state as a significant contribution to strengthening overall program performance and enhancing services for children and families so congratulations to Medha Richardson Department Director.

Next, the County of Santa Barbara Health Department held its third annual back-to-school health fair in the first week of August at county health centers in Santa Maria, Lompoc and Santa Barbara. Community organizations and county departments were present to support families and children as they prepared for the new school year. Attendance this year exceeded the past two years With over 2,500 families receiving backpacks filled with school supplies and other necessities the health centers conducted 38 sports physicals 33 immunizations and a total of 72 doses administered. Lompoc had the highest attendance and County Health wants to thank all partners and supporters that made these events possible and thank you again to our director Mohamed Hammami Lastly, we wanted to give you a quick update on the 9-1-1 outage that took place last month while we were on break.

So Assistant County Executive Officer Wade Horton will be giving you the update.

Morning Madam Chair, Board. As you know a countywide 9-1-1 outage occurred on July 22nd and this was caused by a construction crew cutting frontier fiber lines while working on the De La Vina Street Bridge project in the City of Santa Barbara and what this did is it temporarily disrupted our voice calls to emergency dispatch and also impacted the FAA operations at the Santa Barbara Airport All local public safety answering points quickly shared alternative numbers and promoted the use of text to 911, which remained fully operational even though the voice calls were disrupted. The County Office of Emergency Management issued alerts through ReadySBC and dispatchers maintained steady service using tools like Rapid SOS to reconnect dropped calls.

A total of 172 emergency contacts were received, 98 of those were through text to 911. Text-to-911 is always available in Santa Barbara County offering a vital option for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired, in unsafe situations or during voice outages with language translation support. Residents are reminded to call if you can, text if you can't and always include their exact location when texting 911.

The City and County have conducted a joint meeting with Frontier and an evaluation is currently underway to identify any additional choke points in the fiber network so redundancy can be established with the goal to prevent Any widespread critical system outages in the future. I also have with me here this morning Susan Farley from Sheriff Dispatch and Chris Sherwin from IT Department to answer any technical questions you may have.

Supervisor Leveny, no.

Just for clarification this was not our construction crew correct?

This was not a county project. Okay thank

you

Well, thanks for the update. I really appreciate it because like I joined the many who was alarmed that this could even happen but also was relieved to understand that drop calls were actually responded to could do it. I don't know if someone can explain how that actually happened and what a relief that did happen.

Good morning, my name is Susan Farley. I'm the manager of the Communications Center at the Sheriff's Office We have a tool called Rapid SOS. It's primarily a location enhancement system but what it does Backing up a little bit the way 9-1-1 works you call from your cell phone it hits a tower Tower goes to the central office central office routes it to where it needs to be As soon as it hit that central office, it died because of the fiber cut. However, the standalone system which is called Rapid SOS still captured those phone numbers as soon as it hit the central office.

Sure.

So they showed up on the Internet for us so we knew someone was trying to call and we were able to call those numbers back. So we have Rapid Deploy and Rapid SOS. In the form that we use, they're both free programs. So everyone in the county has the ability to use them not everyone in the county uses them. Rapid Deploy is another system That's how we do our text-to-911 that does have the same ability It's just a little harder to see the list of people who are calling in

Okay. Well, that's I mean again good work and fast thinking to be able to make sure that all those calls were still answered even though they didn't go through as they were intended to. And second question is about this text. I also didn't know that you could text 911 so now we know that and I know that Ms. Kirkins has been trying to get the word out. So how can we do more to get the word out especially to senior homes etc., that texting 911 is an option, I understand from Mr. Horton's presentation that that's not the first option but it is a option. How can we get the word out? That's a hard thing to communicate.

I would say it's something you need to continue just to advertise, but really we push call if you can, text if you can't. We answer over 99% of our 911 phone calls within 10 seconds. Text 9-1-1 and we answer about 50 and the range is very large just because the analytics program I use between 20 and 60 seconds because you have to actually open it, read it, respond so there is a delay. So it's call if you can, text if you cant.

So I'm going to go ahead and get started. Happy accidents is we found that your Internet is more stable and cell phones in general are more stable on text than landline. So even if you have almost no bars, you may be able to text us and that will still come through. It's a great alternate option but it should not be the first thing.

And how long has it been possible to text 9-1-1 roughly?

Since 2020.

We

did a launch in 2021 with the campaign call if you can, text if you can't but I feel it goes like this on when people understand it. I was looking at our numbers of how many we've received So this year just through July 31st, it's over 4,000. The next biggest year was in 2021 where it was around 2,000 so we don't receive a lot. It's well less than 2% of our overall 9-1-1 contacts but it is available and it's available to everyone in the county. All of the primary PSAPs have access to

And that period of time where 911 was not functioning properly, what was the number that you said that people chose to text 911?

We had 98 contacts,

so

generally a contact you probably want to cut that in half because they text us. We say do you have an emergency? No matter how much PIO is pushed out please only call 911 or text 911 if you need it. Sure A large chunk of our contacts that day were are you really down and the answer was yes but we're still calling you we're still here for you

That's a searing story of a child texting 9-1-1 when their parent was driving intoxicated. So lastly, I know from talking to Director Cherwin our IT director that this has been a real alarm bell for all of the folks involved, the city managers, the different providers, the internet providers, the vendors, Frontier, That concludes my report, Chair. Okay. Great, thank you for that report and Madam Clerk are there any announcements or changes to our agenda?

Chair Kaps and members of the Board I have a few announcements this morning we received a request from the Planning and Development Department to continue departmental item number one regarding a report on case number 24 APL 6 bid well appeal of Mariposa Investment Trust Agricultural Water Well And lastly 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 2 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 of the Board's Office at area code 805-568-2240 again that number is 805 568 2240 and that concludes my announcements for today

Thank you Madam Clerk.

Chair Katz, members of the board we do have one request to speak from the public on A6 as well.

Okay. A6 and A14 so may I get a motion for approve the balance of the administrative agenda except for those two items? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion passes Okay,

Chair Caps and members of the board, Administrative Item number one is sponsored by Supervisor Caps. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of August 2025 as Child Support Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today we have Metta Richardson, Director of Child Support Services, Amanda Gonzalez, Child Support Supervisor, and Lucia Reyes, Child Support Manager. And if you can please make your way to the podium I'll go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas August is recognized as Child Support Awareness Month, a yearly observance dedicated to highlighting the essential role child support plays in the well-being and economic stability of children and families. And whereas the Child Support Program has adopted significant improvements including expanded pass through payments for families formerly receiving cash aid Revised policies that provide formerly incarcerated parents more time to reestablish themselves before resuming payments and the cessation of certain enforcement actions. Whereas these reforms reflect a commitment to fairness, equity and family well-being and aim to foster co-parenting relationships while reducing the burden and cost of private legal intervention.

And whereas Santa Barbara County Child Support Services serves nearly 9,500 child support cases distributing $28.5 million in annual support to families and children. And whereas Santa Barbara County Child Support Services continues to offer comprehensive and highly accessible services that help families and children receive the support they deserve. And whereas during the month of August Santa Barbara County Child Support Services will be promoting public awareness of the child support program through participation in public House back to school health fairs, outreach to social services staff and clients engagement at downtown Fridays Spanish radio segments legislative updates on the department's website and the annual school supply distribution at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Maria.

And now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors proclaims August 2025 as Child Support Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County passed and adopted today

Good morning Chair Capps and members of the board. My name is Lucy Reyes, Child Support Manager of the Department of Child Support Services. I am thrilled to be a part of our department's outreach efforts for Child Support Awareness Month. Joining me is Amanda Gonzalez, a child support supervisor and a dedicated member of the outreach team. Each August we recognize Child Support Awareness Month both nationally and throughout California.

This observance serves as a meaningful opportunity to highlight the essential services available through the child support program, and to reinforce our commitment to supporting families. Our goal is to help families co-parent successfully by providing accessible and effective support. And this year we would like to acknowledge the significant legislative efforts that continue to improve the Child Support Program, making it more fair, efficient and family centered.

This year's statewide theme is New Laws, New Approach Our Best Deal reflects our continued progress and dedication to better serving California families. At this time I'd like to invite Amanda to share more about the activities and initiatives planned in recognition of Child Support Awareness Month

Thank you, Lucy. Good morning Chair Kaps and members of the Board. I'm excited to share the impactful partnerships we built in the community in celebration of Child Support Awareness Month. In collaboration with the Department of Social Services, we've launched a multi-channel outreach campaign to their clients featuring a recorded voice message, a mass text and a flyer with the warmer words, child support for a brighter tomorrow.

We will also be presenting to their staff next week on recent legislative changes and how working together can strengthen the families in our community. Participating in events such as Downtown Fridays in Santa Maria, public health fairs countywide, food distribution at Little House, In The Park, in Guadalupe and promoting child support awareness on La Mejor radio station helps us build vital visibility in the communities we serve.

On August 6th, we participated in Community Parole and Community Team Pact Resources Day sharing key legislative updates such as the reduction in driver's license suspensions for non-payment of child support and extended time frames to secure employment Thank you so much for joining us today.

Congratulations. Thank you Next resolution, please

Chair Caps and members of the Board, Administrative Item Number 2 is sponsored by Supervisor Caps and Supervisor Nelson. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of August 2025 as Emergency Management Awareness Month in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today from the Office of Emergency Management, Kelly Hubbard, Stacey Silva, Jadie Saucedo, Brittany Farrell, Roger Wilcox, Jackie Ruiz, and Kendall Johnston. And I'll go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas local emergency managers across all sectors and community leaders dedicate countless hours to developing preparedness, response recovery and mitigation programs to protect the lives and property of all people living and visiting Santa Barbara County. And whereas emergency managers are charged with establishing and maintaining the local capabilities necessary to effectively coordinate and support disasters response and recovery efforts And whereas emergency managers are often one of the first to respond and the last to leave after disaster working behind the scenes as first responders for our community.

And whereas, the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management maintains collaborative partnerships with governmental and non-governmental agencies to promote personnel and agency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. And whereas emergency managers are committed to continue learning, leadership and innovation through the maintenance of plans training programs and policies that align with local state and federal regulations.

And whereas emergency managers must maintain awareness and adaptability in the face of disasters impacting Santa Barbara County. And whereas the efforts of local emergency managers have helped community members prepare for respond to recover from Disasters while strengthening the resilience of our county and whereas an investment into local emergency management programs is a commitment to the resilience of all who live in vacation in Santa Barbara County. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors does hereby proclaim the month of August 2025 as National Emergency Management Awareness Month passed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors today

Thank you Chair Kaps, Board. Today marks my sixth year with the county approximately 25 years in the business and I'm still trying to explain to people that being an emergency manager does not mean I drive an ambulance and I do EMS. And I think many people here who work for the county think that what my team does is call them and annoy them to get them to come work in the EOC or to come to a training or to participate in an emergency planning process In the last three-ish weeks, we've responded July 23rd to the 9-1-1 outage. July 29th and 30th to the tsunami advisory for our county.

And starting August 1st so the Gifford fired along the same timeline. We had multiple PSPS's public safety power shutoffs We had multiple other smaller incidents, and my staff continued to do their normal duties as they could with over 500 hours in duty officer time spent on those incidents. Most of that unpaid overtime. And so what we do is not emergency medical services.

What we do is not just call and try to get you to a training or to the EOC. We work on concepts such as managing grants, fiscal and equipment readiness, making sure the cache of supplies that were in New Quiama this last couple weeks were available to the residents to help them with the smoke that they were experiencing. Emergency plans and procedures. We work on, JD will know the exact count but dozens of emergency plans that are at the counties as well as have the responsibility to review every jurisdiction over 100 in our county their emergency plans when they ask or request to see if it's in alignment with our county planning with state protocols and procedures.

We have hundreds of after action items from previous incidents that we continue to try to incorporate into our planning and our daily efforts so that when we do get to that emergency, that may occur. That will occur. We're not repeating previous or past mistakes. That emergency planning procedures process includes over 20 new legislative requirements in less than 10 years.

Managing software systems such as Genesys and Everbridge, you know this is online watching and available who has been managing the launch of Genesis in the middle of the Gifford fire. Public education and information making sure our public and our community understands how to prepare and be more resilient. Trainings and exercises. Thank you to this board and your staff for all the training, all attending elected official training County staff You're not the only one this board goes to And legislative and policy engagement to ensure that those future legislative efforts don't impact us negatively but support and help raise up our community in our efforts to become more resilient Daily, we work on building partnerships that become alliances during incidents such as with direct relief in the Gifford fire just recently when we worked with them to have masks and HEPA filters delivered out to New Quiama.

And we run our duty officer program as noted where my staff rotate every week they are on call 24-7 they can't go out drinking they can't go out and do certain things and they have to be ready and available to help with alerting and response and to help manage and bring in those who help us do what we do. So, we write the plans. We get us prepared as a county. We hope to make us more resilient but it's all the county staff here who also help in that effort and so my team hopes to make sure that they're all ready for that challenge when it comes.

I do want to note that we are not the only group with emergency managers in our County Public Health and Department of Social Services both have emergency managers as well and they should also be recognized today I had a peer say that it is Emergency Awareness Month, Kelly, not Emergency Appreciation when I used to slip of terminology and I said the problem is is that showing appreciation also brings awareness. So I want to thank my team for everything that they do to keep this county prepared and ready and hopefully resilient in the future and thank all of you for your support of that. Thanks.

Supervisor Hartman.

Well, since we're expressing appreciation and in the long list of things that you did I didn't hear how much you work out in the community with organizations tabling at events and helping people understand the risks. And also that we have a good planning infrastructure here in our county and it makes me sleep better at night knowing what an experienced professional set of emergency managers we do have. Thank you.

Supervisor Lee.

Kelly, I just want to say thank you to you and your team for your effective and appreciated work recently with the Gifford Fire. It really made a difference in the Cuyamaca community and they appreciate you and your team coming out so thank you.

Thank You supervisor Lee. I also have to recognize Martha Ypez from the Family Resource Center who is just amazing in serving the community out there

And I just want to add my appreciation. It's good to be able to look at your team and to acknowledge the others that aren't here in the room. What an honorable profession to go into this kind of line of work, not only The training but you really, you and your team. You worry about so many things so that others don't have to worry about it. And I was just thinking just the mental toll of worrying about disasters on a daily basis so that all of us don't have to be thinking about it every day. So thank you for that and the work that everybody does. Really appreciate it.

Okay. Thank you. Madam Clerk

Chair Kapsa, members of the board. Administrative item number three is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman. It is to adopt a resolution in recognition of the 100th anniversary of this NNS news and joining us in person today we have Claudia Delgado. Is Claudia Delgado here? Well I can go ahead and still read the resolution if the Board would like. Sure. Whereas the San Inez Valley News was founded in 1925 and has served as a trusted voice of the San Inez Valley for 100 years, documenting the growth milestones and stories of our community with integrity and dedication. And whereas through a century of local reporting, the San Inez Valley News has played a vital role in informing residents supporting local democracy and preserving the unique culture and heritage of the region.

And whereas the newspaper has chronicled generations of life in the valley from agriculture and education to business sports, arts and community events all while adapting to a rapidly changing media landscape. And whereas the San Ynez Valley News has nurtured civic pride and upheld the principles of journalistic excellence becoming a cornerstone of our local identity and a reliable source of accurate timely and thoughtful news coverage. And whereas we recognize the dedication of the journalists editors publishers and photographers And staff, past and present whose passion and professionalism have built and sustained this legacy for a century. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara does hereby congratulate the Santa Anaz News on the occasion of its 100th anniversary and commends its remarkable contributions to the life and identity of the Santa Anaz Valley with sincere appreciation for a century of service to our community passed and adopted today

Supervisor Herman. Thank you, well local newspapers papers everywhere in our country are facing real headwinds but local papers as the resolution said really are vibrant and the lifeblood and people are interested and so I'm really grateful that the Santa Ynez News has Valley News has sustained and keeps its subscription rate and interest because it really does knit us together as a wider community, so it's much appreciated.

Excellent

okay Madam Clerk next resolution

Chair Kapsa, members of the Board, Administrative Item number four is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of August 2025 as World Breastfeeding Month in Santa Barbara County And joining us in person today we have Meg Baird, Chantal Hover-Jones and Angela Fickner from the Lompoc Valley Medical Center. And anyone else that you would like to join with you? Now go ahead and read the resolution. Whereas World Breastfeeding Month in August 2025 adopts the theme Prioritize Breastfeeding Create Sustainable Support Systems which is a call to build lasting equitable support for breastfeeding parents everywhere. County of Santa Barbara Health Department supports this goal through dedicated efforts to promote, protect and sustain breastfeeding in our community and whereas decades of research indicate that breast milk provides optimal nutrition for children and breastfeeding benefits both lactating parents and babies.

Breast milk contains 3 million antibodies per teaspoon the optimal nutrition in breast milk contributes to reduction Incidents and severity of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, respiratory and ear infections, obesity, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome. And whereas County Health has multi-layered lactation support services with highly trained staff at each site including the WIC program MCAH and federally qualified health centers. County of Santa Barbara's WIC program maintains one of the highest exclusive breastfeeding rates in California Reaching 41.6% as of March 2025 compared to the statewide WIC average of 21%. And whereas the Regional Breastfeeding Liaison Program promotes seamless breastfeeding support by collaborating with healthcare providers, hospitals and employers in the community Recent efforts focused on assisting Lompoc Valley Medical Center, LVMC to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates, improve care for the parent baby diet and reduce racial disparities by becoming the first hospital in California to enroll in a CHAMPS national program, a CDC funded initiative.

that provides expert training and support to implement the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding. Join us on August 29th at LVMC to celebrate breastfeeding. And whereas 2025 marks an important milestone for the County of Santa Barbara Health Department, it's 100th anniversary. We hope to continue in advanced support of breastfeeding needs throughout our county including assisting with milk supply and supporting clients returning to work or school. A breastfed baby leads to a healthy individual, a healthy community and a healthy environment. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County does hereby acknowledge World Breastfeeding Month passed and adopted today.

Thank you so much. Good morning Chair Kaps and Supervisors, my name is Chantal Hover-Jones and I'm the Regional Breastfeeding Liaison for the County of Santa Barbara Health Department's WIC program. I'm honored to be here today on behalf of our families across the county and our communities and thank you so much for recognizing Breastfeeding Awareness Month with this important proclamation.

Breastfeeding is a powerful public health strategy it supports the lifelong health and well-being of both infants and parents It reduces the risk of chronic disease, promotes infant development and strengthens the parent-infant bond. In Santa Barbara County we are committed to helping families reach their breastfeeding goals by providing education, culturally responsive support and connections to local services.

We are proud to have some of the highest breastfeeding rates in California and the country Awareness and policy port like this proclamation are vital in creating a community where breastfeeding is truly supported and celebrated. Thank you again for acknowledging the importance of this work, and for continuing to champion the health of our youngest residents and families.

I will now pass the mic to Angela Fickner, the manager of perinatal services at Lompoc Valley Medical Center, to share about the exciting work being done in Lompoc. Thank you.

Hey, thanks for having me here. We're excited to share some of the things that Lompoc is implementing. We have been working very hard with CHAMPS International for our breastfeeding support for our patients in our community and we've seen some great improvements with our exclusive breastfeeding rates and our breastfeeding initiation rates. Our breastfeeding initiation rates for the last two quarters of this year have been 85% with 100% initiation in the month of June. So it's definitely working A big project that we've been working on is skin-to-skin after both vaginal and C-section deliveries. It's been happening quite a while for vaginal deliveries, but to have C-section deliveries be able to have their baby placed on their chest in the OR for that entire remainder of their stay in the OR and then moving onto the PACU.

So our goal is to keep a mother and baby together and it helps with the transition of the infant and then also establishing breastfeeding so it's a big accomplishment. For our patients that do need a little bit of extra help with support while they're learning breastfeeding and going down that. And then we also have three nurses who are lactation educators as well. So they're seen regularly in the hospital, and then if we do have an infant that needs a little bit of extra support, we have donor breast milk available to them so they don't have to move to formula. And then after patients are discharged, we offer outpatient lactation visits so they have continued follow-up and continued care in their breastfeeding journey.

As mentioned, we're having a big public outreach event on August 29th. We're going to have a lot of breastfeeding support resources there and community resources for all of our families that are in the Lompoc area. And we just want to thank you for letting us come and share some of continue to grow. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay, let's see.

Chair Kaps and members of the Board, Administrative Item number five is sponsored by Supervisor Hartman. It is to adopt a resolution of commendation honoring Sherman Henson upon his retirement from the Community Services Department after over 35 years of faithful and distinguished service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County. And joining us today is Sherman Henson. Now go ahead and read the resolution.

Whereas Sherman Henson is retiring from the Community Services Department after over 35 years of devoted and distinguished public service to the residents of Santa Barbara County. And whereas Sherman began his county career at age 19 as an Extra Help Park Ranger trainee, and advanced through the ranks serving as park ranger, maintenance leader, department business specialist, park operations manager, and ultimately business manager of the fiscal division.

And whereas Sherman made lasting contributions to the Community Services Department bringing adaptability, creativity and a spirit of innovation while providing fiscal stewardship of a combined annual budget of approximately 27 million for the Parks and Arts and Culture Division. And whereas under Sherman's leadership some of Santa Barbara County's most iconic and well-loved public destinations including the Lompoc and Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Buildings Kachuma Lake Recreation Area, Halama Beach and the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse remained vibrant and widely utilized with over 37,000 reservations over the last four years.

And whereas Sherman fostered a culture of collaboration and mentorship earning the respect of colleagues across the department in supporting the professional growth of staff through a steady leadership and example. And whereas Sherman and his wife Becky look forward to their next chapter with plans to eventually relocate to Northern California And following Becky's retirement, continue their adventures traveling across North America in their RV. Now therefore be it hereby ordered and resolved that this Board of Supervisors honors and thanks Sherman Henson for his years of dedicated service to the residents of Santa Barbara County and congratulates him upon his retirement passed and adopted today.

Chair Kaps and members of the board, Jesus Armas, Community Services Director. As the resolution indicated, Sherman started working for the county when he was a baby and now he's an adult. Words are inadequate to convey what Sherman represents not only to our department, to the Parks Division but really to the county organization as a whole. He exemplifies a commitment to service. He exemplifies being responsive and he exemplifies doing the best he can to make sure that the needs of the residents and our various customers are met.

He epitomizes what I think this county values which is excellent customer service. We're all going to miss him, of course. He's going to be missed not only within our organization but elsewhere as noted in the resolution he's had some remarkable impacts across this county. Halama Beach was one of his early assignments and he really speaks of it very highly as do individuals who worked with him.

What can we say except Sherman is a remarkable individual or remarkable employee? We want to thank Becky for sharing that We consider that a sharing, she actually called and said thank you for taking him. So as Sherman ends his workday experience and embarks on his leisure day life on behalf of the members of the department we want to say thank you and we wish you well

Chair Caps and members of the board, my wife just told me I look nervous. And she said you never looked nervous now I'm nervous so... I stayed in the resolution I started at 19 years old cleaning restrooms emptying trash cans working the front kiosk at Halama and now I stand before you 35 years later as a humble and thankful person that's been an amazing career when I was 19 I never dreamed that I would I basically accomplished all my career goals again starting seasonal work my way up to business manager which was Something I've been working for, for about 20 years.

I have a lot of people I could thank but none more than my wife Becky. We've been together for 33 almost 33 years be 33 in January of the 35 so she's been there to support me the whole way and it's her love and her support All those years working as a park ranger, going to school. I spent five out of seven years going to school and working full time to get my MBA and she was there to support me the whole way so thank you. I appreciate it. I also want to thank your board and CEO Miyasato and her team A lot of what we do in community services the county is not mandated to fund, which tells me you choose to fund it because I think you believe as I do that having robust parks and open spaces, arch programs, libraries, housing and sustainability programs are important part of a thriving community.

I know there are some uncertain fiscal times coming up, but I also know with your guidance and the leadership of CEO Miyasato that you will continue to fund these programs. And finally, I would like to thank my CSD family. I know many of them wish I was not going right now, and I know that word family gets tossed around a lot, but strong families are there to support each other when times get tough, and my personal family has taken some hits in the last four-and-a-half years Both my parents passed away.

My sister-in-law unexpectedly passed away at 47 and in the middle of that, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and battled breast cancer and happy to say in February she's been or sorry May four years cancer free so And during all this tough time, my CSD family was there and it was more than just work. While they did help out because I missed quite a bit of work with all that going on, it was the things outside of work they did. There was almost daily texts and phone calls from people just checking on Becky and I. A lot of them are friends with Becky and they text her directly, just making sure we're okay or just the simple words of hey, we're thinking of you.

So I will miss all of you very much but I'm also very excited to start this new chapter in my life. Thank you.

Supervisor Lavinino.

Well Chairman, congratulations I feel for the people...I know you're gonna hit an RV and traveling it sounds like but I feel for those park rangers that you're gonna be rolling up on because they have no clue you know yes those trash cans need to be emptied so congratulations it's been great working with you and I just wish you all the best

Congratulations, that's wonderful. Okay with that we'll move on to the administrative items that have been pulled by the Board of the Public.

Chair Kapsa, members of the board. Administrative item number six is from the Agricultural Commissioner and Weights and Measures Department it is to consider recommendations regarding pest detection agreement 25-0002-047-SF with the California Department of Food and Agriculture CDFA we have one request to speak from the public on this item and we are going to remain here in Santa Barbara with Karen Hauenstein. Karen?

Did you call me?

Yes, please proceed. Thank you.

I'm here to talk to you today about the application of poisons to our fields. It's very apropos that Joan and Laura are both wearing green today because I'm talking about green and sustainable practices We need to focus on the commercial farming that frames our communities, particularly the agricultural easements controlled by the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County around all of our communities in Santa Barbara County.

I have spoken at length with field workers and management, commercial farming consultants and contractors. The people in the white suits who apply the chemicals at night This is no more a request. It is a demand to honor acceptable practices, particularly regarding developing appropriate setbacks for the perimeters of our communities to mandate organic farming with sustainable practices and no chemical spraying Next to and into our homes.

Our population density will only get higher. You must act now to protect families, seniors, children right here in Santa Barbara County. When you place the pesticides and rodenticides to the fields right next to houses, right next to houses in densely populated communities that the population is only going to increase. It creates a lot of liability because we're dealing directly with people's health.

Please start to use acceptable practices by establishing these needed setbacks, thank you.

And that concludes public comment on this item.

Thank you, okay with that I may please get a motion on Item A6.

Move staff recommendation. Second.

Okay all those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries next is A14 which I pulled

Chair Kapsa, members of the board. Administrative item number 14 is from the Community Services Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding an agreement with Showers a Blessing Santa Barbara.

Yeah, thank you Madam Clerk. I pulled this item just because I wanted to acknowledge our Human Services Commission for having awarded this wonderful non-profit Showers of Blessing. Jackie Goodman is here from the organization with $26,000. I remember when Showers of Blessing got going with just a few showers and now there are 4,000 showers And we have such a strong, bless you, partnership with the county.

4,000 showers means 500 people have been served with the dignity of a shower but it's not just a shower. It's literally a fresh start every day and also what I think is really important the chance for our County services to be present so that means enrolling in CalFresh, enrolling in County Services having access to so many services and information that is important while people show up and receive the services. So I just want to acknowledge Jackie who's here, I don't think you need to say anything but I just want to give gratitude and acknowledge the work of Human Services Commission for awarding this grant to you all. And I know those $26,000 will go a long way in serving people. So thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. Okay, and with that I will move staff recommendation for this to be awarded.

Second.

Okay all those in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Okay that wraps up our administrative agenda and we can move on to general public comment. And that's a time for members of the public to speak on items that are not on the agenda. Madam Clerk are there any requests?

Chair Kaps and members of the board, we have six requests to speak on general public comment today. And we will remain here in Santa Barbara and begin with Yvonne Saldana to be followed by Emily Galarte. Yvonne? Okay, we'll come back to you Yvonne. We'll begin with Emily Galarte to be followed by Brenna Bolt.

Hi my name is Emily Galardi. I'm an IHSS worker in Santa Barbara County. I currently take care of my husband and help my daughter. My husband has chronic back pain and hip pain from, he had a car accident. And my daughter recently started having seizures. I used to work for the county and for the city but due to my husband's health issues, I needed to be at home to be able to provide care for him.