UnGovr Transcript
iHow this transcript is madeUnGovr transcribes the official recording with automated speech-to-text, separates speakers by voice, and matches voices to the seated roster. Names and attributions are AI estimates and may contain errors.Verify any quote yourself: click anywhere in the transcript and the official video jumps to that exact moment, so you can check any quote against the recording.0:00 – 0:0713 turns
Good morning everybody. I'm calling to order this meeting of the November 18th, 2025 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk please call the roll.
Roll call, called by Jacquelyne Alexander
Show transcript
Okay,
next item of business is the approval of minutes two sets because we had a special meeting on November 3rd and we had our regular meeting on November 4th. May I get a motion? I guess for both.
Move approval for both.
Second for
both.
Thank you Supervisor Nelson. All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Okay,
Madam
CEO please
give us your report. Good morning chair and board members this morning I have four updates the last will be an update on our November storms that we've been enduring but before then some good news I just want to announce that the Santa Barbara County Public Defender's Office received a National Award for Innovation Excellence from Journal Technologies this past week. The award recognizes the office's work customizing and advancing the eDefender system a platform that uses data and dashboards to support legal case management The Public Defender's Office was selected from more than 250 eligible agencies for developing custom modules that streamline holistic advocate Data entry consolidate client information and strengthen data-driven decision making.
This innovation brings the Community Public Defender Division data into a single, client-centered view improving service to clients in the broader community. Journal Technologies plans to incorporate features of this module into their core eDefender product and we know that the Public Defenders Office has been a huge advocate proponent for using data and we want to congratulate them and Matt Sperladeau Matt, I just asked you to pronounce your last name and I got it wrong again. Matt Sparalozzi is here so we want to congratulate the Public Defender's
Office.
Okay, the next one is also for the Public Defender's Office. It's reminding us that this is the time for the annual sleeping bag drive. The Public Defender's Office is collecting new and like-new sleeping bags, warm clothing and new socks and underwears to support individuals experiencing homelessness this winter. Donations are accepted at the Public Defenders' Offices in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria through December 11th with distribution events scheduled for December 12th at both locations. And Erika Brokhoff we appreciate all the work you're doing for that. So thank you very much. They're here as well, so appreciate all your work on that.
Lastly in the holiday spirit, the county is collecting donations for the annual Toys for Tots campaign with drop-off boxes available at county facilities in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria as well as county fire stations. The Board of Supervisors will participate by presenting their donations at the December 9th meeting and the community is encouraged to join by donating new unwrapped toys through December 17th. All toys will stay local and be distributed by the Unity Shop. Additional information on these donation opportunities can be found at our website under news and announcements.
And finally we wanted to get an update for your board on the November storms this morning we'd like to provide the board an update um and as you know we've all experienced a storm several inches of rain to our area over the past few days joining us in person today to provide an update we have emergency manager JD Salcedo from the office of emergency management Chris Nedden director public works deputy chief Anthony Stornetta with fire and undersheriff Craig Bonner They will each provide an update recapping the storm impacts and how the county responded, and what's ahead.
First speaker please.
Good morning Chair Kaps and members of the board. As CEO Miyasato said my name is JD Saucedo and I'm an emergency manager for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management or OEM for short. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning. County OEM has been tracking the storm system since early last week, right around the Veterans Day holiday. And since then we've been considerably busy.
I'd like to give you a high-level update on some actions that OEM has taken to date regarding the storm system. First, OEM has been coordinating closely with local public safety agencies and county departments including the County Sheriff's Office, Fire Department and Public Works Department to understand the current situation and how the storm may impact our local communities including those who live in and around Lake and Gifford fire burn areas.
OEM has also been working daily with the National Weather Service to get the most up-to-date forecast and be able to share that information accordingly. Related to that, OEM has been sharing information with all of our public safety, with all of our local partner agencies countywide and collecting reports from them to make sure they are able to understand the situation and make their own independent decisions and make sure we understand what they're experiencing.
Finally, OEM has been maintaining the major storm webpage at ReadySBC.org and posting to our social media in both English and Spanish. And as a reminder, the major storm webpage on www.ReadySBC.org has the latest storm information and updates, tips on how to stay safe and prepare for significant storm events, and hyperlinks to other helpful resources. Looking forward, rain remains in our forecast. And as such, OEM asks all community members to be aware of their immediate surroundings and be prepared to take action if needed.
Furthermore, OEM asks the community to look out for your neighbors and be aware of any vulnerable community members who may need assistance staying safe. And finally, the County Office of Emergency Management urges all members of the public to register to receive emergency alerts from the Ready SPC alert system. To do this simply visit www.readyspc.org and click on the Register to Receive Emergency Alerts button. Doing so is free and really only takes a couple minutes. Remember if we can't reach you, we can't alert you.
Thank you again for this opportunity. I'd like to now turn it over to County Public Works Director Chris Sneddon for his update.
0:07 – 0:126 turns
Good morning Chair Kaps, members of the board. Chris Nen with Public Works. I think 30,000 foot level this storm was in unincorporated county was everything went really well it was like a good amount of rain but not too much rain for the most part there were some areas like City of Santa Barbara that experienced flooding. I think one of the takeaways is You know, these storms can mean different things for different areas and all it really takes is one cell to kind of perch in an area and rain intensely for a short period of time and creates a lot of issues. So while overall it was a good storm there were areas where if it had kept raining at some of the intensities that did we could have had some issues so we're fortunate We didn't. And as JD mentioned, it does highlight that we all need to stay vigilant and people need to be watching their particular area and react accordingly.
In terms of some statistics, this has been one of the wettest winter years water years to date that we've had in our county. We eclipsed the 1983 wettest start on record and in city of Santa Barbara it was the wettest start in the past 127 years so while it has been a wet start that doesn't necessarily mean overall that the year is going Of the rainfall in a water year to date and we're at about overall 460% of a year to date wetness.
Some of the numbers that we have in Santa Maria area, we got about three to four inches in the high. Lompoc was four to five in the high. Kuala Lupe was about in the high two inch rainfall rate or rainfall totals. South Coast and the urban areas they got seven to 11 inches and San Marcos Pass 15 inches and the Kachuma Lake area got about eight inches so fair amount of rain for that storm In terms of the reservoirs and river levels, we're seeing low flows in the rivers and creeks. So everything has subsided in the creeks that were flowing high on Saturday night.
And the big rivers, Keyama, Sisquauk, Santa Maria, San Ynez are at their low flow to no flow range. And then in terms of reservoir capacities there wasn't significant changes to Kachuma and all the other reservoirs are The roads all fared really well working with fire and cities and OEM and Caltrans. The crews are working throughout the weekend and taking care of the downed trees in And that's the end of my report. Thank you question.
Yeah supervisor 11, you know
not a question just comment for folks that I just want to commend you in the flood control department on the website that is my dad's actual favorite website but it is it gives you all the information that Chris just gave you so you can It goes through probably 15 different parts of our county. It updates every morning, it gives you year-to-date what precipitation we're at percent of the year.
Goes through all of our reservoirs and it really gives you an idea of as you stated that the difference between what like we saw in Santa Maria compared to what you see at San Marcos Pass and once you get into Santa Barbara so I think all, I don't know the exact website but if I just Google Santa Barbara County rainfall and it takes you right to the flood control district hydrology report. So good job whoever handles that.
Thanks and Supervisor Lavigno through the chair. I did write down website I forgot to plug it so thank you for doing that for me and yeah it's really easy to find Santa Barbara County rainfall and exactly has all that information.
I mean along those lines it's not necessarily Your your department to track but I did see so many images of cars getting stranded with the flooding particularly in the city of Santa Barbara. Do we know in terms of injuries? We have a sense from anybody at OAM maybe or hopefully what I didn't hear a lot of tales Of injuries, but certainly that was a big concern and tried to get the word out ourselves. I know that's something that ReadySBC does of just don't drive Turn around all those messages, but
Chair Kapsch, yeah, I don't have any information on that, but I haven't heard of any
0:12 – 0:2012 turns
Thank you Supervisor Hartman is more rain forecast
Supervisor Hartman through the chair, thank you for that too. Yes we do expect some rain later in this week from what we're seeing now there's a lot of uncertainty in the models but if the rainfall sticks to the current models of half to an inch everything should be accommodate that pretty well. Turn it over to Anthony to follow up thank you
Thanks Chris. Chair Capps, members of the board, Anthony Stornetta, County Fire. Chris kind of covered a lot of stuff I was going to hit on but I'm gonna kind of just talk about to answer your question first about injuries, stranded vehicles. There were no injuries that I know of talking to our OPA area partners there were some stranded vehicles in Santa Barbara and some flooding Santa Barbara Montecito Carpinteria there was a large tree that came down by the Montecito fire station Those were kind of the big ones you go east of town here by the golf course, it's still closed or some flooding there but other than that just minor debris along the roadways and for us for call volume. It was kind of about the same you'd expect in the winter weather like this, but I'll kind of want to give you guys a glimpse of what it's looking like on the ground so yesterday I spent my time driving around the lake fire and looking at what What's happening on the ground, because as Chris mentioned up in the Santa Anas Mountain Range we got up to 13 inches of rain.
But you go to Sysquak where we were last week Supervisor Lee and it was only two inches of rain and it was still brown last week when we were out there. So I went to Cuyama this morning drove on the way back so we got some really good flow coming through the Cuyama River right now lots of room to expand everything looks real good. I went in Pine Canyon Supervisor Nelson where we spent some time back there on the fire. There's some debris back in there there's some damage to the road but The residents are still getting in and out. Those are kind of our concern areas out there on the 166 corridor, the Madre and Gifford so looked at that and then like I said yesterday going along Fox and Canyon looking at the river drainages and everything. The lake fire is looking really good we got some good growth from last year although it's not deep-rooted growth we have growth we have some good vegetation out there it's holding everything back.
Figaro got eight inches of rain and along Alamo Creek all the way down to 246 where we usually see problems There was no problem. So the basins are good, the basins are absorbing. Twitchell looks really good so other than that on the ground we're looking pretty good and there's a lot of room for expansion unless you guys have any further questions. Thank you.
Actually I do, Deputy Chief Stornetta. I represent a lot of bluff area and we did have a cliff fall and I know thanks to fire and to our Sheriff's Department for being on the ground and helping. And I hear that recovery is a positive one there thank goodness but can you just please talk? I woke up this morning with clear skies and had that urge to get out and walk so many people are going to be doing the same with You know, wanting to walk along the beach along the bluffs. Can you please talk about bluff safety and and the stability of our bluffs right now after a storm?
Yeah, you know in sand can usually take a lot of water but it's also a detriment sometimes to the soil erosion and what occurs under that especially with the large waves we saw there's a lot I think that's a good reminder and you know what we will put something out for And as Chris mentioned earlier, we're looking at another half inch to two inches coming too. So that's only going to come on top of the saturated soils already so thanks for bringing that up. So
it's two body lengths away from the edge is the rule?
Is the rule. I don't even think I get that close
but... Okay there you go. Thank you. Okay thank you
Good morning, I'll just wrap it up. Obviously my partners have done a great job of kind of bringing everybody up to speed on what has occurred but I just want to reassure everyone that there is an extensive amount of coordination and communication that is occurring constantly. We were on phone calls every single day with the National Weather Service as well as all of our county and state and federal partners trying to figure out what we had coming and whether or not it was necessary to take protective actions And ultimately to communicate that out to the community and you know, we did experience localized impacts with these storms that came through over the past couple of weeks.
Fortunately none of them rose to the level that we were concerned for immediate life safety concerns, which is when we would ask people to leave their homes with evacuations and such. But we were constantly evaluating that to include not just what was coming but what has already occurred right? We spoke about that we now have saturation on top of everything else that has occurred.
We are confident thus far of what is coming at the end of the week That our community is going to be able to absorb that. But we are still in communication and will remain in communication as it relates to that. The one thing, just to kind of round it out, it's really important that each of us as community members are paying attention to what's going on. Whether that is getting on the websites or getting signed up for ReadySBC.org We need to know what's going on. We know our community better than anybody else. I mean we're all professionals here, we know the community as a whole but each of us know our property, our family better than anybody else and it's important that we Thank you.
Collaboration has been awesome throughout these storms. It will continue to occur, but each of us needs to pay attention and be ready and protect ourselves and our families and our neighbors as came up earlier.
Thank you under Sheriff Bonner. Supervisor Hartman?
Yes, I think this is for you under Sheriff Bonner. So previously we've had a lot of issues with homeless in the riverbeds and warning ahead of time and trying to make sure that they were out. We've done significant clearing of encampments in the riverbeds so I wonder if you could report on that or RCSD what we know about that And where people can go who don't have homes when it's raining.
Yeah, so I'll probably let him come up to talk to some of that. But obviously we've been collaborating all along with CSD and your office on in the city of Lompoc on this and we are continuing to work on not just to make progress in getting folks out of the riverbed and other areas that are not conducive to life but also to make sure that folks aren't going back in there You know, we haven't hit the point like we did in years past where Kachuma was full and they were making releases on top of all the additional storm-related flow that was occurring. So we haven't reached the point that we were having to go and fly and make announcements to this point however you know that's certainly coming if the rain continues as is but I don't know if Jesus wants to come up and talk about
0:20 – 0:2712 turns
Good morning Chair Caps and members of the board. So we do coordinate, we watch the weather like everybody else through the EOC activities when they are active and we notify our service providers to go out along but not necessarily with and accompany the Sheriff's Department but in addition to you know encampment areas especially in riverbeds when they're known to be Populated by folks at that time or at least checking to make sure that they're not and we We do have warming centers that we send out, you know throughout the county if there's three or four different locations that we also spread the word to Unhoused individuals through service providers and the sheriff's department in times like that.
So Temperature triggers the warming centers does rain as well
Yes, okay temperature and rain
Thank you to our speakers. That's the end of our presentation this morning.
Well, yeah thank you so much to our first responder team. I hope this recap really gives a sense of how so many different entities are working together. This storm was so lengthy and so much rain and we're just grateful that so much minimal damage really when we look at it the totals. Really appreciate all the work and we'll brace ourselves for the next one.
Okay thanks to our CEO
The next item of business is the Administrative Agenda.
Chair Caps and members of the board, I do have a couple quick announcements this morning. An addendum was posted on Friday November 14th 2025 adding administrative item number 36 to today's agenda. Administrative item number 36 is from the county executive office. It is regarding the appointment of Garrett Huff as the County of Santa Barbara's fire chief prior to board action on administrative item number 36 in accordance with government code section 54953 subdivision c3 The Fire Chief's salary information shall be summarized verbally. Effective December 8, 2025 Garrett Huff's bi-weekly salary will be approximately $11,639 with benefits consistent with those received by other appointed Santa Barbara County Department Heads under Resolution No.
25-218 The addition included in the addendum has been posted and made available online to both the board and the public. With no request to speak on this matter, the board may add this to the balance of the administrative agenda but I do believe we have at least one board member who has pulled this item. Additionally, we received a request from the department to continue Departmental Item No. 1. Departmental Item No. 1 is from the Public Works Department and it is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the adoption of a proposed Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance for the Public Works Department services. The department is requesting a continued to the December 9th 2025 board meeting.
And lastly, for information on the Board of Supervisors methods of public participation and instructions on how to provide public comment on items listed on today's agenda or during general public comment please refer to 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 805-568-2240 again that number is 805 5, 6, 8 to 2 for 0 and that concludes my announcements for today.
Okay thank you Madam Clerk so now we'll move on to the administrative agenda would any board members like to pull items? I have already pulled A18, A36 and I'll add to that list A5 and A33. And
Chair Capsley can I have a roll call vote on A13? Sure
So that leaves us A5, A13, A18, A33 and
A36. And Chair Kapsch members of the board I have requests from the public on A6 and A18. Okay so
one two three four five six total. So now I'll entertain a motion to approve the balance of the administrative agenda except for those six that I just announced. You have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion passes. Okay let's move on to our resolutions. Administrative item number one. And now we're going to switch things up and I will be reading administrative item number one Which is a resolution proclaiming November 17th to through 21st 2025 as California clerk of the Board of Supervisors week in Santa Barbara County.
Whereas. And let's not compare my reading versus the person who normally does this. Whereas California counties provide many services that are essential to the lives of Californians and whereas the position of clerk at the Board of Supervisors plays an integral role in the function of California County government, And whereas the work performed by the clerks of the board is a time-honored and vital part of local government, and whereas the clerk's duties of record keeping is revered their work among the earliest recorded on behalf of the public. And clerks have long pledged to maintain their neutrality and impartiality of the proceedings of government And whereas the California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Association, an affiliate of the California State Association of Counties is organized to promote the principles of good government to represent the interests of the clerks of the board with legislative bodies and other professional organizations.
To encourage the development of professional growth and education and to support the objectives of all regional groups established within the association and Whereas it is most appropriate that we recognize the accomplishments of clerks of the board across the 58 counties of the state of California. Now therefore be it proclaimed that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara does hereby proclaim the week of November 17th through November 21st as California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Week in recognition of the high level of services bestowed upon the people of the Santa Barbara County and the people of California by our clerks of the board. Passed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County, State of California this 18th day of November 2025.
0:27 – 0:316 turns
Our whole
office. Yay! Such amazing work. Thank you. Behind the scenes. Thank you so much. Thank you Barbara.
Well, Chair Caps and members of the board for the record I'm Jacqueline Alexander chief deputy clerk of the board. Thank you so much for recognizing the California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors week. I'm grateful to be here and even more grateful to work alongside such an incredible team. Joining me here in Santa Maria is Deputy Clerk Leah Graham and tuning in from Santa Barbara are Deputy Clerks Chelsea Lindsey, Catherine Douglas and Sarah Mayer in her part-time capacity.
I also want to recognize Sheila de la Guerra who's out of the office today but very much a part of the heart of this team. Every member of the Clerk of the Board's office is vital to our success. They are the magic behind the curtain, the reason our operations run smoothly whether things are calm or let's just say character building. While counties may be organized differently across the state, Clerk of the Board everywhere use a tremendous amount of judgment expertise and independence to support the Board of Supervisors, the Assessment Appeals Board as well as other boards and commissions and of course the public.
Clerks ensure that the board, county departments and members of the public remain informed and connected through accurate and accessible information. But if you ask most clerks they'll tell you their most important role is being the legislative historian. The full recorded history of the county lives in our care and that's a responsibility we never take lightly.
And even though this team prefers to stay behind the scenes, very happily I might add. I want to take this moment to shine a light on them and all the clerks who came before us. I also want to extend that recognition to the clerk of the board offices across California who carry out this work with the same dedication precision and pride in service Their commitment ensures that the legislative record is accurate, complete and preserved for generations. Thank you again for this recognition today it truly means a lot to all of us. COB for life.
Supervisor Lee?
I just want to say thank you and you are truly the heroes behind the scenes so thank you for your work. I really appreciate everything that you do.
Yeah, I want to just chime in as well and I loved the resolution. The points about the history of our government, the points about the impartiality, the points about just keeping things functioning it's so important all of you who participate come to our meetings all of this works so smoothly and Jacqueline you're such a good leader but your team is also so strong to keep us just humming along.
So really it's been a joy to work with you particularly this year as chair It was wonderful to be able to honor you all and your whole team. Thank you That's our one resolution for the day, so we will now move on to the administrative items pulled by the board I Believe that's number five
0:31 – 0:3710 turns
Chair Kaps and members of the board. Administrative item number five is from the Behavioral Wellness Department, it is to consider recommendations regarding a services agreement with the Camp Recovery Center LLC for alcohol and drug program substance use disorder services for fiscal years 2025 through 2027
Yes, Director Navarro as I gave you a heads up. I pulled this because questions came in from the community from one of our advocates about this contract for residential beds if you could just explain and sort of address some of the concerns potentially really just making sure that there's contact between clients and be well so if you can address some of the concerns and explain
to your caps the board and county staff. I'm actually going to let Melissa Wilkins okay branch chief of alcohol drug programs answer the questions great
Good morning, everyone. Yes, so we are excited to be able to present this contract to you all. There's been lots of conversation around the need for additional residential treatment beds for substance use disorders. To get this contract in place, we went through a competitive recruitment process or procurement process I should say and that included a request for proposals and so With any addition of new providers, I know there's probably concerns and questions from family members and advocates in the community to make sure that we're doing our due diligence when we add new providers. And so we have gone through not only the procurement process but also really ensuring that any residential provider that we contract with is licensed for through residential licensing with the Department of Health Care Services, is in good standing and is also drug Medi-Cal certified.
And so those are really rigorous review processes that the state takes and then we at the county adhere to all of those monitoring processes and vetting processes before adding providers. In addition after speaking with Some of the community members around this I know that this particular facility is located outside of Santa Barbara County And we do want to really make sure that we maintain that contact with individuals when they're placed in residential treatment services We have our care coordinators that work closely with clients and getting them placed in residential treatment They do follow up with clients once they're in the residential treatment program So their point-of-contact For the client who they can reach out to at any time when they're in treatment.
And then our care coordinators also assist with the discharge planning process so that we're really making sure that there's a smooth transition back into the community following residential treatment and for these providers. Tony and I were just talking. We would really like to add, being that we're adding new residential providers, that additional layer of surveying or following up with individuals after they're returning back to the County of Santa Barbara and just finding out from them how their experience was at these out-of-county placements. And so we'll be looking at putting that process in place as well just to get an additional layer of feedback from our clients.
Great, thank you. Because I know the fact that it's in Monterey is not ideal but I know that there aren't also a ton of options locally in our county so thanks for addressing that piece of it. Yeah, thanks. Okay well that answered my questions I appreciate it. All right okay I'm happy to move staff recommendation on A5. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries
We'll move on to the next pulled administrative item.
Chair Katz and members of the board, Administrative Item number six is from the Behavioral Wellness Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding a second amendment to the Services Agreement Board Contract Number 23-026 with Recover Medical Group PC for Drug MediCal Organized Delivery System outpatient treatment services for fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
And we have one request to speak from the public on this item here in Santa Maria, and I believe it's Sheila Kelly. I mispronounced that my apologies.
I will admit right off, I did not choose appropriately or did I? I chose this one behavior health because it's affecting all of my friends and family's behavior and their health. Not sleeping, possibly drinking. I know lots of people who need a lot of help. And I would like to know what your plan is to help innocent women of color to keep them safe from both the real and the fake ICE agents out there We've been told that we can't call 911 for help. But these people, they're our citizens, our friends, our family and didn't we just pledge indivisible and justice for all?
So what's our plan? Why can't we call 9-1-1 for help? We see someone that needs help when we can' t call. ICE has just taken over our entire world living free in our brains I mean you're all looking very stunned right now. I don't know, like I said I possibly didn't choose the right one here but I would like some answers especially as a woman. I've been fighting for women's rights with my older sisters since I was tiny we shouldn't have to keep fighting for equal rights and now women aren't safe to walk the streets especially women of color I know no one wants to take this one.
Anyone?
Yeah, I can just explain it's not a chance for dialogue this is just a comment so per the Brown Act the way that we're organized here it's not
0:37 – 0:4526 turns
That's fine. So it's just on the docket and you guys can discuss it privately? No, we can't even do that actually. We just listen to your comment.
Okay. It would have to be formally agendized and we have had it on other agendas. Thank You
Joan.
Yeah okay
yeah well just know that we're all concerned
thank you. And that concludes public comment on that item.
I'll move A6. Staff recommendations?
I'll second.
All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Okay we can move to A13
Chair Capps and members of the board, Administrative Item number 13 is from the County Council. It is to consider recommendations regarding an agreement for professional legal services with outside counsel run public law group and there's a four-fifths vote required on this item.
Okay Supervisor Nielsen?
Yes thank you Chair Capps. I just was asking for roll call vote just to keep my vote that was consistent with our closed session that we reported out on this issue. I'm gonna go ahead and vote no on it so if you could just give me an opportunity for roll call I'd appreciate it.
Absolutely. Okay, roll call vote when
you're ready. And Chair Kaps, members of the board can we please get a motion to approve staff recommendations?
I'll move.
Second.
Okay.
We have a
Roll-call vote Passed 4–1 motion and a second.
Show transcript
Motion passes 4-1
Okay, then we'll move to A18 which I believe was pulled by Supervisor Hartman as well as the public? That is correct.
Why don't you go with the public first? Okay.
Chair Kapsa, members of the Board, Administrative Item number 18 is from the General Services Department and the Community Services Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding the acceptance of easements We do have two requests to speak from the public on this item. We are going to Zoom with Heidi Jones and then we will remain or return to Santa Maria with Dave Baker. Heidi?
Hello, Heidi Jones here agent for the applicant I am just available for questions and listening in so you can pass it on to Mr. Baker.
Great thank you. We will return to Santa Maria with Dave Baker.
Good morning. My name is Dave Baker and today I'm representing the Lompoc Trails Committee. We are a group of dedicated volunteers within the community of Lompoc that are trying to do good things for, to help with recreation in Lompoc. In 2015, a group of volunteers built a community free-to-ride public access bicycle park And at that time we dedicated that park to a local business person and they just passed away.
After that dedication their family gifted 82 acres of land to our foundation, our nonprofit foundation in an effort to provide recreational experiences in Lompoc. So in 2019 We rallied a focus group together for dedicated volunteers and we started down the process of how to build public trails on private lands. That's taken us down a very long road, multiple roads during that time.
Supervisor Nelson was in charge of District 3 and now it's supervisor Hartman And we are excited to be at this process here of going for approval so that we could build public hiking trails and biking trails for the community of Lompoc. It's been a long, long journey as I mentioned. Lots of people that think through this journey are recognized with the parks department with Ryan Dom and Jeff Lindgren planning has been very helpful with Jeff Wilson and Again, Director Lindgren has been very helpful. And then through the most recent process with city staff with James Cleary and I'm sure I'm missing a few but we have gone A long, long time. Again we started this in 2019 and we're excited to be able to provide something to the community of Lompoc.
So I'd like to thank again Supervisor Nelson for starting this quite a while ago and supporting us the whole time. And most recently thank you Supervisor Hartman for investing in the community of Lompoc Our property surrounds an existing hiking trail of Bodger Trail, which is frequented about 100 people a day on that trail. And to provide parking for them will help with the community and I'm here to answer any questions you may have if I can understand public comment but nothing else thank you all of you for this opportunity and we're looking forward to doing good things in Lompoc
Supervisor Hartman. I would just like to add thank you to all the county departments and especially thank you to you Dave Baker it isn't easy keeping an all-volunteer organization motivated and energized when things get extended over such a long period and the main focus is Making this trail come to life. So you've done it I've seen you raising money, I've seen you at the at the fair at the market Saturday market that Friday night markets and and you really Really invested your heart and soul in this project. So I can't wait now you can finally get to work to see the people who it's people from all walks of life, all ages who this 82 acres is bisected by oddly enough a county road or a county park trail that continued to wash out and so wasn't available.
And so now this will be a whole network of trails with the parking area And it just, it means so much to this community. I fully didn't understand until I went out there and saw. And you go up a hill and then you are rewarded by a lookout over the entire Lompoc Valley. So it's an extraordinary place and thank you for all your hard work on it.
0:45 – 0:4810 turns
Supervisor Nielsen.
Yeah, thank you Chair Caps. I just also wanted to thank you Dave and yours is perseverance. I know when I met with you guys six years ago I was concerned that it might take a while to get through this process and I really just got to commend you and all your volunteers on sticking with it. I wish these processes didn't take so long I know our board is committed to trying to shortcut some of those things in the future. But again, you know without your guys's persistence and love for the Lompoc Valley and the Lompoc community this wouldn't be happening so I just wanted to make sure I extended my gratitude to you as well.
Okay thank you. So I will move staff recommendation?
I'd be happy to second that one.
We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay when we're ready we will move on to A33
Don't worry, we're good. Chair Caps and members of the board administrative item number 33 is sponsored by Supervisor Caps it is to consider recommendations regarding the contribution of $5,000 to the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County
Just a quick acknowledgement, just was able to move some of the funds that we have from our 990 funds from my office to the food bank as we all have been sorely aware of with the government shutdown and I want to start by saying thank you so much to the board of Supervisors for all of their hard work over the last couple of weeks. We've had a pause of SNAP benefits for so many of our residents here in Santa Barbara County, our food banks have felt extreme pressure and so our office wanted to step up and do what we can particularly given the holiday season and the cold.
Our food banks really bear the brunt of some dysfunction in Washington and what's happening The way in which are our community really steps up for all of those in need particularly now so this is I'll move staff recommendation.
Second
okay all those in favor please say aye motion carries. Thank you a 36 or last one. Supervisor Lee after it gets announced.
Chair Kaps and members of the board. Administrative item number 36 was previously read into the record as it was our addendum for today's meeting, but it is from the county executive office and is to consider recommendations regarding the appointment of the fire
0:48 – 0:5314 turns
chief. I want to give this opportunity to Fire Chief Garrett Huff for him to make a comment.
Yeah, thank you for that. My heart rate just went up significantly. Chair Caps, members of the board, CEO Miyasato I want to thank you very much for this opportunity. This is the biggest honor to be selected as the fire chief for Santa Barbara County Fire Department. This is the greatest privilege so far in my career. Having grown up in this department and serving alongside the men and women of the people that serve our community, this moment is very meaningful and impactful to me.
I am grateful for the trust and confidence that you all have in me, and I understand the responsibility that is now on my shoulders. This coming year marks our 100th anniversary, a century of providing service to this county. I look forward to reflecting on our past but creating a clear vision for our future Again, I want to thank you for this honor. I am committed to leading with integrity, transparency and just dedication to serve this community so thank you very much.
I just want to follow up saying I'm very excited for you to be in this role. You do have my full confidence and trust, so looking forward to what your tenure here is. Thank you. Thank
you.
I just want to thank you first off for making it real easy for us to make this decision and for the CEO to make this decision. And number two, I want people to understand that what your history is inside of our department. So if you could just take 30 seconds, I think it's important for people to know who you are and what you've done. Sure. 30 seconds.
I'll give you a minute. I've been with the county fire department for 20 years. I started as a lateral here is a firefighter paramedic. I served on our helicopter for a little period as a flight paramedic, engineer inspector, paramedic FTO, fire captain, training captain, battalion chief. I served in our prevention bureau and was the deputy fire marshal. Then I was promoted to division chief of EMS and training so I got Both of my passions, training in EMS was a big part of the ambulance transport initiative promoted to deputy chief and inherited the RFCC that was kind of already started but very much still in its infancy.
Took that across the finish line and here I am today so that's me in 30 seconds.
That's awesome. I think it you know in this county In this county people are, you know this is a position that is very high profile and so I just wanted them to know that you know Santa Barbara County inside out and backwards. You've been in this department for 20 years and I think we all have full confidence that you're going to lead us into the next 20. So thanks Garrett. Thank you I
just wanted to clarify three things. One is Garrett is not chief yet you can only have one chief at a time so I just want to remind everyone that his first day of December 8th I also want to just let the public know we had a nationwide search for this job. Obviously Garrett is going to do wonderfully for us but I just wanted to let the public know it wasn't a shoo-in and that he actually went through a competitive process with a nationwide search. And lastly, there will be time we'll bring a resolution thanking our existing chiefs but I just wanted to say thank you to Mark Hartwig.
You know, he had a career spanning 33 years. He was a fire chief in two places before he came here and he's been a dedicated bold leader and we thank him for his service and there will be more time for us to thank him publicly informally. Thank you.
And I just want to add my excitement. Just one point is how beloved and how excited your fellow firefighters are. We just heard it from so many people, so many places and that makes me personally really excited for you to take over. Congratulations. That
makes me personally very excited
as well. Yeah good okay congratulations Gary.
So I move staff recommendation
Second. Okay we have a motion and second all those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries congratulations. That wraps up our, oh no I'm sorry we've had some late requests. Madam Clerk?
Thank you Chair Kaps and members of the board. We did have a couple requests to speak on Administrative Item number 5 as well as Administrative Item number 23 so if we can return to those. I will begin with Administrative item number five that was previously read into the record This is from the behavioral wellness department. It is to consider recommendations regarding a services agreement with a camp recovery center LLC for alcohol and drug program substance use disorder services for fiscal years 2025 through 2027.
0:53 – 0:564 turns
I just want to make sure members of the public that might have pulled this if they're actually speaking to this item If there is public comment on non-agendized items, you can speak about any topic under the sun. But are they speaking to this item? And this is
for Gail Osharenko on Zoom and so we're going to Zoom with Gail Osharenko. Gail? Hello?
Can you hear me? Yes we can, Gail. Please proceed. I actually talked to the clerk's office and said it was okay. I didn't need to speak you covered it but I did raise this item with a couple of the board members and I appreciate the attention. I talked to Melissa Wilkins What disturbed me was when I went to Yelp to look at reviews of this place. There was one that was quite disturbing, but also quite credible and I wanted to be sure that the department had a process so that any client we sent A couple of counties away had a way of reaching the department and letting us know if there was a problem.
These facilities are often understaffed, so problems can arise. They're difficult facilities to run. It's difficult to keep drugs out of them. And I just wanted to know that the department looks at Yelp and looks at any reviews they can find, and does their homework. I think they did. I'm expecting it to be a good experience. And I appreciate that Laura had pulled this earlier. I had trouble getting connected fast enough earlier. That's why my name was still on there. But thank you for the opportunity to speak.
And that concludes our request to speak on administrative item number 5. And now we will return to administrative item number 13 or 23, my apologies. Administrative Item Number 23 is from the General Services Department. It is to consider recommendations regarding a professional service agreement for Orkut Library Environmental Services project number PRJ 233-20056, Orkutt Library Facilities. This is in the 4th district and requires a four fifths vote and was previously approved with the balance of the administrative agenda but we did have one request to speak here in Santa Maria Todd Wilson.
0:56 – 1:007 turns
Do I have a timer somewhere?
It's three minutes.
Yeah, my name is Todd Wilson. This agenda item is a funding request for an supplemental EIR for the library proposed in Orchid. The site of this project is a South Point Estate subdivision parcel. Originally when that subdivision was approved, it was dedicated as open space for the planned residential development. There were restrictions and deed restrictions on the property to maintain it as open space property and I reviewed... I reviewed the attachments and I want to bring your attention On attachment A, there's a depiction of the traffic corner of Fox and Wood and Clark Road. It reflects left-hand turn lanes that was shut down five years ago.
This attachment is misinforming you and I don't know who else who has relied on this information. Additionally the entryway which was a problem Including the traffic at Fox and Wood at the Fox and Wood corner in the EIR that this is going to supplement. And a lot of discussion on the issues. The entryway is misrepresented if you took and drove that entry way, you would run into parked cars for the project What's shown is the Lombard project.
Additionally, there is no secondary access shown. There isn't an easement that's reflected on this map as a utility easement It's not, we resolved that in the Oasis project. It's an access easement that actually runs right across the parking lot and right next to the building for Oasis. The package indicated that there was to be a community center. Supervisors, a community center is not an approved site It's not allowed in your land use development code. Oasis project just blew through it.
Planners and applicant just changed the name to a meeting center, so now it's a community center? It's against the code. I don't know what you were doing the first time with Oasis and so the presentation here is let's do it again. It doesn't make sense.
Thank you Todd that is your time.
Okay. That concludes our administrative agenda. Is that correct? Chair
Kaps and members of the board, that is correct.
Okay. So then we can move on to general public comment.
1:00 – 1:067 turns
Chair Kaps and members of the board, we have 13 requests to speak in general public comment. And we will begin on Zoom with LaWanda Lyons-Pruitt to be followed by Renny Strong.
Good morning Chair Capps, members of the board. Mashing windows. Mashing cars. Flashlight. No ID. No badges. Wearing face masks. That is lawlessness. Lawlessness! We have a constitution. We have law. There is a thing called due process, due process which is guaranteed on the Constitution. We have police every resident every citizen Everyone in Santa Barbara County, any city anywhere in the United States should be appalled at what is happening with immigration. What is happening with ICE? What is happening with Border Patrol and what is happening particularly in Santa Barbara County?
There's that old saying that says justice will not be served until those who are unaffected as, or as outraged is those who are. I am totally outraged. There was another incident in Santa Maria where family was trying to go to the grocery store on Sunday, there's no reason you're going to smash up their car break their windows. There has to be another way and there is a thing called due process.
Board members, I urge you to condemn excessive force doing immigration enforcement fund humanitarian and legal support impacted families. Thank you be outraged. Thank you.
Thank you and just a note that I'm closing public comment at this point.
We will now go to Renny Strong and then we will return to Santa Maria. My apologies, we'll go to Renny Strong then we will go to Miriam Shaw. Renny?
Good morning to everybody. This is Renny Strong. So let's see, where do we start off with? Thank you for the lady that just spoke. Absolutely we should be extremely outraged and not just outraged but we need to take some serious intention action quit giving our power away. To what I'm gonna go into next. I don't think a lot of people know what kind of system we have here.
They don't know we've been bamboozled hoodwinked Fooled in many ways. And this is the time, the great unveiling. The veil's lifted. We're seeing that this government that is running it is a fascist government. There's proof of this. There's documentaries about it. It's in all the courtrooms. It' in all between the judges like their back room or if you know what to look for, you will find it.
I'm going to there's a, there's a great. Um, I know only have a short amount of time. So what people don't know is they need to look up corporate report.com James Corbett of the corporate report.com com C O R B E T T R E P O R T.com he's got everything about the Here we'll start with this, the top of our leaders. It's called pathocracy. Pathocracy. Okay? This is all...
If you look up that under his search bar, if you look at dissent into madness, let's see, escape the madhouse about these so-called leaders that we have Does psychopathic, sociopathic come to mind? And I'll tell you we have the best here where we live just because of the environment that we're in and how beautiful it is here. But don't take this lightly. It's like a laugh-to-cry thing, it's so sad and it's pathetic.
They're not on your side, they're not your friends, they're not looking out for your best interest those that are sitting up there And nowhere else. We're lucky we have the assistance we had because we have caring people, human beings that care enough. So thank you to everybody that's speaking for it. The other thing last thing and again lookupcorberreport.com go get caught up they want to put people in a mental hospitals that are speaking the truth on these things. The COVID-1984 agenda that's called the Great Reset World Economic Forum pushed the fourth industrial revolution They also about 9 11.
It was an inside job if we keep staying on the fence like Humpty Dumpty and quit deciding, and we hope to have a thank you. That's
your time.
Thank you. Ready? That is your time. We will now go to Miriam Shaw. Then we will return here in Santa Maria with Sue Heitman. Miriam Mariam, we have unmuted you on our end. If you can please unmute on your end to provide your comments.
1:06 – 1:116 turns
There we go. Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, we can please proceed.
Good morning Chair Kaps and Supervisors. My name is Miriam Shaw, I'm the Director of Public Affairs speaking on behalf of the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund. At PPCCAF we fight for our patients' health and wellness at every level and we serve all patients that come through our doors regardless of their immigration status. Part of protecting our patients' health and wellness is keeping them safe from the excessive force used by ICE agents with no accountability or regard for safety. While community organizations like 805 UndocuFund and Brave Volunteers are doing everything they can, they cannot continue protecting our undocumented community without local government support and funding. The federal government has declared war on a very important part of our community And we are the only lifeline they have.
While volunteers can be smoke bombed and ignored, your voices matter when it comes to demanding accountability from ICE. None of us can do it alone. Collective action is our only hope and we need you on the community side. Thank you.
We will now return to Santa Maria with Sue Heitman to be followed by Naomi Lai.
Thank you, Supervisors. I'm going to approach this a little bit differently. My husband and I are retired farmers. We live in Orchid. We farm pomegranates, almonds and olives for olive oil. And we were the first olive oil with the help of Sonoma Olive Press to win the international competition for best-in-class for all of California. That was in 2014. We couldn't have done it without our immigrant, migrant farm workers or as we call them our valued employees.
So I want to say as a retired farmer, we understand the value of our labor force especially our farm workers Our crops here in Santa Barbara County, our crops that I grew are hand-picked. They're not mechanized like my ancestors in the Midwest who dealt with wheat and corn and soybeans. It's not mechanized. We need our labor force and especially need that labor force for the economic stability of our small and medium sized farms.
So Everything was wonderful I love being here in the strawberry capital. And now we're compromised were compromised on our farms by these ice raids, the lack of due process and the force of attacks on our farm workers are forcing the backbone of our economy, which is farming to sink to a different level. We are proud to be California farmers. We are proud to be the breadbasket not the Midwest of farming and we depend on our farm workers.
This is not about criminal activity when ice enters our farms this is about attacks on people of color and attacks on our California economy which is farming So most of you champion immigration rights, so I'm not putting down any of the supervisors. I want to say instead this is really dire times for us and it's dire times for our farms too and I want to say that my ask to you is very simple each of you have communities that you talk to please talk about how important this is that we deal with ICE. You have political agendas that should always include I look especially to Supervisor Nelson, my supervisor who's a member of RCRC and they should definitely stand up as you as an officer of that organization.
So when I started here with Indivisible this organization was a small handful of people in Santa Maria alone we turned out close to 2,000 people for no kings There are five other indivisibles just in Santa Barbara County, so you add that together and we're a strong force. So we ask that you support our 70% Hispanic population here in Santa Maria with their concrete ask of what they need from you and thank you very much for your support in the past and Go California Farmers! Thank You
We will now go to Naomi Lai to be followed by Mark Campbell.
1:11 – 1:174 turns
Good morning. Thank you Board of Supervisors for allowing me to speak. My name is Naomi Lai and I am a retired school teacher from Orchid, co-chair of Indivisible Santa Maria and volunteer for Rapid Response. As a third generation Japanese American, I'm horrified at the reinstatement of the Alien Enemies Act that is illegal and discriminates against immigrants based on their ancestry.
This brought about 120,000 people of Japanese descent to be relocated away from friends families and their hard-earned property. History is repeating itself as I saw firsthand as an 805 volunteer on November 13th on Telephone Road Many people there were community members such as teachers, professors, business owners as well as activists. We were all concerned how something so un-American can be happening in our own backyard.
None of the ICE or Homeland Security acknowledged our questions and provided no information about warrants, badge numbers, their names or intent. Many of us had tears in our eyes as we watched those being detained were driven away. Their spouses, children and everyone that they loved will wonder why they did not come home that night or the next or the next for those families the unknown must be the hardest burden to bear this is unacceptable and we demand clarity We must as a caring community at the very least provide humanitarian and legal support by allocation of funds to all who are involved in this undemocratic and hideous process.
Thank you again for your time.
We will now go to Mark Campbell, to be followed by Teresa Suarez.
Good morning Chair, Supervisors. My name is Mark Campbell I'm a retired school teacher working at schools for almost 30 years with Santa Maria Indivisible also associated with 805 UndocuFund. This is not what I pictured I'd be doing on my retirement speaking at Board meetings, but here I am. I will always worry about my children and their families and I will always be concerned for the health of my community.
We are in this situation today because of the last few decades our federal government has failed to come up with a bipartisan immigration policy And now that failure is being put on the backs of average hard-working men and women whose only crime has been to seek a better, safer life for themselves and their families. A crime by the way that is classified as a misdemeanor and as such it carries the right of due process as any person on American soil under the Constitution.
And why has there been this failure of policymaking? Because it has been more advantageous politically to maintain a level of fear and resentment toward a group of people, whether they are documented or undocumented. Too many Americans have never sat down to dinner with people of different culture background than their own. They haven't gone to church with them or mingled with other families at festivals social events They haven't taken the opportunities to learn that there are way more similarities between cultures than there are differences.
The struggles and the joys we experience are processed in the same ways. Unfortunately, some have focused on our differences to create distrust and worse in order to make themselves more powerful. It is not to their advantage to seek compromise and work for a solution. On the contrary, they profit from the suffering of others. So we are left in this moment with a policy vacuum that has opened the door for the cruel, inhumane and unconstitutional actions that we are witnessing daily in our community.
People are afraid. My friends and neighbors and their families are being Abused or ignored. We look to our county leaders to be our voice, to work together to find solutions and to support the values of all decent members of our community. I'm confident that you will support the efforts of organizations that are trying to help families that have had loved ones disappeared.
Families shouldn't be afraid to take their children to school or to shop in stores like everyone else, or to use the food banks if needed. There are lots of people and groups whose first job it is to help others. Those are the ones I want to see supported by our county officials. Thank you for your work.
We will now go to Teresa Suarez to be followed by Gabriel Mendoza. Teresa?
1:17 – 1:226 turns
Good morning, Chair Kaps and Supervisors. My name is Teresa Suarez and I'm a Youth Coordinator for the Tech Youth Program with Mic Up in Santa Maria. I write today to urge you to urge the board to condemn excessive force during immigration enforcements and fund humanitarian and legal support for impacted families. On November 13, we witnessed numerous ICE and HSI agents conducting operations on East Valley Farms in Santa Maria where many families were arrested. We hope these families receive the support they need and are properly compensated.
It was not surprising to see ICE agents covering their faces or to see members of the LA media taking photos of us, while ICE agents refused to identify themselves. These agents even attempted to intimidate community members by raising their batons and approaching as if to strike. They used multiple fear tactics, pushing our cameras, pushing us as people. Our cameras were the only safety devices that we carried at that moment.
Agents drove their vehicles in and out of the entrance without any obstructions so there was no justification for this use of flashbangs to move us aside or to create a false impression that we were blocking their exit. This evidence This device has not only harmed our ears, but also instilled fear in the community highlighting the complete lack of support for our safety during these moments like this. Throughout the entire operations, we only documented what was happening. Yet agents used military-style tactics against our community as we were a threat. As many ICE vehicles exited, agents pointed their guns from the top of their vehicles. All of this was documented by community members and by me as evidence. This is unacceptable. Therefore, we ask for county to take leadership In ensuring safety, transfer transparency and funding supports.
I would also like to I know you guys mentioned that you guys probably don't talk about this. But I don't know why you guys are not allowed to but I think it's an important issue that I mean we're there were experiencing all of this. I really hope that you all really do talk about it in Think about the children's, the families because they're also exposed to this. It's not just adults. Children are really being affected on it. This is our reality. Thank you.
Oh yeah. Just just to clarify we we certainly talk about this very very serious tragic topic a lot in this board hearing and in our jobs all the time just in this format of this hearing It's not agendized. So it's not a topic that we can talk about and get in a back-and-forth with the public because it's not been listed on the agenda for the rest of the community to know that we're going to have a conversation about this, so the rest of the public wouldn't know that we're gonna have a conversation about ICE and immigration today.
Would you talk about the meetings we did have?
Yeah, we've had multiple meetings. We have annual meetings with the sheriff of a truth act. We have had so many hearings on this very topic where it's put out in advance to the community. This is when we're talking about it there's agenda. We will now go to Gabriel Mendoza to be followed by Sergio Castillo.
Good morning Chair, Caps and Supervisors. My name is Gabriel Mendoza. I'm a health navigator with MiCAP in Santa Maria. I am here today to urge the poor to contain the extensive force during immigration enforcement fund humanitarian and legal support for impacted families and stop transfer of medical recipients and layoffs and establish a Health Access Task Force In Santa Maria, there's a big indigenous farm workers and documented families already facing major obstacles to staying safe and healthy.
In my role as a MICA, I see how harmful I'm here to talk about the impact of COVID-19 on families. A health access task force is essential so our community, so they can understand. So community organizations, unions, health leaders and advocates can be part of the decisions that directly affect the people we serve. Our community reserves transparency, stability and a real collaboration.
Thank you for your time. Thank you.
We will now go to Sergio Castillo to be followed by Danny Mogg.
1:22 – 1:286 turns
Good morning, everyone. My name is Sergio Castillo and I am community organizer at MICO and a member of 805 Immigrant Coalition. I'm here today to express my deep concern regarding recent operations that have put the safety and well-being of our communities at risk. I urge the board to condemn the excessive use of force during the enforcement of immigration laws, to fund humanitarian and legal assistance for affected families and to protect access to medical care by stopping transfer and justify decimal.
I am deeply concerned that In our own county, stone granites and aggressive tactics were used without prior notice, putting people at risk. During this operation, organizers, volunteers, June students and even staff members from 805 in Dockum Fountain were spotted to flash bang and push Despite posing a threat, this is unacceptable. The impacts on our community are profound. Families losing income, living in constant fear and being forced to relocate abruptly.
Meanwhile non-profit organizations are doing their best to respond. Shouldering an emotional and financial burden alone Our community and exploitation, clarity and humanity. Thank you.
We will now go to Danny Mogg to be followed by Shauna Stillwell. Danny?
Good morning Chair Kapp and Supervisors. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Danny Mogg. I am a resident of Santa Barbara County District 4 and a retired engineer. Mr. Nelson, I happen to be one of your constituents. And I'm here today to lodge a complaint and remind you of your solemn responsibility to this community Sir, your recent votes make clear your strong support of these illegal actions and I can assure you at some point you're going to face the voters in Santa Barbara County. And your voting record will not be forgotten.
I'm sure you're all aware of the assault on our community on November 14th just four days ago when federal agents abducted at least 15 members of this community including one infant unlawfully And I don't say that lightly. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution strictly prohibits the arrest of any person regardless of immigration status without due process and I want to be clear, if they can do that to anyone documented or not they can do it to anybody in this room so What the federal government has done here in our peaceful agricultural communities is a direct violation of the United States Constitution. And I ask you today, what will be your response?
I'm a veteran of the United States military and when I voluntarily enlisted on April 7th 1977 and showed up at the recruitment facility in Los Angeles California, I swore an oath to that constitution It's an oath that all public servants pledge. I ask each one of you, can you honestly say that you're honoring that oath? Are you meeting your mission? And I want to be clear this is not the paramount issue here today.
I stand before you to shine a light on the absolute inhumanity of these actions. What what the federal government has done is to rendition Members of this community snatch them from their workplace, disappear them from their loved ones. Vital members of this community who give their sweat and blood to feed this city in this nation. In an act of utter cruelty they deliver these people to places that have they have absolutely no connection to These illegal actions have removed fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers from their families left children without parents.
How in God's name can anyone who represents this community condone this? It is far past time for all of you folks to live up to your responsibility as a servant to this community and look yourselves in the mirror and ask yourself if you're doing everything that you can to protect all residents of Santa Barbara County regardless of immigration status.
Thank you, Danny. That is your time.
Thank you.
We will now go to Shauna Stillwell to be followed by Cesar Vasquez. Shauna?
1:28 – 1:354 turns
Good morning Chairwoman Capps, Vice-Chair Nelson and fellow board members. My name is Shauna Stilwell and I've lived in Orkut since 1980. Since I was four years old I grew up here and because I grew up here I need you to understand something very clearly What happened at Glass House Farms in Carpinteria and again last week on Cambridge Way in Orchid is not an isolated incident.
It is part of a cultural pattern I have watched my entire life in this county. When I was a child in the 80s, I saw Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies abuse their power again and again. I was in the car with my brown friends in Orchid when they were targeted pulled over and forced face down on the sidewalk at gunpoint on Bradley and Patterson. They were humiliated treated like criminals and not one citation was issued Because they had done nothing wrong except be brown in Orkut where the white folks live.
I will never forget the deputy looking at me, the privileged white girl in the back seat and saying you're not the problem. Little did they know that memory has never left me. What terrifies me, Supervisor Nelson is that this same racialized violence and dehumanization I was witness to as a child is still happening in 2025. In your district. Flash bangs, tear gas, students and youth organizers shoved to the ground. No warning, no transparency, no accountability. Families who are already afraid and are now being hunted like human war targets.
Because of the wishes of a billionaire authoritarian, small fingered Bulgarian operating like a fascist terrorist in our neighborhoods. And while this is happening 805 UndocuFund is doing the work the county refuses to do. Providing over $137,000 in emergency support to more than 120 families with zero county funding. We are asking you humbly, clearly and directly condemn the excessive force being employed by ICE. Condemn Sheriff Bill Brown's refusal to follow California laws and demand he quit collaborating with ICE. We have video of ICE admitting they are collaborating with Sheriff Bill Brown.
This is not hyperbole, this is not putting public safety first. Thank you Shauna that is your time. This is complacency with fascism.
We will now go to Cesar Vasquez to be followed by Armando Santiago. Cesar?
Before I start my comment today, I do want to let you all know that four people were just taken in Santa Barbara County by ICE as this meeting happens. Good morning members of the board, representatives of the people. Mi nombre es Cesar Vasquez. I'm 17 years old. I am the Rapid Response Organizer for 805 and DocuFund. Since the day I graduated, I've been patrolling the communities you represent.
I have been feeding the families, delivering resources to the families and have had a witness four different kidnappings by the ICE agents that come out of their Santa Maria office. I was there on the 13th where I got flash banged and shoved by ICE agents. On that day, ICE agents took a baby and a pregnant mother but refused to report on that because they knew it wouldn't fit their narrative.
They also took 10 other individuals that they failed to report about. People are being taken on a daily basis, hundreds of families have been separated and scared most of which aren't criminals. I actually want to share the exact numbers of how many families have been taken so that no one in this room can say that they never knew. As of yesterday, over 1,009 people have been taken by ICE in Santa Barbara-Ventura and Slough County.
59 have been taken well as of today now 63 members have been taken in Santa Barbara County In the month of November, 299 have been taken across Santa Barbara County. 177 in Santa Maria. 59, well as of today 60, have been taken from Santa Barbara City. One in Solving, six in Golita, one in Santa Ynez, 27 in Carpinteria and 26 individuals from Lompoc. And this is a minimum that we know about.
Now I know that you do not have the power to stop what's happening, but I do want to remind y'all what you do have the power to do. You have the ability to hold Sheriff Bill Brown accountable for his bland and obvious collaboration with ICE that ICE has confirmed to me and a New York Times reporter You have the ability to call for the accountability of local rogue law enforcement agents providing information to ICE, which has been verified by multiple agencies that work for your county.
You have the ability to direct funds to support the families dealing with a loved one taken You have the ability to come out with us, patrol the community you serve and witness just for a day what our community deals with on a daily basis. But most importantly you have a voice. You have a platform across the communities represent. Joan Hartman follows me on Instagram she can repost the videos about the families being taken You have the ability to speak about the violence that has flooded our community, and you still have the freedom to denounce the actions of ICE. The only thing stopping you is your moral obligation.
Thank you.
We will now go to Armando Santiago to be followed by Ronaldo Rodriguez who is our final speaker. Armando?
1:35 – 1:4117 turns
Hello, good morning Supervisor Capps and Supervisors. My name is Armando Santiago. I am a community organizer with the Mixteco-Indigenous Project and also a member of the Immigration Coalition 805 here in Santa Maria.
Good morning Supervisors, my name is Armando Santiago and I'm a Community Organizer with the Salar de Efectivo Program at MICAP in the City of Santa Maria. A member of the 805 Immigration Coalition.
Estoy aquí para solicitar respetuosamente su apoyo y solidaridad con nuestra comunidad migrante ante tantos abusos y deportaciones por parte de ICE. Durante mucho tiempo, nuestra comunidad ha sido atacada, violentada por nuestro color de piel, nuestra lengua materna. Hoy en día, nuestra comunidad está siendo separada de sus familias y esto es injusto.
I'm here respectfully request your support and solidarity with our migrant community in the face of so many abuses and deportation by ICE. For a long time, our community has been attacked and violated by our skin color in our mother language. Today, our community is being separated from their families and this is unfair.
My neighbor used to work in the agricultural fields here in Santa Maria. He has three younger children and his wife. He worked to provide for his family, paying the bills and expenses required by this country. One day he just didn't come back because ICE stopped him. My neighbors used to work in the agriculture fields here in Santa Maria. He has three children and his wife.
He worked to give, he paid all the expenses required in this country and one day he simply did not return because ICE stopped him and deported him. He didn't have any arrest warrants. He didn't have any crime. He only claims to be a color, a person of color and speak Spanish. And now what happens with his family? And now what happens with his family and the trauma they will have?
Therefore, it is important to take actions that take care of and protect our own people in our community. And that all they do is fight to get ahead. Gracias y esperamos poder contar con su apoyo y recordando que estamos en un país libre, soberano y que luchamos por la igualdad.
Thank you. We look forward for your support and remember we live in a sovereign nation. Thank you. Gracias.
We will now go to Ronaldo Rodriguez who is our final speaker on this item or general public comment. My apologies.
Muy buenos días. Mi nombre es Reinaldo Rodríguez, organizador comunitario Comicon aquí en Santa María. Estoy aquí supervisor para pedir su intervención y apoyo de solidaridad para nuestra comunidad agrícola residente de aquí Santa María Nuevamente, nuestra comunidad ha sido objeto de ataque por parte de ICE con detención desarbitraria.
Good morning CAP Supervisor and Supervisors my name is Reynaldo Rodriguez community organizer with MyCAP here in Santa Maria I'm here to ask for your intervention and solidarity with support of our resident agriculture community in Santa Maria again our community have been attacked by ICE with arbitrary arrest
I tell you that many counties have already given their position regarding the kidnapping that those of ICE has been doing. And here we feel that we don't have the support of authorities Hoy estoy aquí para pedirles que nos unamos todos a esta exigencia para que haya justicia para todos.
Today I'm here to ask you to join this demand so that there is justice for all.
Nuestra comunidad agrícola su único delito es trabajar duro todos los días sin importar las condiciones del tiempo ellos también son la base de la economía de esta ciudad y del país con sus impuestos
Our farm workers' only crime is to work hard every day regardless of the weather conditions. There are also the basis of the economy of this city, Santa Maria and the county with their taxes.
Todos los seres humanos merecen ser tratados con dignidad y un debido proceso legal y no como criminal por el simple hecho de color racial.
Our human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and do a process of law, and not as criminals as today. They try to cut us or everyone with a simple racial color.
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I
ask that we all join to ask for an end of the kidnapping because today those eyes, that's why they do kidnapping. No more family separation. Thank you for your space and we encourage you to be on the right side of justice.
And chair caps members of the board my apologies there were 2 additional speakers that were missed previously before public comment was closed at 10 oh 8. We're going to go
Good morning Board of Supervisors, Chair and everyone else here. I want to take this time to thank the many volunteers who took their time to show up in solidarity with us as they are the ones that are firsthand witnessing The horror and terror that we're speaking of. And as you heard, we have their teachers, veterans, everyone is being impacted and they are firsthand witnessing what we have been living for three years. So thank you for your service. This may not be military service or other type of service but it is a service that the undocumented community very much appreciates. Thank you.
And I also want to take this opportunity just to let you know that we are doing a very difficult work at this time. And yes, with no support from any of the three counties that we serve despite we have been able to raise over half a million dollars That money has been distributed to the community. The only two cities right now that have contributed towards our Emergency Assistance Fund have been the City of Santa Barbara very generously allocating half a million dollars, of which we received $100,000. City of Goleta, which allocated $100,000 and we received 45. City of Carpinteria I believe they allocated 10,000 in conversation looking at their budgets Aside from that, 100% of our funding, 100% of the humanitarian aid that we're distributing is individual donations, grants foundations.
We are 100% funded by philanthropy so we've been coming to different meetings with two different cities asking time and time again that we need support We haven't done it in the past. 805 UndocuFund has historically been funded by philanthropy, but this time requires that we all come together so let's agendize this item. Let's discuss how we can have protections for the community. Let's talk about the things that you are able to do We have groups on the ground that have been volunteering their time, their limited resources to support this community that is being so unjustly targeted.
And you may have read the report from HSI on the operation on November 13 but there's a lot of information that is missing there ICE has been found to lie, to lie to authorities, to lie to the public. So you need to receive the full picture of what happened. CSAT shared some information about people that were taken and were not mentioned in that report. They said it was a human trafficking. Are those people that they took being afforded human trafficking rights? I can tell you that they're not because it's the same thing that happened at Glass House Farms with all those minors. They were never treated as human trafficking victims. Thank you.
We will now go to Rochelle who is our final speaker on general public comment. Rochelle?
Hello, good morning Chair Kapp and supervisors. My name is Rochelle Karr and I am a nurse and I met you Supervisor Bob Nelson a few months back in spring at Lompoc Valley Medical Center when you came to visit and talk about the impact of the big beautiful bill. Since then I have quit my hospital job and learned to speak Spanish so I can work with my community of Santa Maria where I also have started volunteering with 805 UndocuFund and I have bore witness to ICE's unwarranted brutality committed against members of our community.
After what happened last Thursday at East Valley Farms and Sunday at Stowell Plaza, We are experiencing PTSD and we were even on the way driving to a volunteer dinner gathering Sunday night and we felt our hearts drop into our stomachs when we saw a car speeding behind us because we were actually scared that it might be ice about to hit us. And so I can only imagine the terror that undocumented community members feel.
As a nurse, I have the conscience that drives me to make sure I have done everything I can to make sure my patients are okay. I hope that you will feel called to exhibit the same level of accountability and show support for all our residents of Santa Barbara County. We need more funding to our volunteer organizations such as 805 UndocuFund and for legal defense of our immigrant community And note that many of us who had never even voted before, we are now paying attention and your decisions will determine our voting choices.
And as you said you work for us which is on your website and so I hope you will take our voices into consideration thank you.
And that concludes general public comment for today.
Thank you all for coming here. Thanks for your voices. We will take a quick break before we head to our departmental items, so let's take a 15 minute break. All right, we are back from a short break for departmental item number one. Madam Clerk? I know we have a continuance requested for this item to be moved to December 9th.
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Yes, Chair Capps and members of the board. Departmental item number one as previously read is from the Public Works Department. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the adoption of our proposed transportation impact mitigation fee ordinance for the Public Works Department services and we had a request from the department to continue this item to the December 9th 2025 meeting.
Chair Capps I'll move that we move that to December 9
Okay, just a quick clarification. I just want to ask if there's any public comment on the continuance? Just to check that box. Chair
Kaps and members of the board we did have an early request to speak on this item but my office did inform them that the item would be continued so the comments should be related to the continuence itself and that person is not logged into Zoom.
Okay then we're good for your motion and I will second.
Yeah, just a little staff direction on it too as well is that we're continuing it so that we can get a little bit more public outreach and there was a few groups that had been mentioned that if Public Works and the team could reach out to those folks. And they can contact Bob's office, my office if they need a little bit more direction on who to talk to. Thanks.
Roll-call vote Passed Moved by Bob Nelson · Seconded by Joan Hartmann departmental item number two
Show transcript
Chair Capps and members of the board, departmental item number two is from the County Health Department. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the county health department budget rebalancing plan to address revenue shortfall for federally qualified health centers in fiscal year 2025 through 2026.
Thank you, good morning Madam Chair, Supervisors. I'm here with Gus Mejia our Chief Financial Officer, Lars Seifert who is our Deputy Director for Operations and Lindsey Walters who's Deputy Director for Clinical Services. Several weeks ago when we brought this item to you due to the anticipated shortfall for the inability to see a portion of our patients, there were so many uncertainties.
And till today, those uncertainties are still not any clearer. And many of the questions that we had are still remain they still remain unanswered. However one certainty is a fact is that every decision and every action in every direction that we wanted to take was to put our patients first and to make sure that we are not jeopardizing access to care nor The disruption of services to a population that is very vulnerable and in need for health care. So we are still committed, and we still remain as we were to do what is best in the interest of our patients.
With that, when we came to the board on the seventh and this item was decided to be continued. We had directions from your board to go back and conduct additional outreach with our stakeholders and community members. There was also a direction for human resources too. Communicate with the union and see what can be done to mitigate the layoffs. And finally, some updates from county council on where the litigation is and what is happening on the legal arena so.
We're here to report that we had several outreach for stakeholders as well as community members and with the stakeholders, we tried first to start speaking with our health care partners. And we participated in many events some of those were routinely scheduled. We participate in regardless such as the Community Steering Committee that is held by St. Cal Health that has many of the healthcare organizations as well as community partners. And we presented at each one of those meetings what our plans and how we wanted to approach the transition, and we also made sure that we are correcting some of the inaccurate facts that might have been circulating or some of the confusion that is out there. We also held two major meetings with our own providers.
These are our clinicians that work at our community health centers, and it was very useful to also hear from them as they voiced their concern of the patients that they know the best because these are their patients. They're responsible for their care and they gave us very good feedback and very good insight into if a transition plan should happen how to conduct that We also hosted a Zoom meeting or a Teams meeting where we invited everybody including our major health systems such as Cottage and Lompoc Valley Medical Center, Marion Hospital but also our partners that are like us FQHCs in addition to the Hospital Association of Central America and of course SenCal Health and others. And we updated everybody on our plan and what the direction that we were heading towards We also participated in many community functions.
One specific is the Juntos en Voz a Acción that is a community-led here in Northern County. It is co-chaired by Tuchempo Digital and One Community Action, and this was very good meeting because it truly had... The meeting was all conducted in Spanish language Translation, but it had all the organizations that are dealing with this population and with the immigrant population such as my cope as well as future leaders of America vision compromiso and promoter at the community dad and others.
And it was mostly a dialogue where we shared what our plan is. We also had so many of the inaccurate information corrected, and we also wanted to hear from our partners and our community partners. And this conversation was very beneficial both ways because as I said there was a lot of dispelling of some of the information that was out there but we also heard a lot of the feedback and the fears that our community members had.
These meetings are not stopping. In fact, we just had one last evening that was coordinated by Supervisor Lee where many of our community partners also shared some of their opinions as well as some of the questions and we pledge to continue this dialogue because what we are experiencing is not going to end today or next week. We believe that there are going to be so many challenges And the only way of addressing those challenges is to go at it as a group of community partners because there are so many things that we might be limited to what we can do, that other partners can support us and vice versa. So we are looking into maybe establishing a smaller working group that we can pitch ideas at, especially as we will see and towards the end of this presentation.
There are challenges that we're going to face regardless of what the decision might be in terms of the injunction and in terms of the lawsuit. So we have decided to pause the transition of our UIS patients, patients with unsatisfactory immigration status. And as you know when we came last time the shortfall was because we set a date of January 1st to transfer what was 7500 UIS patients now there's seven thousand UIS patients. But we paused that, we informed CINCAL that we do not want to initiate any of the transfer and uh we are continuing to provide care to this population but I always see something positive in something that is bad and the silver lining is that we had because we had that dry run because we were proactive because we preempted things.
We have now a very shovel-ready robust transition plan that if ever needed We also secured one, I guess major win is by Exploring the transition we were able to gauge the capacity of our community providers and we were able to look at how many providers might be out there that will be able to absorb this population in case there is a transition and we have. Some guarantees of almost 31 primary care providers that have ensured that they're willing to take those patients if needed, and they also have the capacity to do that. So this is a very positive thing that while others were waiting to guess what's going to happen we had a plan. We also have a team The other big win is that of those 7,000 patients we were able to identify those that are at highest risk.
Those that require extensive care coordination and we now are paying more attention to this population as our patients But also if there is a need for at any time for them to be transferred, then we know exactly what is needed and how we can cater to their needs. And we shared some of the highlights of our transition coordination plan as well as our team, transition coordination team that is now established at every health center with both our health partners and as well as our community partners. And I believe they were very happy in understanding the extent of the planning that went into our plan.
Of course, since we are not anticipating not seeing patients then we do not anticipate the loss of revenue and therefore we are no longer asking for a midyear budget readjustment. And if there is any changes in the legal matter or if the injunction is lifted or if there is a If that issue is still relevant, then we will come back to the board with an action that would address that. But for now, for the time being, we are not going to stop seeing patients so therefore we are not anticipating a loss of revenue. Another factor that played into our decision as well, beside the feedback and the conversation that we had from our community partners is we understand that there might be some changes happening in February.
And in the legal matter I know that the federal government has filed for an appeal and I think there is an accelerated schedule for a decision to be made in February and this is why we decided that probably January is a little bit too early so we can wait for February. Because we are not anticipating any of the revenue loss, then we are no longer asking to reduce our workforce by 55.2 FTE for now again the reason for now because things might change but also as we will share with you there are other things that we are looking at on the horizon that are going to play probably more important role in next year's budget Our patient care is not going to change. We still are going to serve everybody, everybody will receive the care that we continue to provide such as primary care family planning gynecology immunization and everything as well as well child exams however we are still considering evaluating the services that we are not mandated to provide those are specifically the specialty services that we are providing at Santa Barbara but we are not taking any action on that But if we need to accommodate some shortfalls in our next year's budget, then the specialty services are going to be probably the first.
We are going to evaluate as long as we ensure that alternatives for our patients as well as a transition and this has nothing to do with the UIS. This would be everybody that is benefiting from those services And as long as there are alternatives within the healthcare systems to serve this population, then that might be something that we would like to consider as we are tackling our budget for the next fiscal year.
Ask County HR if they want to add something, but I know that there has been also as requested by your board to go back and discuss with the union. And I believe they met with both SEIU Local 620 and 721 because we asked them or we did say that we are no longer eliminating any positions. I believe the efforts were paused. I don't know County HR if there's anything more you want to add?
However, although we have
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Some time now where we are not anticipating this shortfall of revenue, it is also very important to keep in mind that as we are planning for next year's budget that we came to the board and started with a structural deficit because of the increase in salaries and benefits and also the supplies and everything and the services that we provide. That we are starting next fiscal year with a structural deficit of almost $7.6 million dollars But there are other things that are related to UIS but not coming from the federal government and those are more related to the state budget. There are two things that are happening on the state level, one is going to take effect into January where no longer people with unsatisfied immigration status can enroll for Medi-Cal so that is going to increase the chances of people being uninsured or people that do fall off For those that are familiar with the prospective payment system versus fee for service, we as an FQHC benefit from a higher rate and it's a bundled rate if we switch to fee-for-service.
So for example, if we charge $100 the state is going to only reimburse us $8 or $10 so we estimate that this is going to cost us come July, which is next year. This is gonna cost us a shortfall of $6.6 million even if we continue to see the UIS population and that is unrelated to the federal issue. Not to leave the federal out of that, HR 1 also have set so many changes that are going to affect who qualifies for Medicaid and who can and the requirements and all that. And we anticipate something along the neighborhood of $3.2 million loss of revenue for Medi-Cal recipients. So to add all this, we created this chart and they say a picture is worth 1,000 words.
Unless something drastic happens then that bar on my right is going to amount to almost $17.4 million of shortfall in our budget for next fiscal year. That is almost 28% of our health center budget. And this is what we are faced with. This is what we are going to work on and this is what we will come back to you with the budget workshops and the budget discussions, and it will require some major changes as well as some drastic measures. And hence, this is why we talk about services that we are not required to do but we've been doing those such as the specialty services and others.
But again, this is something to look forward as we move along. However, as it relates to our item today then we are coming to the board with a no action vote on what we have proposed on October 7th We are not reducing any of our positions and therefore this is not going to create any shortfall for this fiscal year, for now again. And that's our ask for you.
Thank you.
Thank You Dr. Hammami. Questions from the board? Supervisor Hartman
So for this fiscal year how much is your budget in the red?
Supervisor Hartman to the chair, we're projecting about $5.1 million that we will be drawing out a fund balance or a reserve fund.
And and we still have fund balance to cover that?
Correct yes
But the fund balance is exhausted pretty much by this.
By the rate we're burning through it, which will last two years max and this is why we need to really look into it but that fund balance use has nothing to do with the anticipated 5.6 of the UIS so this is based on our budget of this fiscal year
Yeah, we'll get to for questions to the board and then we'll take public comment. Yep supervisor Nelson. Did you have a question?
Yeah, I think got answered. I was just curious about what the fund balance was overall so over around 10 million dollars. I guess was
about 16. I think there is a slide that shows the fund balance. Okay.
So we began to The current fiscal year with 11.2 million were expected to finish with roughly 6.2 million dollars and that will be the beginning fund balance for next fiscal year. All right, thank you
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Supervisor Lee, did you have a question?
I just want to say that Marina Owens is here with her team from Senkel and anybody here from the board or the public want to make comments or answer or Marina herself would like to say something. It's a great opportunity. Thank you for being here.
Okay. I just had two questions before we go to public comment, but thank you so much Dr. Romney for this presentation and for really taking the board's direction to heart on October 7th and for doing so much outreach and listening to the advocates and how hard they worked. We're going to hear from some of them I imagine. So my first question relates to the advocates And I heard a lot about the outreach that has happened. And I know how hard you work and how hard your team works, and you're stretched thin clearly.
And I hear this spirit of wanting to continue that momentum, continue that dialogue as we go into such challenging times. And also hear a real sense of leadership from you. This is coming from Another source. This is a real scary traumatic time of cuts, deep cuts for the most vulnerable population that you're having to deal with that we're having to deal with and make the best of a bad situation and trying to collaborate trying to listen to those who have committed themselves to protect those populations Can you just flesh out a little bit more of what's the plan for keeping in touch with the advocates? You mentioned a working group. I know in the past, you've had a position for outreach to vulnerable populations.
Just can you just flush out a little bit more details of how you plan to keep that up given everything else that you have with a budget deficit etc.? ?
Absolutely, so first of all we everybody knows where we are. We never say no to any meeting and I think we've been accessible and we will continue being accessible and we appreciate also every one of you and your office facilitating some of those. So those will continue. We have also our the healthcare community decided that we need to have that as a recurrent monthly meeting. We are doing that as well One idea is we are going to engage a facilitator and maybe look into some of those partners that we weren't so much in touch with and rebuild that relationship, and start having sessions where real issues are being discussed in terms of shortfalls of budget or things and identifying resources or identifying solutions. There are a lot of work that was happening in the past.
For example, where yesterday at the meeting with Supervisor Lee somebody mentioned the language barrier and specifically with the Mesteco population we have been working very well with my cope and her NCI indigena where we even hire translators in our community centers to Provide those services. So these are still continuing those relationships, but those relationships that maybe I as a newcomer to the county is not very in touch with is now putting more effort into building those relationships and strengthening those Again there are things that, there are limitations to what can be done both for resources or financial limitations but what it is what we hope to establish is to tap into any resources or any solutions that we might not be aware of and how can some of those things even if it's the worst case scenario let's say There is a need for transition.
Well, that need for transition is going to require transportation. It's going to require translation is going to require clear coordination if that is the only solution then we certainly want our advocates our community partners to be partners in this rather than to be on the sidelines and not supporting such. And again this is a big if there is any if there is any solution that is out there that can prevent or preempt this or not get us to that state by finding alternatives, then we are all ears and would be more than happy to exhaust any potential direction that anyone can tell us about.
Yeah, I just commend you again because and particularly the advocates because I mean I have such anger at the federal government for this ruling for having to deal with this at all. For targeting the undocumented and of all things for their health care but what we're doing and I mean what this forced was really to step up and create these relationships because times are going to be even tougher than they are now if we just look at the numbers it's not like we sort of fix this and we move on to smoother sailing it's gonna get tougher Making sure that we really are in communication as things get tougher. And so and the way that we can help, I appreciate that you had a meeting yesterday ways that our offices can help facilitate that. So that's really helpful.
My second question has to do with specialty care because we've just been hearing about certain programs like OBGYN program in Lompoc If that's not agendized for today, so I'm not asking about specifics. But and I just want some clarity that what the UIS Thank you. Tom?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think there is a little bit of confusion of mixing the UIS issues with regular operations and decisions that we had to make regardless so there is a scarcity in OBGYN providers And many of the decisions that we had to do in North County was because we couldn't find any providers. And when we met with Marion and CHC and others, they said well we can be the alternative. That was the decision how to do it. It had nothing to do with the UIS. We don't have that luxury in Santa Barbara so we are still committed to providing some level of OBGYN in Santa Barbara. In Lompoc we are talking and discussing some potential.
Unfortunately, the timing and the charge in the community is now thinking that everything is driven because of the federal bill or because of the UIS. Those were things that we were considering two years ago because of how hard it is to find providers and because of the cost of providing those services while someone else can provide them. And yet again as I mentioned at the beginning nobody is going to be left without care. So even when we decide to close a service that we are required to do, there are ways in making sure that those services are still provided and this is where before we decided on closing OB services in Santa Maria, we had Dr. Preciado can give you the full details met with everybody at Marion with the Chief Medical Officer at Community Health Centers as well to identify an alternative because the last thing we want is for patients not to have services.
Okay, thank you for that. Supervisor Nelson?
Yes, thank you. You know Discussion around specialty services is, you know has me thinking and you know something you said was that. You guys were able to find providers down in the South Coast to do these specialty care and just I guess I'm confused just because there's so much more health care down in the South Coast than in the North. County and so I'm just trying to get my brain wrapped around. So many resources down there, can't find people that serve this population versus less resources up
here. The only reason I mentioned South because Santa Barbara is the only clinic where we offer specialty care Anybody else like Lompoc and Santa Maria and all that, there are specialists that provide specialty care. But we as a primary care FQHC are not required by HRSA or by the grant to provide surgery and neurology and endocrinology and all that. At some point it was decided in Santa Barbara specifically to provide those services. And these are the ones that we are reconsidering because one, we are not required to and two, because there is an abundance of specialists that can take that population But that's the only reason why, no there is an abundance of specialty care elsewhere but we are not providing those.
We serve on top of that.
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Okay I think we'll move to public comment at this point for this item, Department Item Number 2.
Chair Kaps and members of the board we have 16 requests to speak from the public on this item. We are going to begin on Zoom with Abigail Corisol to be followed by Sarah Grusin. Abigail?
Hello. My name is Abigail Corsall. I'm a senior attorney with the National Health Law Program based in Los Angeles. Others here will explain that it is possible that the injunction barring the administration's per ora notice will remain in place permanently and the notices may never go into effect for the county's health center. But I want to emphasize that even if the injunction is lifted, the county is still exposed to risk if it makes transfers prematurely as Dr. Hamami just noted. So it is really important that the county take its time if and when the time comes for transfers, when transfers become necessary to really ensure that they are done right.
The US Supreme Court has held that absent a clear federal requirement when state or local governments restrict access to governmental benefits on the basis of immigration status, those restrictions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. And courts have also held that locally imposed restrictions on government benefits for immigrants are preempted by federal law and invalid.
So here if the county acts to limit access to the health centers for certain immigrants before it is legally required to do so It is exposing itself to legal liability. In addition, we're very concerned that it appears that the county and San Cal are using unsatisfactory immigration status which is a Medi-Cal or Medicaid term of art as a proxy for not qualified under the Peora Act.
Those two are not the same and using one as the proxy for another will mean that some people, particularly recent green card recipients will be transferred unnecessarily. And of course that also creates a risk of legal liability. So our request to you is that in the case it turns out that the injunction is reversed and notices go into effect which again is very unlikely as some of my colleagues will speak to We're encouraging you not to rush, but to take this issue slowly. Make sure you're consulting with appropriate stakeholders and ensure that the appropriate procedures and protections are in place before taking any action.
Thank you.
We will now go to Sarah Grusin to be followed by Joshua Stahilk.
Hello. Hi, so I'm Sarah Grusin. I'm also a senior attorney at the National Health Law Program and I am going to build on what Abby talked about. I wanted to speak today about this sort of if needed standard for transfers To highlight that even if the worst case scenario happens and the injunction is overturned, the health center's funding is not immediately at risk. And that there are many steps that would have to happen before the funding would be lost. So I just want to pull out and I know that I've spoken to several of you about this already but the federal government itself has repeatedly stated And I'm quoting now that the notices do not require adoption of specific verification methods and do not identify any consequences that will follow from failure to verify.
They also say, quote, nowhere do the notices suggest an immediate loss of federal funding. And quote, there is no imminent threat of funding loss because agency enforcement processes have historically involved notice and the opportunity for a non-compliant entity to come into compliance. So the reason they can make all these statements in the lawsuit is because there are federal regulations that govern the steps that have to be taken before the federal government could withhold funding. These include imposing additional conditions on the grant and providing the opportunity for the health center to comply with those additional terms.
In fact, there was an HHS official who swore under oath and penalty of perjury in the lawsuit that those are the processes the federal government is quote required to follow before they would decide to terminate funds. He swore that HHS would take steps including technical assistance site visits a corrective action plan or additional terms And so the health centers would have ample opportunity to come into compliance before putting their funding at risk.
Finally, even if all that came to pass and for some reason the health centers still couldn't comply at that future date, even after the technical assistance, even after the additional terms they would still have an opportunity to challenge the decision through a notice and appeal process. So like Abby my request to you is that if it turns out the injunction is reversed and if it turns out that the notices go into effect don't rush into action Take this one step at a time and don't bypass these important protections and procedures. Thank you.
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We will now go to Joshua Stalick to be followed by Miriam Shaw, Joshua.
Hi, my name is Joshua. I'm the policy director at the California immigrant policy center and also a lawyer who's been monitoring the litigation closely. And I just want to say at the outset that we greatly appreciate the board of supervisors and department of public health pause on the proposed patient transfers. So much of the public discussion about the proposed transfer of over 7,500 immigrant patients out of the county clinics centers around California and 21 other states legal challenge to the Parora Notice. So I and lawyers from the National Health Law Program whom you've just heard from wanted to provide clarity on the strength of the injunction in the case. And as Sarah mentioned, the many steps the federal government would need to take if that injunction were to be reversed.
So the Trump administration policy change pertaining to Parora is currently blocked by a federal court, and the court did not see this as a close call but rather found that the Trump administration's policy is unlawful in quote at least four different ways. And in its analysis and deciding on the injunction, the court found that the suing states including California are likely to win the case.
The same Congress that passed Perora only a few weeks later, passed the federal legislation that created the health centers and that also requires them to provide care to quote all residents of the area unquote served by the center. And under standard canons of statutory interpretation as the Federal District Court found, the more specific requirements of the Health Center Legislation take priority over the more general language of Perora Which the same Congress had passed earlier. Thus, the county's health centers remain obligated under federal law to serve all residents of the area and agency guidance like the notice at issue here cannot change that beyond that regulations that requires have never been promulgated as the government acknowledged in the underlying litigation.
The parole statute itself requires the US Attorney General to promulgate regulations pertaining to verification of immigration status for federal public benefits, and then provide states 24 months from the date of the regulation to comply. And the federal government in this litigation acknowledged that such a regulation has never been finalized thus California's 24 month clock Comply with federal verification requirements has not yet even started and beyond that, no program specific guidance has been issued. Even though the notice in question here states that further regulation or guidance will be issued to explain when and how immigration status verification would be required.
So, given that there's no regulation or further guidance from the Trump administration here on implementing the notice. There aren't yet any specific requirements for the health centers to comply with were the county to move forward with. Patient transfers, which we understand have been paused. It would be doing so despite the policy being blocked by a federal court as unlawful in multiple ways and without any guidance on appropriate implementation with us. Thank you
Joshua that is your time.
Thank you.
We will now go to Mariam Shah to be followed by Anna Ars Mariam.
Hi, good morning Supervisors and Chair Caps. Again this is Miriam Shaw the Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund at PPCCAF we fight for a future where all people have equitable opportunity to experience health and wellness and today a step toward that health equity includes following staff's recommendation and putting a hold on all proposed patient transfers and medical layoffs. While we applaud the outreach that has now been done on the issue, future decisions require community-based solutions, and we support the establishment of a health access task force to accomplish this.
At Planned Parenthood's Central Coast Action Fund, we know as well as any healthcare organization that this federal administration has proven to be minute to minute, hour to hour and without regard for the actual health and wellness of our communities. Attempting to appease this administration or comply with anything in advance is futile, so let's work together on solutions that will truly keep our community safe and healthy. Thank you.
We will now go to Anna Arce to be followed by Chelsea Lancaster. Anna, we have unmuted you on our end. If you can unmute on your end to provide your comments. All righty, Anna it appears you are unmuted but we can't hear you perhaps your microphone there you go yes we can hear you now please proceed
Yes, thank you. So good morning my name is Ana Arce I am a policy advocate for cause and I'm here today because health care is a human right not something that should be threatened traded or taken away based on immigration status or budget shortfall falls. We urge you today to cancel all proposed patient transfers and layoffs permanently. No one should be in fear of losing their doctor because of the quote, unsatisfactory immigration status. That language alone is dehumanizing. Transferring community puts lives at risk disrupts ongoing Every principle of health equity this county claims to stand for and laying off frontline staff only destabilizes the very clinics our communities rely on.
Commit to transparent community center processes Create a countywide health access task force. We need a formal table where community advocates, labor unions, public health leadership, SENCAL trusted service organizations and legal experts work together. This task force must stay in place until all threats to healthcare access are resolved. No more decisions made behind closed doors, no more policies that disproportionately impact immigrant families. Let's be clear this is about community safety racial and economic justice and the moral responsibility of this county to protect our most vulnerable we When we cut healthcare, when we transfer patients, when we break trust the ones who suffer are children, elders, disabled residents and undocumented workers who hold our local community together.
We deserve a health care system that lifts people up not one that divides them. We deserve policies rooted in dignity compassion and equity and we deserve a county that listens to its community and leads with justice. Thank you.
2:39 – 2:447 turns
We will now go to Anna Garcia then we will return to Santa Maria with Shauna Stillwell. Anna? Oh my apologies, we will now go to Chelsea Lancaster and then Anna Garcia who's our before we returned to Santa Maria. Chelsea?
Hi, Board of Supervisors community. I don't want to take a lot of time. I just want to amplify the points that have already been made especially from the long-time immigrant rights activists legal experts and health experts in the room. I remember during COVID when we declared a public health crisis there was a migrant task force that was developed that allowed those who were most at risk Who those who continue to be most at risk, our most valuable community members to be at the table when public health decisions were made again it's really important if we claim to be a county that.
That supports the dignity of all people. That means the people that are closest to the pain and people that are closest to the impact of the decisions that you make at that table, which frankly most of those folks are not represented when we look at the makeup of council. We cannot take these things lightly. So what I would suggest is look at the folks that were on that list on that task force and start there.
The decisions made here will not only impact our county but will have a lasting impact elsewhere. People are looking to us to be leaders, to be champions again of dignity, of public safety and of community health and I really urge you again do not obey in advance and listen to the experts that are coming to you and telling you yeah how to move through this crisis thank you so much
We will now go to Anna Garcia, then we will return to Santa Maria with Shauna Stillwell. Anna?
Hi can you hear
me? Yes we can. You're just a little quiet so if you could speak up that would be great. Please proceed
Hello, I am here to acknowledge the updates shared by the director. We appreciate the clarity that the department is not moving forward with any patient transfers at this time and that there will be no positions cut at this time but we cannot ignore what the presentation made clear The structural deficit isn't going away. And when budgets tighten, the first proposals historically placed on chopping block are those that protect our most vulnerable and impacted communities and our frontline clinic workers.
Even with these actions being paused today, the underlying threat is still there. The community needs guarantees that these ideas will not return under pressure next year. So we demand that you make a permanent commitment to immigrant patients, that they will not face transfers based on immigration status. Healthcare access must never depend on paperwork or politics or fear. It is a human right and it's an issue of morality. The second demand is that we guarantee workforce protections. Our clinic staff are essential. They're already wildly understaffed How dare we even consider cutting any of those positions? Third, we want to rebuild trust with transparency. Last time we found out about this because a journalist published an article about it.
Let's not do that again and fourth let's establish the health access task force. A group that includes a collective representation of our community who is committed to co-create solutions reduce harm. I also want to finish by recalling the comments made by Supervisor Steve L that as solutions continue to be explored, I'm gonna paraphrase here but maybe there needs to be a more holistic review of the city's budget and prior, I am sorry, the county's budget and prioritize funding based on the needs of we the people. We understand that budget challenges are real but so is the harm that's caused when safety nets get cut We're talking about family stability, public trust and the human right to healthcare.
And we ask you all to commit today to transparency community partnership and long term protection for all patients and frontline workers and to be open to creative and collaborative problem solving that bucks fascists and fascist policies do not do this. Thank you
We will now return to San Mario with Shauna Stilwell to be followed by Rochelle. Shauna?
2:44 – 2:536 turns
Good afternoon Chairwoman Capps, Vice-Chair Nelson and fellow board members. My name is still Shauna Stilwell and I still lived in Orkut since 1980. I'm a human rights advocate, communications grad student, public speaker and a recovery informed leader with a decade of sobriety and an undergrad in human services with a concentration in addiction who works with Dream.org's nationally recognized criminal justice lobbying cohort. My entire career is built on improving systems, expanding access and preventing the very harms we're here talking about today but none of that started in a classroom or in a policy cohort it started right here in this county Watching racism and systemic neglect play out in front of my face as a child. I talked earlier about the incident in the 80s when Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies threw my brown friends on the sidewalk in Orchard at gunpoint while I, the privileged white girl in the back seat was told you're not the problem.
That moment didn't just impact me it shaped the entire trajectory of someone I know. One of those friends, someone who became a family member to me through his child never recovered from what this county put him through. The profiling, the humiliation, the constant reminder that he was considered the problem, the lack of access to mental health care, the untreated trauma, the stigma all of it compounded and I truly believe it contributed to the substance use and lifelong mental health disorder that slowly destroyed his life.
And I think about that every single time I see this county repeat the same patterns. I ask myself, if he had been treated the way I was treated, if he had been given the same care, the same respect, the same chance at recovery, could he have had a different outcome today? Would his kids still have an active father? Would he have persevered long enough to find recovery I was lucky enough to find? This is why this agenda item is not procedural, it isn't paperwork, it isn't budget tinkering. It's literally life and death. When you propose transferring immigrant patients because of unsatisfactory immigration status, you are telling entire communities the same communities who were targeted when I was a kid that they are still the problem. When you propose layoffs at federally qualified health centers, you're stripping care from the people who need it most Immigrants, low income families, disabled residents, people battling addiction, people living with untreated trauma.
People like my friend. We know what happens when people can't access care in this county. We know what untreated trauma turns into. We know what discrimination does to a human being's sense of worth and we know who pays the price. So today although I'm grateful for the pause, I'm asking you not just as someone with professional expertise but as someone who has buried people I love because this system like this one failed them. We know that our policies reflects our values and public health is public safety please Because of that, we are requesting full transparency from you and a commitment to not let previous mismanagement of budget and cruel federal overreach dictate care. Cancel not just pause all patient transfers and layoffs indefinitely.
Commit to any future plans will not be hidden from the public and the coalitions invested in vulnerable communities. No more journalists informing us of what the county intentionally kept quiet. Create a Health Access Oversight Task Force that includes 805 undocu...
Shawna, that's your time. Thank you. That's your time.
Okay we will now go to Rochelle to be followed by Primitiva Hernandez.
I'd like to comment on, I have a and it doesn't have anything do with that but it does can I thank you so this is the reason why I got frustrated because I don't see the activists community coming out in providing us with anything except You know pause indefinitely demand you know a permanent solution where we never lay anybody off. I don't know if you guys did you not watch the beginning of that presentation or it says that
Okay, let's
I mean do you not did you not see that there is the reality we have to deal with reality here. I can't just decide I'm going to do whatever I want to do and yes this is a huge priority. I don't understand why knowing snow what no one's acting like there hasn't been any progress made on this. This environment changes on a daily basis the rules are changing constantly I applaud Director Hamami for all the outreach that he's done, but it's just not reasonable to come in and say we're not going to have any cuts. We're not going to do anything. We're just going to continue to provide everything that we've always provided.
We receive our funding from the federal government for public health vast majority of it And yes, I'm the one that actually said let's try to look at it holistically and maybe take money from somewhere else and put it into public health. But you can't look at this and just say, OK, it's all good. We're just going to continue to do what we're doing. We're not going to get the funding will keep providing the services. At the end of the day, the lights get turned out. That's what ends up happening. People don't get paid. It's not an endless supply of cash just floating around in these back rooms here that we just keep shoveling into something if there's not money there, we can't continue to provide the services People just don't show up because they want to.
They show up because they get paid to do it at the clinic. If we're not paying the people, they're not gonna be there to provide the services. So I want everybody to get and the reason why I'm frustrated is I wanna really get on the same page. We want the same thing you do. We want people to get proper health care regardless of status okay? That's why we don't ask for people's paperwork when they come to our clinics.
Okay, we've been doing this for years providing these services and we're trying to find the best way to manage in a very changing environment. So yes, I think we did the right thing at the time look and see what other options were out there and those steps that Dr. Hammami took are going to reap a benefit down the road because now we have the relationships built Now we have a pathway forward.
And I think it's to his credit and to this board's credit that we haven't gone forward with any cuts, that we're looking strongly at what are other options? But to stick our head in the sand and just say hey, we're being demanded not to you know, we're never going to make any cuts and We get these calls to be collaborative but at the same time I need to collaborate with people that are on the same page as us, or at least me. And my page is, and I can't speak for everybody else's, I want to provide these services as much as you do.
We're trying to figure out ways to make that happen but showing up and telling us that we're the problem When we're dealing with somebody that's over our level and we're trying to fix what we consider are their mistakes along the way, I don't think it's helpful. You know, we're calling for these. We're calling for a Tiger team or a subcommittee to work on this but if we walk into that room and people aren't going to be honest with the reality of what the finances are then it's not gonna really work I can't go to somebody and you just say look we're never gonna make any cuts no one's ever losing you know all services are gonna be provided ad infinitum regardless what the finances are That doesn't help me. So I want what you want, I'm trying to make that happen and I'm dedicated to working with anybody including you that is on that page but we got to be realistic at the same time.
2:53 – 2:5810 turns
Okay we will now go to Rochelle to be followed by Primitiva Hernandez. Oh I
thought that was the end of public comment I'm sorry shoot That's why I asked to speak. I'm sorry we
got a few more.
Okay, sorry. Yeah, I guess
hello chair caps and county supervisors my name is Sarah Nolan Moreno Rochelle has asked me to convey her comments since she had to go back
That's true. I haven't closed public comment yet so we just need you to fill out the form, so that'll be fine but at this moment I'll close public comment. And you can fill the form out after you speak.
Oh yeah, you can keep going, keep going. So Rochelle says hello again chair caps and County supervisors. Again my name is Rochelle and I'm a nurse my understanding of this issue is that we are decreasing access to preventative care when you decrease access to preventive care, you increase the likelihood that people will forego medical care for their injuries and illnesses until they become so sick that they need emergency And this contributes to increasing emergency room wait times. So hospitals like the one in Lompoc where you are from, Supervisor Nelson.
Thank you so much for your time.
We will now go to Primitiva Hernandez to be followed by Leo DeCasas. Primitiva?
Thank you. I want to start by thanking the Board of Supervisors for that October 7 courageous motion to postpone hearing this item because I truly believe that's where things shifted for us, so thank you for doing that. September 24th is when the article came out and that's how many of us found out about what was happening and since October 7 pause on the motion Our coalition, which I will name for the record in case it isn't clear as of today. It is CAUSE, MECOP, The Fund for Santa Barbara, Future Leaders of America, California Immigrant Policy Center, Locals SEIU 620 and 721, Health Law Program and 805 UndocuFund.
That is the coalition that has been organizing since September 24th when we found out about those news. Tell me one space where all of us were engaging in that conversation. It was when we started organizing, reaching out initially to Supervisor Capps and then the rest of the supervisors. We met with all the supervisors. We learned a lot through that process and finally thank you Supervisor Lee for helping us organize a meeting with Dr. Hamami yesterday That's when we were all truly on one space. So there's a lot of stakeholders that need to be engaged and that happened throughout the process is what we hear, but we do need a space where this task force right here can engage because we want to do that creatively I think we understand that these are challenges.
And yes, our wish would be no transfers, no layoffs permanently right? We know that's not realistic but can we be included in those conversations so that you can get community buy-in and so that there is no misinformation and confusion out there. Can we commit to that? Do you know where the idea of the task force was born? Supervisor Hartman, you may remember our meeting. You hinted to that right? We were like yes let's build a task force we mentioned that yesterday in our meeting with Dr. Hamami so I am glad to see that there is that idea floating where it came from it might have come from different places but what matters is how we move forward as of today how we can repair those relationships. It's going to take all of us. We are willing to come to the table, I think we've proven that we have access to resources that can help us think creatively and avoid any of that dismissive language that doesn't help anyone of this.
I think that's where we stand and thank you for this opportunity to prove what we can bring to the table. Thank you.
We will now go to Leo DeCasas to be followed by Jay Forrest.
2:59 – 3:034 turns
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Board of Supervisors. My name is Leo DeCasals representing the county health workers here at Santa Barbara County. I would like to begin by thanking county leadership, all of county leadership for pausing the immediate transfer of patients with UIS out of our county clinics. We vehemently support staff's recommendation today While we acknowledge this win, we are here today to flag the concern that county health may resume transfers at one point immediately if the injunction is reversed. And I just want to reiterate our desire to wait for clear federal guidance until those transfers are initiated.
While we also want to express our concern about the projected, the reality of the projected fiscal year deficit of next year. I think $7.6 million was mentioned during the presentation today. We urge the board to reject any future recommendation that includes layoffs until all alternatives are explored and the labor unions are meaningfully engaged Maintaining current staffing levels is critical to safeguarding public health for all residents in this county.
Thank
you. We will now go to Jay Forrest, to be followed by Laura Robinson.
Hello members of the board, everybody. My name is Jay Forrest. I have worked for the Public Health Department for the last 10 years. I stand before you not as a medical assistant but somebody committed to public health. Our mission statement is to improve the health of our communities by preventing disease, promoting wellness and health equity while ensuring access to needed healthcare and maintaining a healthy and safe environment I know that, I recognize the efforts you guys have all placed into holding off on layoffs and everything and Dr. Amami's efforts also but I also just urge everybody to protect our staff lab technicians nurses support staff because when staff is cut prevention is cut which is a much needed safeguard in our community Without lab technicians, we can't send patients to labs.
If they have no transportation then it's difficult for them to get those services and then they have less healthcare. Health is influenced by the environment as well as social conditions in which you live so the health department prevents these issues from getting worse. We monitor diseases that disproportionately affect low-income neighborhoods, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
We provide mental health services which reduce stigma and allow services to be rendered in the clinics such as through Zoom meetings with psychiatric providers so that patients do not have to go out of town for treatment or go without it. Reducing staff undermines these efforts directly by leaving our most vulnerable community members without protection. This would not only be a public health failure but a moral failure The weakening of our department weakens the safety net which protects our most vulnerable community members.
Will layoffs balance a budget this year? Will the cost ripple throughout the next years? We already will see long-term loss of patients due to lack of OB providers at Long Polk Health Care Center, which will weaken our ability to provide care for the women of our community. We will now go to Laura Robinson to be followed by Karen Hallenstein.
Hello, chair captain the board. My name is Laura Robinson on the executive director of local six twenty and I promise I did come here today to express gratitude. I want to first say thank you for just postponing this decision. It really allowed us the opportunity to sit down work things out gather a lot more information. Digest that information and then obviously the decision to pivot. I want to give credit where credit is due. We also learned a lot about Dr. Hammami and his team's plan for this transition, and it was actually really reassuring to see how much thought and consideration went into that process and to know that we have that in the back pocket if the worst case scenario We will now go to Karen Howenstein to be followed by Alan Cronin.
3:04 – 3:104 turns
Hello Supervisors. She was talking about economic reality, economic reality to this board. So we're talking about a budget item here. Budgets are things you plan for. I know that this county did not plan to have to support the health services of so many illegal immigrants into our county That was a liberal policy that was heaved upon us by Democrats in control.
Right? Biden's the one that let all the illegals in, right? And now we have to support them. So this could've been expected that we weren't gonna have the money in our budgets to support the services to the illegal immigrants But now we're finding that because our county has gotten into the business of being a hospital, our county is now meeting like this is the board of a hospital district and it's our responsibility to provide health services to everyone in our county as a county.
You see there's a reason why hospitals do that You're talking earlier, Laura about expanding the specialty services that are provided by the county. Why is that? Why aren't we allowing the hospital districts to do their job and then the county can do their job instead of trying to act like a hospital district The reason why our county cannot support hospital services is because running hospitals and providing health services especially the specialty services. Really the job of hospital boards.
Natural consequences you know what those are. This is a natural consequence to allowing Uncontrolled illegal immigration. It's affecting our community and that's why this is happening, not because anybody wants to deny services to people who need it. Thank you.
We will now go to Alan Cronin to be followed by Leo Smith who is our final speaker. Alan?
Good afternoon My name is Alan. I am a registered nurse in the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic in Santa Barbara. I want to thank Supervisor Izzet from a Labignino for his comments earlier, both for the content and for the courage it takes to share the emotion behind that frustration. I recognize that. I feel that. Now I come to you as a nurse. I'm not an accountant. I am not an administrator, thank God or a politician.
All I can hope to do here is to share my little personal experience that I believe I share with my colleagues of what my clients are like when I spoke before this board in October I was deeply touched by the fact that most of the public comments were essentially advocacy for clients. And I'm very proud of that and I think that supports the county's goals. But I would submit to you that my job and the job of any of the direct service staff in the county who deal with people in times of crisis, law enforcement, emergency service workers etc.
You experience those people certainly by their data, by their name, their size, their weight, their ethnicity, their religion but None of that is important ultimately in the delivery of services to the end user. And that creates a certain amount of frustration, which is what I recognize and what you were saying sir. So seeing these people having support services and then seeing it taken away from them or potentially taken away from them creates a lot of anxiety Now, I mentioned all the people that spoke in advocacy for the clients.
I think that is compassion and compassion I think is consistent with the county's values. Compassion to serve the people that are in need and many of my clients as I said the last time I spoke are employed with jobs and they spend their money in the County of Santa Barbara. They're a small part of the economy But the significance to me is that I'm experiencing human beings regardless of who they are, race, color, creed, religion etc. Even their name, their medication. I experience people and that's a very different perspective and I think only people who are serving directly to the public can understand in emotional situation like that so my appeal to the board is to vote against any legislation or action that would impede compassion which can only be delivered by action.
Thank you.
And we will now go to Santa Barbara with Leo Smith who is our final speaker on this item. Leo?
3:10 – 3:195 turns
Good day. Good day Chair Capps, members of the board and all community members here today and moving ahead. It's an honor to first give thanks to you all for your diligence in care of the members of these communities our beloved family members friends and associates And to the County Health Department Director, Lindsay Walter, Dr. Amami and all members of those who are of the health department's board it's a delight to serve alongside you all in this capacity as I'm grateful and again honored to be a contributing member of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and beyond.
Considering the notices set forth by the federal government regarding their desire to discontinue our ability to serve persons who have unsatisfactory immigration statuses, along with the understood implication that our noncompliance could have and more so would have then resulted in the plausible sanctions by the government that stretched beyond the impact of the undocumented residential population.
into programs and services operated and utilized by other qualified immigrants, and ultimately with citizens for whom it is also our responsibility to provide successful decision-making in these regards. It's in hindsight that I refer you to the meeting of October 22nd, 2025 where it is public knowledge that the board specifically myself motioned to move forward with a transfer of 7500 community members who have had unsatisfactory immigration status, resulting in the at-the-time planned dissolution of 55 plus full time employees as a method of protecting areas of service that could have been affected by the federal government's implied threat of additional sanctions.
Yet at that time, it were also in my duty to pose the question that as to what the true legal and qualitative meaning of resident truly holds. And due to the investigation that followed among other factors, it has been found in statuses within Health Care Consolidation Act of 1996 section 330. The bill established that health centers that provide primary care and certain additional services for all residents of the area pardon me For all residents of the area served by the center, maintain verbiage that is more specific than the previously more broad descriptor of qualified immigrant. Thus prioritizing for all residents as the law has promulgated therein it is of this time The county health department conducted a series of presentations and meetings with community stakeholders and healthcare organizations.
And in light of the findings, we were able to move forward with the serving of UI's patients and the maintaining of all county jobs averting such dissolution. I am in agreement with the CHD having decided to pause the transition of patients with unsatisfactory immigration status to other providers.
Thank you Leo that is your time. And that concludes public comment on this item.
Okay, thank you to the members of the public. Supervisor Hartman?
Yes I would like CEO Marina Owen of CENCAL to come up if you would she wasn't able to be here the last time she was in Washington working hard to fight some of these changes. Would you introduce your team and then I'd like to ask you a couple of questions one has to do with Explaining the reduced reimbursement from the state and what the state will and won't cover with with undocumented people, just to lay it out again so it's clear for the public. And then to go into the requirements on HR 1 that will be coming into effect and what that means for organizations' budgets. And then the final question is kind of some of the work that CENCAL is doing to try to bring people together because I think it's been extraordinary.
Thank you Supervisor Hartman, Chair Capps and members of the board. My name is Marina Owen, CEO of Sid and Cal Health. We're the Medi-Cal managed care plan that serves our county of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties We insure one in every three residents of Santa Barbara County, 240,000 people across both the region. You asked for me to introduce members of our team and so here today we have Jordan Teretsky who's our strategic engagement officer. We have Dr. Do Reynoso who does our health equity work and is our chief customer experience officer. We have our chief medical officer, our physician Dr. Maya Heinert And we have a member of our board, also our recipient board member Sarah McDonald. She represents the members on St. Kell Health's Board.
Sue, you asked first for us to describe the changes from our view that impact the health centers from the state budget. And I'll begin by describing the first which Director Hamami highlighted in his presentation which is around the cap on all new Members who would enroll that have that designation of unsatisfactory immigration status. That is not a term that we created nor one that we believe best represents the valuable immigrants in our community, however, that's the definition the states described.
The second change begins in July of next year and that is a reduction in what the FQHCs receive, which is called the prospective payment system. And so that rate is a bundled service rate and that will be reduced beginning in July for certain populations. And that is because the state is working through its own Budget challenges and we'll be grappling with some of the issues that you've described and are discussing here. It is also working with stakeholders like some of those that gave public comment today from the California Policy Budget Institute and National Immigrant Law Center, so valuable thought partners both at the state and federal level You also asked for us to discuss some of the changes on the horizon with HR 1. So that's the federal, big beautiful bill that was enacted on July 4th and so overall it takes a trillion out of health care over 10 years It's something that we at CENCAL have been watching closely and our coalition including the County of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County advocated against given its impact on health.
There are provisions that impact our local hospitals and their funding, your local clinics and also residents of Santa Barbara County who may no longer qualify for Medi-Cal over time given new requirements around eligibility determination. Your social services departments monitoring that closely and CineCalHealth holds and hosts a quarterly steering committee of our community partners with Supervisor Hartman serves on our board and acts as our liaison to that group. And it includes 70 community partners.
It also includes CEO Mona and others. And so we'll look to support you in any of your access task force work, the Board of Directors is also looking to continue to establish new grant programs. So to the extent that we have funding available to support our community partners, the county being one of our most important. We'll be looking to support Director Hamami and others all towards that goal of providing you know all residents with the opportunity to thrive You mentioned those community partners at the steering committee.
Our most recent meeting was focused on work requirements, community engagement requirements and there are many inspired community partners who are looking at ways to support and so long story short we're your partner at Seneca Health and our team is here To really focus on what's best for the residents of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County. And we're at your service.
3:19 – 3:246 turns
Thank you very much. I am, I was really impressed by the quarterly meeting and how everybody is pitching up to work with people receiving those benefits to make sure that they can keep those benefits and that's going to be something that not only the providers in the organizations but the community organizations we all need to be on the same page I know you've worked a lot with the community and one of And you've done that, I think exactly as you should and developing plans and making sure that we're prepared for the worst case. And I think people now appreciate that.
Wholehearted response in working with the community and I'm trying to explain because it's so easy as a chair caps into complete these things and not understand we went different pieces of it required different approaches and solutions and responses. And so I think in working with the community, it's important to kind of disaggregate some of these issues. But I do think communication going forward is gonna be really key and I know that I learned a lot in this interim, and I'm particularly grateful to the people who taught me about some of the legal issues. I find those really interesting and that I hope that this administration is lawful which may be a big hope but my question really goes back to the Health Access Task Force and what your thoughts are about that?
I don't think we're opposed to any idea of bringing people together who are passionate about the safety and the wellness of our community under one roof and exchanging ideas. Want to call it action committee, task force group, working group whatever. The name isn't the issue. I think we have established our willingness work together with everybody and we are still committed to do so and moving forward. So sure, why not as long as it's going to produce something and a tangible solutions not just ideas that no one can execute and it wouldn't just turn to be just a I'm sorry to say that, but that's probably where we want to work towards the problem not to just identify the problem.
We're trying to assimilate a lot of change at once. I think we're going to have even more changes that we're going to have to adapt to and so I think it's, we're creating the infrastructure here to communicate and to the extent we can collaborate. And so I think how we design that infrastructure is really important And I don't know exactly how to do that. I know CENCAL has had a lot of experience with that, maybe a facilitator, maybe we need somebody from the community organizations who could be kind of a bridge and help us think through and plan some of this but I would really like to see us move in that direction
And yes we I didn't want to commit yet because it is in planning but i do confess that my predecessor gave me a lot of feedback into her efforts in working with the community and in fact we are looking at a trusted facilitator who can bring everybody around the table and at least introduce me To many of the partners that I still haven't established connections with. So yes, we are working towards that it is in the works not finally yet so this is why I was a little bit hesitant to share the plans but again we are not opposed to working with anybody who can support us and also bring in new solutions or at least ideas to the table where we can explore
And be good messengers to communicate to our clients, our patients.
Absolutely.
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Any questions from the board? Comments? Deliberation? Well, Supervisor Laviniel?
Yeah I'm in between Well, first off I do want to apologize. I'm sorry that emotions do get heated in here and I'm sorry. I kind of lashed out but so my apologies. I do it's weird for me. It's a thing at when I was the chair. I always feel like when people go over their time, I feel like people are trying to put you know, I have a weird thing about time. But anyways, I'm sorry about that. But what I'm not sorry about is I think you're right, Dr. Mami that we do need this committee but we do have to go into it with eyes wide open and that is we do spend a lot of time identifying what the problems are and I think this has to be an action team not a commiseration team The thing I want people to take away from this hearing is that from day one, regardless of whether you agree with this or that or the other thing.
The care of the patients has been the number one concern of this board and this department and this department head. So let's move forward with that our number one goal is to take care of folks We have to do it in a responsible manner and realize that there are constraints on what we can and can't do. And so with that, I would support any type of whatever we call it, whatever we name it.
Let's put a huge acronym on it like Chair Kaps likes, doesn't like. So yeah, I'll support any motion that brings collaboration and people together and trying to figure out how to work through this mess.
Sure well I'll speak. I'm really proud of this moment so much thought and action A lot of emotion has gone into where we are at this juncture from that article coming out in September and a lot of anger, justifiably so. And October 7th meeting and putting the pause and to come to here. And it's also as I mentioned it's not as though we're sort of saying okay good we won you know no layoffs today and we fixed this All of our hardworking immigrants are going to get the health care they deserve. So it's in a way, a bittersweet moment because we're sort of gearing ourselves up for some really big challenges but I feel as though we're stronger now. Literally you named the coalition Preemy and I really appreciate that you named all those really important groups to our community because I've seen the work.
I've seen the meetings. I only see from my vantage point, I don't see the day in day out I'm so proud of the work really very proud and touched. So here's what I know of why I'm We're here in this situation because of the Trump administration taking aim at a vulnerable population. And we just heard the number, $1 trillion savings on healthcare on the backs of the most vulnerable and we're faced with the safety net. And my time here at the county is coming up to almost three years and I'm realizing You know part of our job as a county, we see it with SNAP and food banks. We sort of figure out how to deal with the dysfunction of other governments and you know we're the ones on the front lines sort of saying okay well we still got to take care of people and I'm so proud of the way that we do And but it's this term UIS, I'm glad that Director Owens said that.
That's not our term. We don't label people like that. These are our neighbors, our friends, our employers, our employees, These are a community that we respect profoundly. This board just days after the last presidential election passed a resolution unanimously in support of our immigrant community, so we have done so much and we continue to stand by our immigrant community.
So that's number one. Number two Our county took a pause for because we needed, we were hearing. We needed to take a step back from this transition from happening and we weren't quite ready and I'm so proud that we did. And I'm proud thank you from our County Health for doing the due diligence for listening to now we have formation of a task force my only hesitation is that you have a lot on your plate so I am one for not adding more processes.
So I do just want to verbalize that That being said, I also want to say that I did hear loud and clear from some really good experts that just...I don't want when there is if this injunction gets lifted we don't just switch to a transition for these patients. That we have time to assess what is the litigation? What is the outcome of this case? What does that mean for these patients here? And then we have time as a board, as CENCAL, The board of the clinics to reassess what that means so that's something I feel very strongly for. I don't need to put it in the motion, but I feel very strongly that we don't just have an automatic trigger for this plan that as you said is shovel ready as much as I'm happy at shovel ready. I don't want that to mean that we don't we just move into
That's a very good point but may I just say Madam Chair, the memo came in July. If we wanted to do it tomorrow then we would have acted on it in July. We gave ourselves until January because we wanted to make sure that we are not reacting Immediately to think so. Yes, if the injunction is lifted it's not going to happen tomorrow but at least this is where we will need to confer with our people confer with legal confer with everybody else to understand what is it that we need to do based on whatever the unknown is that we still don't know what might happen So while I respect what you are saying, we did not jump into it immediately because somebody in Washington said start doing
it. I understand. I just want to voice that I will be interested in what the administration does again these are hypotheticals what the guidance might be what that looks like and have time for that information. And I also just will say again, it's been said up here. I know that you with that plan have put forward the patients their health needs first and foremost and I do believe that our coalition has come around to see that was your intentions. And so I and I also all this end with applauding the coalition For really understanding that.
That was the intention of this plan and for understanding that we are trying to do the best thing and we're all on the same side of really trying to put our immigrant health care needs first, that is the goal and that is where we're marching forward in a I really appreciate all the hard work that went into this action even though it's not really an action today.
A lot of action went into getting to this non-action today and I'm proud Thank you.
3:32 – 3:407 turns
As much as I'd like to blame everything on the Trump administration, I think it's really important that we be clear at least I want to be clear about what I heard. That this department is facing a 17.4 million dollar shortfall and we have a structural deficit of 7.6 million dollars that we've been funding from from savings but we don't have that going forward and that that's we have to deal with that outside of this process absolutely then we have the 6.6 million that I think the state budget is partly in such bad shape because of some things that have happened at the federal level tariff policies and other things have reduced revenues but that 6.6 million really comes from state decisions and so it's really only the 3.2 that we're expecting from HR 1 which I refuse to call the big beautiful bill So my question is that the 6.6 million, what we see is a change where current people who don't have documentation can continue on their SENCAL policies but we will not be able to have new people get covered by SENCAL I think it's really important for everybody to understand though that the county does have a role.
We we have to make sure indigent people are cared for, that's part of the law so what then is what do we do for adults without their documentation who need care? Where are we starting to plan for that in our county
That's a great question and I hope I have a great answer for that. However, there are two scenarios one let's say we are no longer dealing with an injunction or a lift of the injunction or a lawsuit or whatever so let's go back before that infamous HHS memo. We still see and are still going to continue to see uninsured people That is what we do. This is what our clinics are regardless.
What added complexity to this is there was a designation for what I would call a double jeopardy, a UIS and uninsured so If there is no limitations on who we can serve, then we will continue to serve everybody regardless of what financial burden that is going to put on us. However, realistically, we have to also understand the capacity of what we can do and what cannot do.
I would love to buy a house in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, I haven't been able because I have limited resources. I cannot go and buy a mansion in Montecito And the same thing should apply to whatever we can do. If we want to still serve the 75%, the 80%, the 90% then we cannot jeopardize throwing away the 100%. And this is where in our planning, in our reassessment of all these changes, the amount of people that are going to be uninsured that we are going to still serve for free. We will not turn anybody away The amount of people that are now underinsured, that means we used to get $400 and now we're going to get $80. That is still... We're not going to turn them away. They will not receive any less quality health care than anybody else but to what extent can we still operate As you said, how can we still pay our physicians and RMAs and our nurses?
How can we still pay utilities? How can we still keep our five centers open? This is what we need to figure out.
Right, and thank you because I think that's something we need to understand and we need the public to understand. We don't have unlimited resources. We do cover indigent people who are not insured underinsured but maybe not with the same range of services
And we've been fortunate that we had the fund balance, but the fund balance does not self-generate. It's a saving account like anybody who knows budgeting 101. Tap into your saving account year after year. That saving account is going to be reduced to zero where you are forced now to not afford the luxuries that we kind of managed to navigate through.
Supervisor Nelson.
Yeah, thank you and you know this discussion I think has been a really healthy one. You know one thing ways I think about this is about what are other states doing because the California model was different than most other states and you came from a state that I don't know how Michigan model was but those with UIS classifications in other states are receiving services but just through a different means and I think California we've gone off on a different route for quite some time I think we're going to be a little bit more normalization, but you know in those other states.
Those with unsatisfactory immigration status have been receiving services so there is a pathway you know from California to Alabama to New York right that well I think if there's some and obviously this mean growing pains because we built an infrastructure based on a different set of rules And now we're just normalization so maybe speak to that.
It is, it is and also the volume of I think different demographics. So I know Michigan enough because I spent a lot of time there. I operated FQHCs in Michigan. Michigan does not provide Medicaid for anybody who does not have a satisfactory immigration status So that is not an issue. So now we get into what does that memo goes into effect if people so everybody that is a UIS has no insurance, so those would be still the ones that walk through the door don't ask don't tell we are going to treat you regardless whether they have insurance or not. So the question that many states are facing if this goes into effect if there is a ruling do you start asking?
For documentation or do you not and then to add more complexity as I understand it. I'm not a lawyer, but as I understand that Non-profits are different than county governments. Many people said, why are we the only one in California? Well, we're the only one because there are only five like us in California. There are 17 counties that operate their FQHCs but they have them under a health system or hospital system and all of that.
In our situation there are only five counties Thank you.
3:40 – 3:5615 turns
The other point I just wanted to make, and you know I saw the outreach that groups that you were talking about there. But what I do see missing from there is their ag employers. You know that's I'm not seeing that on there and that's that's the entities who work with Many of these people that are UIS clients on a regular basis, have the trusted relationships and are often providing actually some of this health care to their employees already outside of the system of care that we have. And so I just think there's a real opportunity there to do some outreach like there has been done through social services with our Farmworker Resource Center to build some stronger relationships. You know, I understand some of the advocates in the room but there is a little bit of a different Strategy that could be implemented to make sure that we're reaching the broadest amount of people in our community as possible.
That's thank you very much. Yes, I
completely agree supervisor Hartman
Supervisor Nelson, I'm so glad you mentioned that because when we did our forum we learned. I think it's if you hire more than 10 farm worker employees you have to provide insurance but very few take people up on it because it is an additional cost and if they don't have to spend it. So maybe they that is a really important partner to bring in as we begin to think about how are we going And I
would just comment that there are many provider employers that offer that insurance. A lot of employees don't take it, of course, because it's expensive. A lot of people in the county don't take the insurance because it's expensive but they do then provide clinics. PA that serves county employees actually serve some of our farms here in the Santa Maria Valley. So I mean, it's already happening out there and so you know trying to leverage that and trying to create pathways for some of our larger employers and larger ag labor contractors is probably a relationship worth building to make sure we maximize that.
Supervisors I think as you're getting close to concluding this hearing, I just want to remind you so next month we're planning to come back on our forecast. Our budget forecast and some of the questions you're raising are questions that aren't on the front of our minds in our departments. Our Budget Director is sitting over in the corner. But just to, I want to put some more information in your head and that is the deficit that Director Mami pointed out $17 million projected for next year. That's as if we continue to provide the services we do. What he didn't say is there's an additional money that's going to be adding to that deficit because he's just saying what he's going to lose because of some of the changes from state and federal changes In addition to that, the county is responsible to filling figuring out how we're going to provide indigent care.
That number isn't on there and that's a very large number. So I just want to keep in mind it's not just that, that's how much they would just be losing but in addition there's going to be more money that we're gonna have to find because we're responsible still for providing that care so I think the partnerships we talked about all the things that SenCal is doing to ensure helping people ensure they continue to get their Medi-Cal all that will be important as we go into the next year and we'll have a fuller discussion in a month thanks
Thank you. Okay, Supervisor Hartman? I'd be willing to make the motion A through C on today's staff report and also that the board endorses the creation of a health access task force.
Okay
and
I'll second that
motion Madam Chair and members of the Board. So my recommendation on the task force, I'm not sure exactly how we want to structure it and my concern is that we might be boxing ourselves in if the board directs or even endorses creating it versus having the department create something and that gives the department more flexibility too so that would be
Okay, then it goes with direction or I mean you heard there's support for it. It's already in process. It's
a good idea. We committed to it so
okay. So just A through C. Okay with motion and second all those in favor please say aye.
Aye. Aye
was the second. Aye. Motion carries thank you so much. All right we will take How about 30 minutes for folks for our last item? So we will be back around 1.30 to 1.35 Okay, we are back and just finishing up our last departmental item which is departmental item. Oh, we have two more, excuse me. Departmental Item number three. Madam Clerk. Chair Kaps and
3:56 – 4:045 turns
members of the board, departmental item number three is from the Social Services Department. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the Department of Social Services DSS fiscal year 2025 through 2026 budget update and rebalancing plan and there's a fourth this vote required on this item.
Good afternoon Chair Kaps and Supervisors. Daniel Nielsen, your Department Director for the Department of Social Services. Rachel Lipman our Chief Financial Administrative Officer will be making the presentation today
Good afternoon Chair Kaps, members of the Board. On October 7th we came to your board to present a plan to bring our expenditures in line with revenues as we are projecting a $7.4 million gap between our ongoing revenue sources and our ongoing costs in the current year. Our budget was adopted before we had final information about our realignment revenue levels and with additional months of information about some of our large cost drivers We saw that we would not be able to complete this year in balance without taking major cost cutting measures.
We propose to your board that we eliminate funding for all vacant positions of which we had 56 last month and we now have 58. We also propose that we move forward with a layoff plan to reduce our workforce by 65 filled positions. Your board directed us to work with the county executive office to come up with strategies to fund these 65 positions through the end of this fiscal year.
We've returned to you today with an update on cost reduction strategies, a summary of the budget revision we've submitted for your approval as well as a brief update on our current financial projections and look ahead to next year. Over the past month we've been working with the CEO's office and Human Resources Department to solve our budget gap With CEO, we've identified potential opportunities for several DSS staff to shift from their current responsibilities into roles working with justice involved individuals that have dedicated funding sources. The first opportunity is providing Medi-Cal eligibility and enrollment services supported by CalAIM Path 2 funds The second opportunity is to work on reentry care management services for individuals transitioning out of our jails funded by Community Corrections Partnership and General Funds.
Details of these opportunities are still being worked out, and there's no estimated amount of revenue at this time. However we would expect two to four DSS employees to potentially shift responsibilities into these roles with alternate funding sources. And in collaboration with HR, we met with SEIU Local 620 and 721 representatives several times to discuss potential concessions to save money in the current year. And HR and the unions have reached tentative agreements which if ratified by union membership could save an estimated $250,000 in local funds over the course of 12 months a portion of which would be realized in the current fiscal year.
In addition to these two strategies DSS will also continue to hold vacancies that arise in order to generate cost savings. We're also reviewing any requests to spend with a critical eye and incurring costs only when deemed absolutely necessary from an operational perspective. The budget revision we have brought forward today will adjust our revenues and expenditures in line with projections that we presented to you on October 7th. There are many ups and downs in the budget revision, but the six main adjustments are summarized on this slide. The dollar amounts reflect only the local funding side of things although most of these items also have state and or federal funding impacts. Numbers in green benefit our bottom line and numbers in red negatively impact our budget.
We will maintain funding for all filled positions and reduce funding for all vacant positions, and we will make the adjustment to salary savings to reflect our very low attrition rate. Realignment revenues will be reduced by $1.5 million to reflect updated state projections And cash assistance payments in the foster care and adoptions programs have seen significant growth in the past couple of years, and we're adjusting the expected level of spending up by 1.3 million dollars in local funds.
We are reducing over one million dollars in contracted supportive services for child welfare services programs, and most of these contract eliminations or reductions have already been put into place. Finally, the budget revision will reduce the one-time draws on revenue to reflect funds used in fiscal year 2425 to balance at year end. And although we are pursuing cost reduction measures as enumerated on the last slide, we've also built in a $2.3 million transfer from general county programs which will be drawn upon at the end of this fiscal year to the extent needed to balance our budget If the other measures are insufficient to bring expenditures in line with available revenues.
And since last month's hearing, we have updated our revenue and expenditure projections and unfortunately are anticipating an additional half million dollar gap in the current year. However, we've seen how there is much uncertainty in both our funding sources as well as certain spending areas such as categorical aid which are outside our direct control so we will continue to monitor our budget throughout the year and refine our projections on a monthly basis.
We will work closely with CEO and may return later in the year if we determine it would be prudent to adjust our budget based on cost reduction measures and updated projections. As we look towards next fiscal year, things look quite bleak. The three factors listed on this slide will create a gap of over $10 million to start next fiscal year. As we discussed at last month's hearing the federal change in the cost sharing ratio for the administration of the CalFresh program will increase our share of costs from the current 15% to 22.5%, resulting in an annual increase of 2.6 million dollars In our general fund contribution directed towards this program.
We will remove the 2.8 million dollars in one-time funding allocated by the board in the current year's budget which is funding the increasing categorical aid costs and finally, the annualized cost of the 65 filled positions that had been proposed for elimination is 4.8 million dollars As we begin developing next year's budget next month, we will work on cost reduction strategies.
Because of the significant cost reductions we've already incorporated into the current year budget as well as the budget adjustment before you today, we anticipate we won't have many places to look to further cut costs other than staffing. Because of this, we expect to be before you at the April budget workshops with a proposal for significant reductions to positions.
And these are the three recommended actions before you today. That concludes our presentation, we're available for questions. Thank you. Thank
you so much. Are there any questions? Excuse me at this time from the board. Supervisor Nelson? We can yeah we can move to public comment first.
Chair Kaps and members of the board, we have four requests to speak on this item. We are going to begin here in Santa Maria with Leo DeCasas to be followed by Laura Robinson.
4:04 – 4:1415 turns
Good afternoon, Madam Chair again and Board of Supervisors. I just wanted to speak you know about this bleak dark situation that we're currently face ourselves in. Again we're here today representing the hard-working members here at the Department of Social Services on behalf of our members and the community we want to express the gratitude for staff recommendation that includes zero layoffs a day We appreciate the collaboration between county leadership, human resources, the department as labor partners to protect these jobs now.
However, we must acknowledge the $10 million deficit and our fear for job loss and services to the community. We're deeply concerned by this. The decision to cut the vacancies today already puts a strain on the workers now going into next year. You know, layoffs not only harm employees but also reduce the county's ability to draw down those state funds. Therefore the county will be leaving resources on the table taking resources out of our communities.
Again, you know there's it's hard to say what the answer is but you know we urge county leadership to work with us and to work to explore every possible avenue to avoid these negative outcomes that we foresee in the future. Thanks.
We will now go to Laura Robinson to be followed by Karen Hauenstein. Laura?
Hello again, Laura Robinson Executive Director of SEIU Local 620. This one's harder for me. You know over the past few weeks I have been working with my HR counterparts to come to some sort of concession deal that might get us anywhere near where we need to be and just really show you that we are willing to work with you collaboratively But at the end of the day, that $250,000 isn't the actual money out of my members' pockets. It's substantially more. That's just the portion that can go towards the general fund. So we're actually—I want that to be clear—we're actually giving a lot more money back. It just can't be allocated to save these jobs.
So at that point, $250,000 is a drop in the bucket of the general fund. You had a $14.7 million surplus last year. You're already picking up the excess of the DSS deficit and I'm here to ask once again just pick that up especially if we're hearing as the board letter clearly outlines Okay, we're going to come back in eight months and lay these people off anyways. But so now we're gonna ask them take a 5% pay cut in the meantime when they're desperately gonna need it? In eight months when they're gonna be filing for unemployment? It just doesn't feel right. So the ask is clear pick up that little $250,000 that that we've agreed to concede to you. You know let's get to the new fiscal year. Let's discuss the We're going to talk about economic issues in a holistic sense, you know Countywide and let's include everything.
And I mean, you know revenue enhancements. I mean fee realignments. Yes. I mean concessions. Let's work again as labor partners with the county our goal is never to bankrupt you guys and let's do it then let's take a break over the next, you And I don't see Karen with us.
Hi, good afternoon. My name is Yuri Gomez. I'm a social worker supervisor with Child Welfare Services and thank you for having us and having this conversation with us. I want to say thank you for hearing us. I think that's the sentiment we got from our members. They have felt heard over the last couple of weeks, months The struggles that we're going through within our department are shared not just by the members, the community but our leadership as well.
Thank you for working with us, for listening, making the time and the space so we can have these conversations. Like Laura mentioned, with these concessions our members are making it also shows time and time again all the things our members are willing to give up. They give up time with their families to work after hours. They give up some of their well-earned and needed We know that there are merit increases, but we know the challenges that we would face if more positions were eliminated.
So also we want to continue to have these conversations. Very well articulated last time. I think this is an issue that has to be looked at strategically as a county issue. We're not self-sufficient even though that's our motto, we want people to be self sufficient safe. We can't do that alone within our department and we do need the county support So that we can work together to carry our vulnerable population and continue to provide those services that are essential.
So thank you again, and we look forward to collaborating and I just want to again emphasize our members who are willing to give up from their own pockets that very needed increment that would get their families through really hard times so thank you. And that
concludes public comment
on
this item.
Okay questions from the board. Yeah. Oh yeah,
of course. CEO Miyasato. Thank you Chair Kaps. I just want to say thank you to our unions. I want to thank you to SEIU 620 and I know 721 is still in process but thank you for stepping up and saying we want to help solve the problem as well so we really appreciate that. And I want actually Carlos Silva just to so that the public is clear what is the concession that's been bargained and then we have a TA?
Thank you. Chair Capps, members of the board. First I do want to start by mirroring what CEO Miyasato said and commend the unions for stepping up and likewise working collaboratively with us to show that they're willing to do what they could to save the jobs of these employees. As far as The concessions go that we've agreed upon. We did purposely try to limit the impacts of the greatest extent possible given that this may be just the first drop in the bucket and not digging too far into that options for concessions in the future And so what we put forth and we've agreed upon is a six-month delay in merit eligibility. Merits are not automatic according to the Civil Service rules, they must be first affirmed by the department head and then verified by a written employee performance evaluation of satisfactory or better But that said, by delaying the merit eligibility you were not.
I'm going to start off by saying that the city of Santa Barbara is not effectively taking any money out of their pockets at this time and that it was part of. The reason we felt that that was a reasonable ask at this time to show the commitment what it does do though is it simply delays the point or they'll the point which they be eligible to then receive potential 5% increase so In the process.
Besides that, it doesn't have any effect on agreed-upon COLAs that are already in the contract. Inequities are in the contract. Doesn't have any effect on the employee's ability to promote. And more importantly, it does not impact services provided by the county to the clients. It keeps those things in place as long as possible. So for those reasons we felt that it was a reasonable concession ask.
And just within the department, correct?
Oh yes and simply limiting it to the department we did initially discuss the possibility of concessions countywide unfortunately though that would have had impacts on other departments operations and employees in ways that They wouldn't have been able to recruit certain special revenues from that. So it would have been a great even greater impact upon them and those monies couldn't have been forwarded towards those departments or create portion of them, the special revenue portions to help with the budget cap in any case.
Thank you.
Supervisor Lavanino.
Thank you. Several question about that. So what's going to change between I mean, when we look at this holistically obviously we can't fix this department or public health just inside public health and social services. So if those concessions that you're talking about that weren't really going to do us any good this time around how are they going to be able to do us? How is it gonna be more effective next time?
Will those concessions at least remain as options for those other departments to utilize in saving their positions in the future?
4:15 – 4:2523 turns
Okay. So, so this is only inside social services and it's only people delaying a merit eligibility for 6 months that gives us $250,000.
It stops the occurrence of up to 250,000 dollars over the course of calendar year 2026. Those costs will be incurred at some point, it just delays them. So you'll save those one-time funds to help that can be contributed towards closing the gap.
Supervisor Nelson?
Yes thank you Chair Caps. Getting back to the presentation for a moment and this year's tally talks about the attrition not being as much So I'm going to go ahead and ask you a question that I didn't previously. Anticipated and just help me a little bit understand. I mean, how does how much is attrition go into your budgeting? You guys are looking at that. I mean, as you're assuming every year you're going to have some people leave. So yes, you're not sorry savings in.
And so this need to understand that a little bit better, especially as we look into the future.
Right, Supervisor Nelson through the chair. So every department does budget some level of salary savings which is essentially a negative number in the salaries and benefits category and that accounts for the level of attrition that you anticipate seeing during the year. If departments didn't budget that and we budgeted the full amount then every time we had a vacancy we would essentially be kind of holding money there without having anybody doing the work. So by budgeting a level of salary savings for natural attrition, it allows departments to have a little bit of a better staffing level and that reflects reality. And so we have historically had quite high attrition rates But this year they've really come down and we just have not seen the level that we've seen over the past few years.
And we therefore decided that it would be responsible to bring you know reduce that level of salary savings that we had anticipated in the adopted budget, to bring it down now and we are closely tracking to that with every pay period.
And that goes to my question about when we start looking at next year's budget, you know as we're not hiring back positions. How does that? I mean the math on that changes a little bit. We have these 65 positions that potentially are up for You know, potentially laying employees off but we're going to have attrition and it seems like the math would be a little bit different if we're not anticipating rehiring.
Supervisor Nielsen through the chair you're absolutely right. Our current updated salary savings percentage that we're using in our updated budget for the current year I believe is at 5.2 percent. So we're monitoring it. We're we're doing well so far in the current fiscal year to that new figure in terms of tracking to that but when we create our budget for 2627,
But then the lack of hiring also potentially helps with those 65 positions come next year. So we actually have the actual natural attrition instead of actually laying off.
Well, Supervisor Nelson so anything that we overachieve in the current year above that 5.2% in terms of natural attrition then helps us be better positioned for the next year but we still have to have a certain level of natural attrition in the current year to meet that 5. 2 percent target.
So everything above the five point two percent will become then
helpful
vacant unfilled positions?
Right. That would help us be better positioned for headed into the next year. I
think I'm tracking that a little bit better now. And I guess this is my opportunity to talk about when you guys come back next year, or come back in April and have a conversation. You know we always focus on general fund dollars. You guys also have realignment dollars that are somewhat flexible so I mean you know I know you guys could kind of get the pick-and-choose. They have to be spent within social services they can't be taken out and spent on roads but they'd go into different pots within the social services umbrellas do I understand correctly?
Yes both realignments, 91 realignment and 2011 realignment have a certain amount of flexibility. The greatest flexibility is within 1991 realignment it's less flexible within 2011 realignment and so when we're crafting our budget we will be focused as we always have been on minimizing Our use of general fund and the maximization of other revenues. In two prior fiscal years over the course of the past 10 or 11 years, in years where we've actually received more realignment than we had budgeted In one year, the CEO's office withheld one quarter's worth of the plan general fund for our department and in a different year they withheld one month's worth. And so there's always this sort of relationship back and forth of not using any more general fund than needed.
Unfortunately, you know we're not living in that world right now as far as having excess realignment to help that out. But historically the CEO's office and the department have worked very closely together to use as little general fund as necessary.
Sure but also there are There are things that are funded with realignment dollars that are maize not shells,
right? The maize are in the area like the contracts that Rachel just referred to that we've reduced in the current year. You know that approximate million dollars worth of contracts was maize they remain maize up until the point at some court judge tells us that you shall with this family provide that service right So we're operating appropriately at the current time, but the future could change in terms of what we're mandated to do and in particular cases or situations.
But as we've described in the past with our categorical aid and the cost of foster care placements and adoptions assistance We have a lot of very high cost things happening that are totally out of our control. That in the past fiscal year, part of what our problem was was that we didn't recognize early enough on that our category eight was growing drastically.
And money was being shifted to pay for that without full transparency internally until partway through the year. That it was drawing money away from other things that were also essential like, you know funding the foster care match or the excuse me the SNAP, the CalFresh match and so you know we you know, have control internally during the course of the year and making some adjustments.
But when the costs skyrocket like they did last fiscal year we end up with just basically essential costs and not enough money to cover them.
I guess that's what I'm trying to delineate and, you know, careful of the way I'm walking through this. But, you know, really just making sure that we prioritize the essentials and then there are going to be some things that are not essential. They're nice tabs, not half tabs. And I think that those would be really interesting to see what that looks like in next year's budget for
your department. Supervisor Nelson when we come back in April Everything that anybody would possibly consider nice to have will be on the list of stuff that we can no longer afford. Unfortunately, there will also be stuff that the department considers must haves that will also be on that list.
And I think that's where you know, I'll speak for myself as a board member. You know what? That's where I'm looking to fund those things not necessarily looking to keep What we do now completely funded and topped up, you know I'm willing to mind. Our general fund to a certain extent to the things that are essential that are things that are like public safety child welfare by need to be have the confidence that.
Everywhere else, those things are already been eliminated through that budget for my support there and you might be able to get three other votes of their wills. Other places I'm just going to give you a key to my support on those things is I really need to make sure that I feel like you guys have done that as far as possible because we have a lot of things that are essential that are funded by general funds that we don't have enough general fund dollars to either so we have to make some decisions and there's gonna be some things that are underfunded So I'm just really stressing how much I need you guys to be, you know, sharpening those pencils and looking at those places.
You know, making sure that it makes it through that level of scrutiny is what I'm
hoping for. And I assure you first of all I want to say my appreciation for your clarity on that and I assure you that in April you will have that clarity from us on all those things we have been actively doing that for the past year and So we're very well capable of very quickly addressing and will make sure our presentation includes that level of clarity for you to see.
But I appreciate you sharing your mindset at this stage. Thank you.
Supervisor Hartman.
Yeah, I just had a question about the concession from the union So there's a six-month voluntary delay in eligibility so somebody might have for a merit increase is that correct?
4:25 – 4:3211 turns
How about that So anyway, Supervisor Hartman through the chair. Yes it would be a delay of six months for their eligibility so every employee becomes eligible for merit assuming they're not at top step at the first of whatever their anniversary month is. So for instance if somebody had an anniversary month in January 1st then it would simply delay their eligibility for that merit until
July.
Correct
but then they also may lose their job Is that correct? I mean we're gonna have to and so they've foregone not just that but they're at a lower rate when they go for unemployment. Is that correct?
That is correct, yes.
Yeah
But keep in mind that unemployment benefits are based on a look back, quarterly look back. So there's a good chance they may not have incurred those additional benefits in enough time to actually have it benefit their unemployment.
OK. If I may just supervisors, just to for the public no one's been laid off yet. The department is just looking how to balance their budget come the July 1 fiscal year and at the time we can talk about what kind of parameters would be benefits etc if if we need to do those things so I would just say hold hold those thoughts until and if we get to that point.
Supervisor Lavendale?
Thank you, Madam Chair. So mine is and I don't know how much we can talk about in open session but I guess Rachel will shut me down if I step out of line get ready. No so strategy wise you know and I appreciate that the unions what they gave but from my position I look at it like you're only going to be able to go to that well so many times And so I don't want the mental perception of our employees to be, I gave. Okay? Cause we're definitely going next year there's gonna be a big ask right? I mean, I'm just looking at what we're seeing that's just the two departments we're talking about now and we've got how many 20 something. So I don't know any of them that are running in surplus. So there's gonna be some significant changes are gonna happen next year.
So the question is strategy wise is it Is it smart to go to the employees at this point for a $250,000 minor band-aid but they feel like they already did something and then we're going to go back in April and say okay here's our strategy. We're gonna need concessions and we need huge concessions and I don't want the response to be or the feeling among some that are like well we already we already did one.
I'm just trying to figure out the strategy is it seems It seems more of a strategy to me to say, I mean we're already covering a lot. So for $250,000 do we really want to use one of those chits?
Supervisor, I think that's a labor strategy more than the legal issue for County Council. And I would just say we've had discussions about labor strategy and we presented what we thought was important and I think overall our unions are led by thoughtful skilled folks they're good labor negotiators they worked with our labor negotiators. I think they understand the situation.
We've negotiated in good faith and no one knows what the future will hold. We are forecasting a deficit that's greater than what you've seen today. And really the issue is what are we going to do with labor? What are we going to do with our departments? What are we going to do with the community? There's all these questions involved about a larger strategy and we hope to talk to you more about that.
As far as, is it a smart labor strategy I guess there's a question you're asking us depends on who you ask. I think it's important for employees in DSS who are Who voted on this as well, as far as SEIU to say we want to help our own department. I think that's admirable and I applaud them for that. I applaud the union for bringing it up and for negotiating with us in good faith.
Are we saying to the union this is... That's all you have to do? No we're not saying that yet but we don't know what that next step is. We've been forecasting, we haven't instructed Carlos to go out and start doing more concessions for what's about to come. We're trying to figure out what is a better strategy for us all One of your colleagues that used to be on the board said, yeah we can tighten up expenses.
But what we have is a revenue problem not necessarily an expense problem because we can't control our expenses and so we will have to come up with a strategy overall for everything that we're doing and I would just suggest for this particular piece of the board feels like well even though we received direction to negotiate this, we negotiated in good faith, the union's negotiated it in good faith. If we're saying we don't want to give a false impression to our employees I think they know that We're not sure what the future is going to hold. We may ask for more in the coming months as we approach the budget, we just don't know yet and we haven't really defined that labor strategy yet because we're trying to figure out what is the larger strategy?
I know we've said that there if we continue on this line of budget cuts, we are going to have to do more concession bargaining. But as far as this strategy goes all I can say is we've negotiated. I think it's important for employees to feel they've been part of the solution and we would want to continue to have them part of the solution and we want to continue to work with them collaboratively because in the end no one no one in this room wants to lay off employees honestly nobody does But we have to, by law balance our budget. This is a state funded program that's why we haven't had these issues too much in the past because the state has either had more revenue or less revenue and we figured it out but this is a unique situation and unique time.
Thank
4:32 – 4:3412 turns
you. Okay other questions?
We're ready to
move forward. I guess one more question so the extra half a million dollars, we're not funding that yet right? I just want to clarify that. So it's on the radar might be something that we have to deal with come at the end of the fiscal year and you're just kind of giving us a heads up. It's not anything you're asking for more general fund allocation at this point
correct
okay All right, thank you. Just wanted to make sure I had that right in my head. So I guess I'm, I guess I'll be ready to move forward staff recommendation once all the rest of questions and comments are done.
Yeah, I mean, it's not a question. I just wanted to also echo the thanks to the Union for really participating in such a challenging situation and also to Miss Robinson for your comments in the previous agenda item as well and that collaborative nature nature of this engagement and also to the department. Supervisor Nielsen did you want to make a motion?
And I will second and that's one thing SEIU for all the hard work working with the county. I'm optimistic. I think everything be alright, but could be wrong so
Okay, we have a motion in a second all those in favor please say aye. Aye Thank you. I know
by the way.
Oh,
yeah.
Okay Sorry miss that So then we have to do four-to-one
4:35 – 4:412 turns
Chair Kaps and members of the board, departmental item number four is from the County Executive Office. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding adjustments to the other post-employment benefits OPEB funding policy
Good afternoon Chair Kaps and members of the board. I'm here to discuss the recommended adjustment to our post-employment benefits or OPEB funding policy. First, just a little background on OPEB. The purpose of our OPEP plan is to provide a health care benefit to retired employees of the county and their eligible dependents The plan provides an insurance premium subsidy to retired employees based upon their years of service and the retired employee's elected health insurance provider.
The county currently contributes 4% of payroll costs to pay for the yearly benefits to these retirees, and to put funding towards projected future costs of the plan. That contribution will be close to $20 million in the current fiscal year. Employees do not make contributions towards the OPEB plan. The county bears the full cost. To limit the future liability of the plan, the county began gradually closing the OPEB plan to new employees beginning in 2012 with a new general plan employees. And by 2018, the OPEB plan was closed to all new employees How is OPEB funded? Prior to the formal policy adoption, the county utilized a pay-as-you-go methodology for the OPEB plan paying in what was anticipated to be withdrawn by recipients each year. This contribution equaled about 3% of pensionable payroll at that time but did nothing to address the large unfunded liability in the plan.
In 2016, the board formally adopted a funding policy setting the rate at 4% of pensionable payroll with the aim of reducing the long-term liability and achieving a fully funded plan by 2034. The funding plan has been more successful than anticipated and as of June 30 2024, the plan had a funded ratio of 60%. And at the current 4% rate, the plan is anticipated to be fully funded by 2027 well before the original target of 2034 This is a look at OPEB liabilities and assets in the funded ratio from our most recent actuarial report as of June 30, 2024. And 10 years before that, June 30, 2014 just before the 4% funding plan was put into place.
We can see the total actuarial liability of the plan was $178.5 million and is now 125.5 million as a result of closing the plans in the previous years. As new entrants come in, the liability will continue to decline over time. In 2014 there was only 3.2 million dollars in assets in the plan because up until this point the county was using pay-as-you-go to cover just the amount going out the door each year and not building up assets towards the future liability The difference between the total actuarial liability and the value of the assets in the plan is the unfunded liability, which was $175.3 million in 2014. This meant the plan had a funded ratio of only 1.8%. As we flash forward to 2024 and the liability has come down by over $50 million and the assets have risen by over $70 million.
This means the unfunded liability has dropped to $51 million with a funded ratio of about 60%. SPSARS' actuary will likely be publishing their next OPEB report soon for the year ending June 30, 2025. I expect we'll see this position improve further as the investments achieved greater returns than the assumed rate and the county contributed around another $18 million.
The CEO's recommendation, given the plan's positive position and the other fiscal needs that the county is currently grappling with, is to adjust the funding policy from 4% of payroll to 1.5%, effective January 1st, 2026. This adjustment will create one-time salary savings for departments in the current fiscal year and reduce ongoing salary and benefit costs in the upcoming 26-27 budget.
This change will help the county partially address forecasted operating budget deficits while continuing to responsibly fund the long-term liability in this plan and achieve full funding by the original target date of 2034. The change does not impact benefits for any of the eligible employees, it is solely a change to the county's funding policy. This table shows the projected savings compared to budget in the current year if we move to a one and a half percent policy for the last six months of this fiscal year.
1.9 million savings in the general fund and 4.5 million in other funds, a total payment of 13.2 million on the year instead of 19.6. Annualized is ongoing savings in fiscal year 26-27. We would expect 4.2 million dollars savings in the general fund and 8.6 million dollars in other funds, a total payment of 7.6 million instead of the estimated 20.4 million if we stayed at four percent So just to reiterate key takeaways, this recommendation adjusts the county's contribution rate from 4% to 1.5% of payroll effective January 1, 2026.
It will create salary savings in departments in the current year and reduce ongoing salary and benefit costs in all departments in 26-27. And it will still allow us to achieve a fully funded plan by the original target of 2034 barring any unforeseen investment losses. The CEO will continue monitoring the progress of this plan in the years ahead and may revisit the funding policy again in coming years. And again, nothing proposed here will impact benefits to eligible employees.
Our recommended actions are to adopt the resolution that updates the funding policy to 1.5% and determine this action is not a project under CEQA.
4:41 – 4:5019 turns
Okay thank you Mr. Conaty. Questions from the board? Supervisor Nelson
Yes, thank you. I've got a couple questions. So previously 3% of payroll kept us going. Right when we were 0% funded.
When they were doing the Supervisor Nielsen through the chair, when they're doing the pay as you go 10 plus years ago that amount at that time I think was eight or nine million dollars a year. At that time equaled about three percent of payroll if they kept doing that the payments are still around eight or nine million dollars a year it would be much less because it wasn't pegged at 3%. It was just pay-as-you-go. Payroll has gotten a lot bigger.
So yeah and that makes sense but I'm kind of concerned about the one and a half right so one and a half is that At least covering what we're going to be paying out in benefits.
So Supervisor Nelson through the chair, I believe what's currently going out that eight or nine million dollars going out the door, the one and a half alone if that generates a seven or eight million dollars it doesn't cover that but the assets in the plan generate investment returns and that will still continue keeping it above... It should be well above the tread water indicator
So
what's our tread water indicator? That's a lower amount that the actuary calculates. If we paid in that amount, it prevents the unfunded liability from getting larger but it's not paying down the unfunded liability so we're paying more than that now and will continue the one-and-a-half percent continues paying that higher amount.
But we're assuming that we're gonna get above the rate of return to be able to continue to do that if we're not paying at least what we're paying out right
I believe it's at 7%. The assumed rate of return is at 7%, so it assumes that they continue earning that 7% much like the pension plan. They have to adopt some kind of assumption and that is built into these numbers. All right, so
if we were kept the 4%, we'd have this fully 100% funded by 2027. Have you guys done some modeling on what 1.5% does? Does that get us funded by 2030?
So Supervisor Nelson through the Chair, we worked with SPSARS Actuary earlier this year. They looked at a 2% number for us and that was getting us by 2029 fully funded by 2029. When we were looking at the 2034 date, we asked them if we went down to one and a half or even 1%, the timing of everything they're working on to get their actuary studies and things done for their rates they need to adopt next month. They didn't have the time to work with us and produce an actuary report that looked at those lower amounts but I've spoken with them. I've been talking to Greg Levin. He's comfortable having the 2034 number in there still as a reasonable target That he doesn't, he didn't feel that there was any risk of missing that 2034. Assuming the you know assumption returns maintain it 7%.
And 2034 is just a goal really right for the county?
Correct it was the goal set when the funding policy was put in place in 2016
So I was asking those questions just for my benefit. But, you know, I think this is really an opportunity for a little bit of a celebration and of just really the hard work that budget staff and past boards have put into this funding strategy. You know we, just like a lot of our other pension debt, this generation of county employees and taxpayers are paying for a lot of liabilities in past generations that did not put money aside.
You know, even this right now is paying a benefit that most of our employees aren't going to get. And it's really kind of sucks you know basically we're having to reduce staff members to pay for past retirees that are long gone from our system A benefit that these employees will never get that same benefits. So it's, it's really you know to me. It's a good reminder though also is a warning for us all that we don't want to if we don't want to do this to the next generation of board members where we hand them a pile of liabilities that they have to struggle through and You know, for us to go from 0% funded 100% funded from 2014 to 2034 is a huge success story. Wish Andy Caldwell was still in the room to hear that and see these numbers because you know everywhere I'd go I hear about how bankrupt the county is and how fiscally irresponsible we are and I spent a lot of my time trying I just wanted to educate people on how fiscally responsible this board is.
You know, we may be progressive on other things but very conservative fiscally here and it really shows in these numbers and so I just wanted to just pat the past board members and budget staff and the entire county on their fiscal responsibility in putting this first But I also just kind of want us all to be aware of what has happened in the past. And so we need to be very careful about that looks like, so that we don't fall back into those issues in the future and hand a pile of liabilities to the next generation. I think it's frankly unethical and you know we shouldn't go down that route. So I don't think that's where we're going here. I think this is still responsible and responsive to our numbers.
Bottom line though, this strategy means potentially additional. You know how is this going to help some of these other departments? Right you know we just had social services so if we're gonna save two and a half percent on payroll Is that going to kind of help absorb some of these costs potentially? I mean, I know you don't wanna make any promises here. This isn't gonna save the day. This isn't the big rescue plan but this is gonna hopefully maybe soften some of these things.
Can you maybe just talk about that just for a minute just so we can kinda And also that's good for I think even our labor groups to know that we're doing things here to move numbers around, to try to lessen the impact. We're not just going to go to labor groups and say hey we're gonna do this on your backs you know this move right here probably means that there are people's jobs that will be saved because going from 4% to 1.5%. And so I just want to make sure that that's out there for my colleagues and for the public and our employees to understand.
Supervisor Nelson through the chair. Yeah, I think that's correct soften is a good word to use it softens the impacts of the deficits these departments are seeing where they all see at every department budget salaries and benefits all these different line items OPEB is one of those line items in their budget and it is exactly 4% of their salary cost which is another line item so every single department is going to see in The rest of this fiscal year, we've budgeted to the 4%, so in the rest of this fiscal year their actual hits every pay period are going to be less than anticipated. It's going to create salary savings in each of their budgets and the general fund if that ends up with additional surplus, that falls back to the general fund at the end of this fiscal year.
Departments like social services, public health that lessens their costs in the air. So it helps them balance maybe use less fund balance and public health case at the end of this fiscal year than they otherwise would have DSS maybe it's less general fund needed to cover their gap at the end of this fiscal year In the ongoing 26-27 budget as we develop that in the coming months, we will build in if your board approves this today of a 1.5% assumption instead of the 4%. And so everyone's OPEB line is going to be a much smaller number than the current adopted budget. So it will be a decrease in some cases like DSS I think it's $1.7 million or so, we'd anticipate that year-over-year to be a less amount for them which will help offset other salary and benefit increases in that total object level and hopefully help you know keep their budget from growing more than it otherwise would have.
It's not gonna be enough to cover that 10 million plus number they were talking about earlier today but it does help soften that.
So I'm supportive of the strategy with a caveat that I really want to hear from the CEO's office in the future. If this really starts to mind our funded percentage, you know if we go from 59 now down to 57 and we start to see that dip. You know I think I want to see come I want I'm hoping you guys can come back to us and say hey guys we thought one half could do it but everything needs be 1.8 Because I just can, at least we can just tread water. I think that's something that we morally should be doing with this and I think that number will actually naturally go down too because some of these that are receiving these benefits are probably dying off right? Some of these retirees are no longer going on It's true.
It's an aggressive
plan. That's how these actuarials work, right? And then as they go on to other forms of health care that they might receive from so they might not need the county's health plans and I'm speaking about a son of a county retiree and I am actually helping my mom with her stuff right now. So I know it pretty well. I see it on our statements. That's the caveat. I just hope that you guys would be responsive to us and I'm sure you guys would, but I just want to say it out loud for my own benefit to make sure that we don't fall further behind.
And just Supervisors in our budget book, we always do prepare an update on what our unfunded liabilities are so that's another way that it'll be evident to everybody.
4:50 – 4:525 turns
Okay, Supervisor Labadino?
Thank You Madam Chair So this for me is a little bit of a warning light because I always look at, I totally support this move by the way. And I think this is the creative kind of look at things, a second glance at things that we're gonna have to be doing a lot of going into the next year is that sure, we'd love to be at 4% and I think the strategy's working it's crushing but whenever I heard we had budget issues I always felt like, OK, it can't be that serious if we're not going after our entire OPEB payment that we're making because we're really over.
We're overpaying and we're being very strategic on how we do that. So this does that warning light has popped up for me now that yes, if we're going to go after OPEB which to me is like kind of low hanging fruit We're on the right track. We're looking at things holistically and we're saying, hey where else can we find some of these not easy wins? But this one's about as painless as it gets. We're still on track for the same goal that we had.
And so I'm excited about this. I'm really glad you brought it forward and I would be totally in support. And I think I'm the only one that gets this benefit. So on the board which I didn't even know about till Bob told me.
Okay. Do we have public comment on this item? Chair Kaps and members of the board, we have no request to speak from the public on this item. Really okay. Alrighty any other comments from the board? All
right I move staff recommendation A and B. I'll second.
All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Motion carries thank you to our budget director. And we can adjourn. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week. Happy holidays.