SBCAN Action Alert - NC HOT on Thursday, MLK celebration Sat., op-ed writers for SM Times, Buena Vista Beautifiers

Written by
January 12, 2016

Santa Barbara County Action Network

January 12, 2016


1. SBCAN North County H.O.T. (Housing, Open space and Transportation) Committee meeting, Thursday, January 14, Santa Maria
2. Martin Luther King Celebration, Saturday, January 16, Santa Maria
3. Looking Forward op-ed writers needed (Santa Maria Times)
4. Buena Vista Beautifiers Facebook page

1. SBCAN North County H.O.T. (Housing, Open space and Transportation) Committee meeting, Thursday, January 14 from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. NOTE: NEW LOCATION -- Rabobank Conference Room, 1554 S. Broadway, Santa Maria

Happy New Year all!

Please join us for our first North County HOT meeting of the year.  Please note the new location; the Cornerstone Community Room was booked, so we will meet back at Rabobank like we did until about a year ago.

Joan Hartmann is our featured guest. Draft agenda is below; please let me know if there are other items you want to discuss.

AGENDA 

  1. Call to Order by Chair Jerry Connor; Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
  2. Phillips 66 Rail Spur Project Update: The Final EIR is published; Planning Commission hearings in San Luis Obispo are scheduled for Feb. 4 and 5; bus and carpool arrangements are underway; staff will report on the responses to the SBCAN comments. (20 min.)
  3. Open Dialog with Joan Hartmann: Joan is the County’s District 3 Planning Commissioner and is running for the supervisorial seat that Doreen Farr has held for the last two terms and is retiring from. Joan will summarize the past, current and future issues facing our county and she looks forward to learning from North County advocates about the issues as we see them. (45 min.)
  4. Short-Term Vacation Rentals on Agriculturally Zoned Properties: We may find ourselves discussing this under item #3, but since it will be before the County Planning Commission on February 24, we want to be sure to discuss it now. (10 min.)
  5. Other HOT items of interest to those in attendance: All (10 min.)
  6. Suggestions for next month’s agenda
Ken Hough
Executive Director
SBCAN
(805) 563-0463

2. Martin Luther King Celebration,1 p.m., Saturday, January 16, Santa Maria

The Santa Maria/Lompoc Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and United Domestic Workers (UDW) will hold a celebration honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

The Celebration begins at 1 p.m. at UDW, the Homecare Providers Union, 402 S. Miller, Santa Maria. Justice Whitaker, Professor, Santa Fe University of Arts and Design, Santa Fe, New Mexico is the keynote speaker. Additionally the program will feature echoes from government officials, music, poetry, and dance.

The Celebration is free and is open to the public. For additional information contact NAACP President Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt at (805) 448-7869, Program Chair Beverly Washington (805) 878-0612, or committee members Marcus Wilkins (805) 717-7541, Vibiana Saavedra (805) 720-1685, or Yesenia DeCasaus (805) 357-9851.

The NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, founded in 1909, is dedicated to ensuring the social, political, educational and economic equality of rights of all citizens by removing barriers of racial discrimination and hatred through the democratic processes and enactment and enforcement of federal, state and local laws to guarantee that the civil rights of all people of color remain secure.  

United Domestic Workers of America (UDW)/AFSCME Local 3930 is a homecare union made up of over 66,000 in-home caregivers across the state of California. UDW caregivers provide care through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program (IHSS), which allows hundreds of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities to stay safe and healthy at home. 

Those with disabilities requiring assistance should contact NAACP President, Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt.
 NAACP-UDW_Martin_Luther_King_Jr__Birthday_Celebration_Flyer_2016_resaved.jpg

3. Looking Forward op-ed writers needed (Santa Maria Times)

Is anyone in the Santa Maria area interested in writing op-ed columns that would run in the Santa Maria Times? SBCAN writes one of these each month as part of the Looking Forward series that runs every Friday. Additional writers are needed to fill vacancies in the schedule. The column should be a progressive view about local issues, 600 words maximum.

Anyone who is interested, please contact Ken Hough at [email protected].

4. Buena Vista Beautifiers Facebook page

Buena Vista Beautifiers is trying to get 500 likes on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/buenavistasm. They are close, but could use a few more.

BVB seeks to improve the appearance of Buena Vista Park and the involvement of the neighbors in the City of Santa Maria's first park, located at 833 S. Pine. For more information, visit the Facebook page or http://buenavistaparksm.blogspot.com.