Application form: http://www.countyofsb.org/asset.c/5480

Applications are due August 21^st

Santa Barbara County is seeking 11 extraordinary people to draw the boundaries for the five supervisors’ districts. These districts will have a strong influence over policy direction for the entire County over the next decade.

To comply with the Constitution’s guarantee of one person, one vote, political districts are redrawn every 10 years after the census to ensure that each district has roughly the same population. If the 2020 Census shows that Santa Barbara County’s population is around a half million, then each supervisor’s district will have about 100,000 people. But how should they be grouped for elections?

Until this year, the supervisors made the final decision on district boundaries. Some complained that the supervisors were choosing their voters rather than the voters choosing their supervisors. So, in the November 2018 election, Santa Barbara County voters approved an initiative—YOU Draw the Lines (Measure G)—that creates an 11-person Citizens’ Independent Redistricting Commission to adjust the supervisors’ district boundaries.

The process was designed to select independent, representative, and qualified residents to take on this critical task. The final 11-member Commission must reflect Santa Barbara County’s racial, ethnic, geographic, age and gender diversity and be as proportional as possible to the actual voter registration of the County.

The commission will provide an open and transparent process that enables full public consideration and comment on the drawing of district lines. Commissioners will conduct themselves with integrity and fairness to create an independent and unbiased map (see the official document).

SBCAN Roundtables took a hiatus when the coronavirus necessitated stopping all in-person public meetings. We are coming back now via Zoom. The South County Roundtable will resume next month. The North County Roundtable will resume on Thursday.

SBCAN North County Roundtable
Thursday, June 11,  6 PM to 7:30 PM via Zoom

We hope you will be able to join us:

Join us in a Solidarity March tomorrow, Thursday, June 4, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. honoring the life of George Floyd. There will be marches in Santa Maria at city hall and Lompoc at North H and Central.

Aera Energy withdrew its application to drill hundreds of new cyclic-steaming oil wells in East Cat Canyon yesterday (May 27)!

SBCAN has been working for more than eight years to defeat onshore oil development proposals in the greater Santa Maria area. First, we worked to secure strict mitigations from the County of Santa Barbara for Santa Maria Energy’s expansion in Orcutt, then we helped ensure that Pacific Coast Energy's Orcutt Hill expansion was denied by the County.

Next PetroRock and now Aera Energy (owned by Exxon/Mobil and Shell) have withdrawn from the fight sensing the formidable community opposition and the futility of trying to make a profit drilling for some of the thickest and most carbon intensive oil in the world.

We thank all of our volunteers who have written letters and testified before the County Planning Commission against this project, as well as all our partners including Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Los Padres Forest Watch, Safe Energy Now North County, Food and Water Watch, 350 Santa Barbara, Sunrise Coalition, World Business Academy, Standing Rock Coalition, and others who have joined the fight with intelligence and vigor.

SBCAN and Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club have retained the Environmental Defense Center on this effort.  EDC has represented us—and all the residents of the county—exceedingly well in analyzing and articulating the devastating impacts of Aera’s proposal.

Our water resources, flora and fauna, air quality, and the earth’s climate are safer with this proposal withdrawn.

This article was posted in the Santa Barbara Independent today. We are happy to be part of Santa Barbara County Action Network whose board and members are at the forefront of social and environmental justice issues in this county.

SBCAN is getting the word out on progressive issues by helping to support journalists covering these issues as well as through our action alerts and efforts in the community. Please like our Facebook page at Facebook.com/SBCANORG and sign up for action alerts at www.sbcan.org.

We thank our partners and others in the community who are also working to make Santa Barbara County a better place for all.

You are invited to the webinar Oil 101: Moving Beyond Platforms, Pipelines and Pollution in Santa Barbara on Monday, May 18th. It will be hosted at 12pm PT in English and at 6pm PT in Spanish.

For the fifth anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill, several organizations, including the Environmental Defense Center, Los Padres ForestWatch, Sierra Club, 350.org, and Center for Biological Diversity, are co-hosting a webinar about the various oil projects threatening Santa Barbara County. 

The webinar will walk the audience through the main projects soon to be considered in Santa Barbara and asks folks to take action in remembrance of the Plains Pipeline spill at Refugio State Beach five years ago. 

RSVP here for the webinar in English at 12pm PT:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1415886804285/WN_3nwzC_KlQbuSoLBMcGP9dw

RSVP here for the webinar in Spanish at 6pm PT:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8315886807160/WN_9IOT71OURF2QIqwJ5J9RWA

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/844212959409781/?notif_t=plan_user_joined&notif_id=1588718122340993

BETSY WEBER
EDC Assistant Director
906 Garden Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805.963.1622 x 111
www.EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org

We are sad to report that SBCAN Founding Member Mickey Flacks died earlier this week. Many of you know that SBCAN was founded 18 years ago in Mickey and Dick Flacks’ living room.

Mickey was a tireless advocate for a myriad of social justice issues, especially affordable housing and efficient alternative means of transportation. In addition to her many other civic and activist roles, she often represented SBCAN at planning commission meetings and city council and county board meetings.

There is so much more to say about her, and when we are able to get together again, we will do more to recognize her contributions to the community. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know in case you had not heard.

Mickey was at the heart and soul of SBCAN. She will be sorely missed.

Here’s a link to an article about Mickey in the Santa Barbara Independent: https://www.independent.com/2020/04/21/mickey-flacks-longtime-housing-advocate-dies-at-80/

Intersectional Organizing, Frontline Leadership and Climate Justice in California

Online Workshop Saturday, April 11, 7 PM to 8 PM
RSVP Here

Join Central Coast organizers and youth leaders in a panel discussion about intersectional organizing for climate justice on the Central Coast. This interactive webinar and panel will explore the ways intersectionality can be used to build inclusive, accountable alliances and grow solidarity in the climate justice movement here in California.

Drawing on stories of efforts to stop new oil drilling in counties throughout the Central Coast, as well as the formation of new intersectional environmental justice organizations in the region, panelists will share best practices, pro-tips, and key learnings from the region’s climate and environmental justice movement.

Panelists include:
Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino, Food and Water Action’s Senior Organizer in Santa Barbara
Jami Medina, youth organizer and Hancock College student, based in Santa Maria
Elvia Cruz-Garcia and Diana Garcia, UCSB Environmental Justice Alliance student leaders.
Carmen Bouquin, moderator. Carmen is a San Luis Obispo Sunrise Movement youth climate leader, and Cuesta College student, .
RSVP Here

www.wyp.org

Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Thank you for your support and involvement with SBCAN.

Ken Hough
SBCAN Executive Director