Action Alert December 23, 2008
Happy Holidays SB CAN members and friends! We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of the work that SB CAN and SB CORE have been doing in SantaBarbara County. While progressives across the nation are moving for change and progress at the national level, it's so important to ensure that change and progress is being made right here in the community we cherish. SB CAN and its educational and research partner, SB CORE, have been working day by day throughout Santa Barbara County for sustainable planning and democratic governance. The planning we seek simultaneously fosters affordable housing so that people of all classes can live and work here, protects Santa Barbara's environmental and agricultural resources, and encouragesalternative transportation systems to reduce dependence on private cars. Please take a few moments to review the following news and opportunities. Here they are in brief: Here's more detail: 1. SB CAN Newsletter-Read it on our website! If you didn't get our newsletter in the mail, you can read all about our activities at http://www.sbcan.org/files/ Here's an excerpt from the newsletter, highlighting some of our accomplishments: "Sustainability" pretty much sums up SB CAN's interest and efforts in 2008, as you will see in the following articles and information. We began the year by revisiting our mission statement, revising it to include that key element about creating sustainable communities: The Santa Barbara County Action Network (SB CAN) works to promote social and economic justice, to preserve our environmental and agricultural resources, and to create sustainable communities. SB CAN advocates a holistic approach to community planning that integrates housing, open space, and transportation to meet the needs of all members of our community and future generations. This revised mission was adopted at our June board retreat, where we recommitted ourselves to our HOT Principles and to finding ways to engage our members and the community in this important work. We began developing a "Sustainability Community and HOT Advocacy Program" for Santa Maria (see article on page 3), and we joined with SB CORE to host a Fall Harvest Picnic & Fundraiser to promote sustainability across the county and to help sustain our two organizations (see pages 4 & 5). Then at an SB CAN and SB CORE Progressive Roundtable, we helped to launch a new coalition called SUN-Sustainable University Now--to monitor the quality of proposed development at UCSB, now in the planning stage (page 2). We hope that our members and friends will appreciate these changes and help us and our coalition partners to promote sustainable development. One way you can help your family and SB CAN to be more sustainable is to go tohttp://letsgogreen.biz for purchasing all your paper products (see page 8 to find out how this benefits SB CAN and SB CORE) 2. "Sustainable Community and HOT Advocacy" Program in Santa Maria SB CAN and SB CORE (our educational and research partner) each received funding to help us continue building a progressive community in the north county where conservative ideologies in public discourse and governmental decision-making have long undervalued lower income people, diverse cultures, and progressive views. The Fund for Santa Barbara awarded SB CAN a grant of $7, 737 in its Fall Grant Cycle for developing a "Sustainable Community and HOT Advocacy" program in Santa Maria. SB CORE received a two-year grant of $35,000 per year from the McCune Foundation for operating support, which includes funding for co-sponsoring the "Sustainable Community and HOT Advocacy" program workshops. In 2005-2006, SB CAN's North County Civic Engagement Project and SB CORE's Leadership Development Series helped to prepare the ground for renewed public participation in the north county. The election of Hilda Zacarias in 2006 as the first progressive on the Santa Maria city council and the election of Mike Cordero to the city council in 2008, as well as creation of the Santa Maria Community Coalition which now monitors city council agendas, stand as important benchmarks toward progress. As a member of the Santa Maria Community Coalition, SB CAN realized that more public participation was needed at the planning commission hearings. Communities in the south coast have a long tradition of advocating on land-use issues at planning commissions, but this practice has not been widely followed in Santa Maria. Our Sustainable Community and HOT Advocacy Program will help residents become more involved in community planning by offering: (1) A series of bilingual workshops and forums to educate the public about creating sustainable communities, including sound planning practices that integrate the need for affordable and workforce housing, alternative and public transportation, renewable energy and green building practices, and protecting sensitive environmental habitats and agricultural lands. (2) Conducting a bilingual town hall meeting that invites residents to create a vision for the city's future; and (3) creating a sustainable community advocacy committee to monitor Santa Maria Planning commissions and give input on specific projects. An important part of this effort will be involving Hispanic and low-income populations that have not traditionally given input on land-use decisions. The workshops and forums will give community members the knowledge, understanding and tools they need to provide input on specific development projects, to ensure that their needs for affordable and workforce housing, alternative transportation, and protection of open space and agricultural lands are being met. The town hall meeting will give city residents the opportunity to envision what they would like to see their city to look like in the near and distant future and to embrace and use that vision to influence city planners and decision-makers. The sustainable community advocacy committee will advocate for changes to ensure that future growth will match their vision for their community. For more information, or to become involved in this effort, please contact Deborah, SB CAN Executive Director, at 805-722-5094. 3. Please help us grow! Membership Renewals and Year-End Donations Many of our members are surprised when they learn that SB CAN staff includes ONLY two people, Olivia Uribe, covering most of the South Coast, and Deborah Brasket, covering the northern part of the county. That's a lot of ground to cover for two people! Fortunately we have a very active working board and volunteers that help, but we could do a lot more if we had more staff to help us. Right now we cover planning and land-use decisions at theCounty levels and in the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. We keep an eye on Goleta and Lompoc and SantaYnez, but we can't stretch much further than that without more staff. While we receive great support from localfunders, we are dependent upon on annual membership dues and donations to continue our work, and "grow" it. If you haven't renewed your membership yet, please do so now. It's easy to renew online at www.sbcan.org. Or you can mail a check to SB CAN at P.O. Box 23453, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-3453. Basic membership dues are $60 and we hope you can renew at that level or higher. But SB CAN also encourages members to renew at a lower rate if that works out better for your budget. The bottom line is-we don't want to lose you as a member! We also would like to encourage you to make a tax-deductible year-end donation to our educational and research partner, SBCORE. Mail your check to SB CORE at P.O. Box 23453, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-3453. Since SB CAN's work includes supporting and electing candidates to public office, and advocating for new laws and policies, contributions to SB CAN are not tax-deductible.
Santa Barbara County Action Network
INFORMATION & ACTION ALERT
When SB CAN and SBCORE put on its Fall Harvest Picnic in October, we looked around for affordable, Earth-friendly alternatives to expensive rental and landfill-clogging disposable tableware, cleaning supplies, etc. We stumbled across a great little company in Georgia that sells all kinds of green products including compostableplates, utensils, even clear drinking glasses and other kinds of containers. The prices are good to begin with and, better yet, we were able to register SB CAN and SB CORE at the "LetsGoGreen.biz" web site and get a 25% rebate on all we spent there.
But wait, there's more! Anyone who orders green products from LetsGoGreen.biz can also select SB CAN/SBCORE from a pull-down menu at checkout time and the company will give 25% of your total to our organization. Truthfully, we looked around for a better deal on this kind of stuff and couldn't find one. And when I called the company to see how quickly they could deliver, the owner/founder himself answered the phone. They got our goodies to us in plenty of time, standard shipping, and it was all top-notch stuff. LetsGoGreen.biz has a great selection of eco-friendly products for every home, office, or business. From biodradable plates, cups, utensils, and food containers to recycled paper and plastic goods, they have everything to help green your holiday. The BPA-free water bottles and corn-based ink pens will make great stocking stuffers or office holiday gifts.
So if you're going green anyway, think about ordering your products from LetsGoGreen.biz and choosing SBCAN/SBCORE as your beneficiary at checkout time!
5. SB CAN Column: Showing of "Milk" evokes connections with Prop 8
Every second and fourth Friday, SB CAN writes for the Looking Forward column in the Santa Maria Times. All of our columns are posted on our website www.sbcan.org under the "SB CAN Editorials." Our columns are also reprinted in the Lompoc Record and Noozhawk.com.
Showing of "Milk" highlights controversy over passage of Prop 8
By Deborah Brasket, SB CAN Executive Director
There's nothing like a good movie for raising a powerful issue. Last year SB CAN and SB CORE launched its SBCANNES film series--special screenings of feature films with a social or environmental justice edge, followed by panel discussions highlighting pressing local issues.
Our most recent film in this series, shown in Santa Barbara December 9, was "Milk", the critically acclaimed Gus VanSant film starring Sean Penn as gay activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man in America to be voted into public office. His election in 1977 to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was not just a victory for gay rights. From senior citizens to union workers, he forged coalitions across the political spectrum, changing the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights. And his assassination made headlines across the world.
The film sheds unexpected light on the recent controversy over the passage of Proposition 8, as critic Matt Budd points out: "In the film, Harvey Milk is battling against Proposition 6, which was intended to discriminate against the hiring of gays and lesbians. It played upon people's fears of having their children taught by gay people. It was backed by religious leaders including the very outspoken Anita Bryant. Sound familiar? Harvey was able to organize people and defeat it. If only we had him now."
Since the passage of Proposition 8, several major civil rights groups have filed a petition urging the California Supreme Court to stop the enactment of Proposition 8. The petition argues that Proposition 8 circumvented the legal process for revising a state Constitution, and by eliminating the right of marriage for a particular minority group, mandates discrimination.
A lively panel discussion exploring "When Laws Become Discrimination" followed the film showing. Participating were David Selberg, Executive Director of Pacific Pride Foundation, Jennifer Drury of the law firm Drury Pullen, and former State Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson. Geoff Green, Executive Director of the Fund for Santa Barbara served as moderator. The Fund co-sponsored this presentation.
Among the points raised in the discussion were these: Enforcement of Proposition 8 would have an effect well beyond the gay and lesbian community; indeed it would threaten the rights of people of color and minorities. Only since 1967 has marriage between people of different races been legal throughout the United States. People should not be stripped of their rights by bare majority rule. The essence of the Constitution is to protect the rights of minorities as well as majorities of the population.
If you missed this special film presentation and panel discussion, we hope you will be able to join us for future SBCANNES film events. Our first film was the Santa Barbara premier of Mia Goldman's "Open" Window" dramatizing the trauma and recovery process associated with a rape. This film was co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara's Rape Crisis Center, who also participated in the panel discussion along with Producer Mia Goldman, who herself had been a rape victim.
Our second film was "Resurrecting the Champ," starring Samuel L. Jackson as a homeless ex-boxer. Santa BarbaraCommunity Housing Corporation co-sponsored this film and participated in a panel discussion "Homelessness is not hopeless" that included County Sheriff Mike Brown, John Buttney, director of the County's 10-year plan to end homelessness, and several homeless advocates.
While so far the film series have been held in Santa Barbara, we would like to bring future films to other parts of thecounty. Let us know if you'd be interested in attending or co-sponsoring a movie and discussion highlighting current local issues in your community.
Date:
23 Dec 2008 - 7:04pm