See the message from SEIU Local 620 below:

SEIU Local 620 will be holding a rally next Tuesday, May 12th, at the Board of Supervisors meeting to oppose the remaining proposed cuts to represented employees and service reductions that will directly harm our community, especially our most vulnerable immigrant residents.

The County is proposing to eliminate the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria pharmacies and laboratories, leaving only Lompoc to serve the entire region.

Next Tuesday, May 12th at 8:15 a.m., we will rally at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand:
  • No layoffs and no service cuts
  • Protection for the most vulnerable members of our community
  • Immediate funds used for immediate needs, not long‑term capital projects such as the North County jail expansion
  • Investment in housing and health, not incarceration

This is our last chance to influence the outcome before budget adoptions are locked in.

Rally Details:

Date: Tuesday, May 12
Time: 8:15 a.m. – approximately 11:00 a.m.
Location: 511 East Lakeside Parkway, Suite 141, Santa Maria

If you have a purple shirt, please wear it. We will bring as many SEIU shirts as possible for supporters.


Public Comment Details:

 

Agenda Item: General public comment. See the agenda here.

Register to give public comment over zoom using this link:

https://santabarbaracounty.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_vgevU697SiCl1Y63HSnAHQ

 

Regardless of what the Department may claim, our community members cannot simply “go across the street” to a private pharmacy. County Health is the only option for many uninsured patients who cannot pay market rates or travel long distances for basic care.

At the same time, Social Services is facing deep administrative cuts, even though workload is expected to increase due to new verification requirements under H.R. 1. Delays in processing benefits will hit immigrant families, low‑income households, and seniors the hardest.

And in the Sheriff’s Department, the proposed layoffs target civilian staff even though civilian workers are not the source of the department’s chronic overtime and budget overruns.

Once again, the lowest‑paid workers and the public they serve are being asked to absorb the consequences of poor fiscal management.

Last fall, we stood together to stop the County’s premature attempt to comply with the federal directive to transition individuals with “unsatisfactory immigration status” out of County clinics. We succeeded because we acted collectively and quickly.

Unfortunately, we are now facing a new set of cuts that will have the same devastating impact if we do not intervene.

Your presence, whether in person, remotely, or through written public comment, will make a real difference.