Santa Barbara County Action Network

It was so great to see so many of you on Sunday, June 26 for our 2022 North County "Looking Forward" Awards Dinner & Fundraiser!

Thank you for coming to celebrate the honorees and support our important work. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, members and guests, this has been our most successful fundraiser yet.

For those of you who still have outstanding pledges and would like to fulfill them using a credit or debit card the links are:

• One-time donation: https://sbcan.nationbuilder.com/ncad_donations
• Monthly donations: https://sbcan.nationbuilder.com/ncad_donations_monthly

Checks can also be sent to SBCAN at P.O. Box 6174, Santa Maria, CA 93456.

For more than 20 years, the City of Lompoc has been trying to annex prime farmland on its western edge to allow for urban development. Tomorrow evening, June 21 at 6:30pm, the City Council will again consider taking action to facilitate this development.

The City needs approval from the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) if this development is to happen. In 1999, LAFCO denied the City’s annexation proposal. The state law that governs LAFCOs makes it very difficult for a LAFCO to justify urbanization of prime agricultural lands.

Please see this important message from our partners at the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) regarding the upcoming hearing about Idle Wells in Santa Barbara County. We hope you will speak up on Tuesday, May 24 and let the Board of Supervisors know we want more regulation and monitoring of these hazardous idle oil wells. 

On Tuesday, May 17, around 3 p.m., the Board of Supervisors will consider whether to extend the Santa Maria River levee trail to Guadalupe.

This trail would provide a much needed scenic, recreational and transportation corridor between Santa Maria and Guadalupe that could accommodate bicyclists, joggers and pedestrians. It's a unique asset that the public should be able to access. It would provide more access to nature, more opportunities for recreational activities for residents and economic stimulation for local businesses in both cities.

Although the levee is in the north county, we are looking for support from members of the public from throughout the county.

Can you join us and sign a petition supporting the extension now? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/santa-maria-river-trail-expansion-support-petition?source=email&

If you can, please attend a rally organized by CAUSE prior to the item coming before the board. It will be Tuesday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. You can also provide testimony there or on the fourth floor at the county building at 105 East Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara. 

If you can’t show up in person, please send written comments to the board by 5 p.m. Monday or testify remotely on Tuesday.

If you would like to submit a pre-drafted email, which you can modify, click here: https://causenow.org/content/extend-sm-river-trail-guadalupe?fbclid=IwAR3961LihuIwKjjkBBHJ5ribM6D2ZZZ1cCi00hp1rGXaUcldAqOzNkAUwdE

Or click here to create an email to the Clerk of the Board. Add a subject line such as "May 17 BOS Agenda Item #7, Letter in support of the Santa Maria River Levee Trail." 

More information about testifying is below.

On Tuesday, May 17, the Board of Supervisors will consider whether to extend the Santa Maria levee trail to Guadalupe, which could become a wonderful recreational and transportation asset for residents of the Santa Maria Valley.

We urge you to attend a rally organized by CAUSE prior to the item coming before the board. It will be Tuesday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. 

If you can’t show up in person, please send written comments to the board by 5 p.m. Monday or testify remotely on Tuesday.

More information about testifying is below.

For more information on the issue, read this op-ed written by Jeanne Sparks and published in the Santa Maria Times May 14, 2022:

We will be hosting both a North and South County Roundtable this month.

For North County, come to meet our new SBCAN North County co-president, Rebeca Garcia! We will discuss the Santa Maria River Trail, Farmworker strikes, and the Santa Maria General Plan Update. 

For South County, we will hear from Santa Barbara City Staff about their Housing Element Update, and we will give an update on the Rent Stabilization efforts.  

We hope you will join us.

Santa Barbara County Action Network will hold its 2022 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser on Sunday, June 26 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Blosser Urban Garden, 915 S Blosser Rd, Santa Maria.  

Please mark your calendar and keep an eye out for additional information we will be putting out soon! We are eager to be back with each other in person outdoors after two years of virtual-only events.

Every year we recognize individuals or organizations that work to protect our environment and the rights of our county’s residents. These awards help encourage this good work to continue and to raise the funds we need to keep doing our part.