Action Alerts

  • SBCAN South County Roundtable on October 12

    We hope you will join us for

    SBCAN South County Roundtable

    Friday, October 12, 2018, Noon to 1:30 p.m.

    Union Bank’s Board Room, 15 East Carrillo St., Santa Barbara, CA

    AGENDA

    (times are approximate, and feel free to bring your lunch)

    1. Call to Order by Chair and SBCAN Co-President Dick Flacks.Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
    2. Discussion of Current Issues with Santa Barbara City Councilmember and Supervisor-Elect Gregg Hart. (40 min.)
    3. Update on Tenants’ Rights. (10 min.)
    4. Update on Santa Barbara’s Average Unit Density Program. (10 min.)
    5. Immigration Advocacy Collaboration. Jacqueline Inda is seeking support for resolutions supporting the migrant community. (10 min.)
    6. Mobile Homeowners Project. Sharon Rose will report on the project. (5 min.)
    7. Brief updates from participants. (2 to 5 min. each)
    8. Open discussion about other items of interest. All (5 min.)
    9. Next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled for November 9.

    Written by
    October 09, 2018

  • League of Women Voters' Forum with Santa Maria City Council Candidates Thursday

    We encourage you to attend the League of Women Voters Santa Maria City Council candidates' forum:
     
    6:30 PM, Thursday, October 11
    Betteravia Government Center
    511 East Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria
     
    Voting will be for Districts 3 and 4 this year.

    For District 3, incumbent Michael Moats, a dermatologist, will face off against Raymond Acosta, a grocery store manager, and Gloria Soto, a development manager for Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast.

    For Santa Maria District 4, incumbent councilwoman Etta Waterfield will face off against defense attorney Rafael Guttierez.

    SBCAN's North County Roundtable, scheduled for the same time, has been canceled, because we instead recommend we all go to the candidates' forum.
     
    We hope to see you there and at next month's North County Roundtable on Thursday, November 8, at 6 PM. At that time we will meet at a NEW LOCATION: Giavanni's Pizza, 1108 E. Clark Ave., Ste. 130 in Orcutt near the corner of Bradley and Clark. Finally we will have a restroom on site and can order something to eat!

    Written by
    October 08, 2018

  • SBCAN Recommendations on State and Local Ballot Measures

    The SBCAN Board of Directors has voted to take the following positions:
     
    Statewide Measures:
     
    SUPPORT Proposition 1: Authorizes Bonds to Fund Specified Housing Assistance Programs.  This $4 billion in general obligation bonds will support existing programs for low-income residents, veterans, farmworkers, manufactured and mobile homes, infill and transit-oriented development. 
     
    SUPPORT Proposition 2: Authorizes Bonds to Fund Existing Housing Program for Individuals with Mental Illness. The "No Place Like Home Program" funds housing for those with mental illness who are homeless. 
     
    OPPOSE Proposition 6: Eliminates Certain Road Repair and Transportation Funding.  This would repeal the gas tax enacted in 2017 and would reduce funding for road and highway repairs and public transportation. 
     
    SUPPORT Proposition 10:  Expands Local Governments' Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property. This measure would repeal state law that currently restricts the scope of rent control policies that cities and counties may impose on residential properties. Repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act will allow cities and counties to decide how to handle rent control in their jurisdictions. 
     
    Santa Barbara County Measures:
     
    SUPPORT Measure G: Creates a County of Santa Barbara Citizens' Independent Redristricting Commission. This measure would create an 11-member independent redistricting commission to adjust the boundaries of the County's supervisorial districts.
     
    OPPOSE Measure H: Creates a County of Santa Barbara Independent Redistricting Commission.  This measure would create a 5-member commission to adjust the boundaries of the County's supervisorial districts.

    Written by
    October 06, 2018

  • Join Mickey & Dick Flacks for their book signing Tuesday, October 2

    We're pleased to invite you to join Mickey and Dick Flacks, two founding members of SBCAN, as they celebrate the publication of: 

    Making History/Making Blintzes
    How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America

    Tuesday, October 2 at 7 p.m., Chaucer's in Loreto Plaza, 3329 State St., Santa Barbara
    Flacks.png

    Written by
    October 01, 2018

  • Open Streets Santa Maria planning meeting Wednesday, October 3, 2018

    We hope you can join us to help plan an open streets event in Santa Maria coordinated by SBCAG Traffic Solutions.

    OpenStreetsSMLogo.png

    We are meeting Wednesday, October 3 from noon to 1 pm at CET (Center for Employment Training, 509 W. Morrison Ave., Santa Maria). 

    Traffic Solutions will have sandwiches, so please RSVP to Kent Epperson ([email protected]) so that he can have a headcount.  Let him know if you prefer a vegetarian sandwich.

    We would like your involvement as an individual, as a nonprofit, or as a business.

    Written by
    October 01, 2018

  • SBCAN Roundtables: South is Friday, North is next month

    The North County Roundtable, which would have been this Thursday, is cancelled.

    Next month, we plan to have guest speakers on the subject of Community Choice Energy. The County and the cities of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta have all taken actions to move ahead with forming an organization to bring local control and cleaner supplies to meet our electricity needs. It's time to get North County jurisdictions interested and on board. It's going to take a lot of advocacy, like it did in South County. 

    We will get back to you on the new date for the meeting.

    Here is the agenda for Friday's South County Roundtable. We hope to have a good turnout for these discussions of important housing and immigration issues.

    SBCAN South County Roundtable

    Friday, September 14, 2018, Noon to 1:30

    Union Bank’s Board Room, 15 East Carrillo St., Santa Barbara, CA

    AGENDA

     (times are approximate, and feel free to bring your lunch)

    1. Call to Order by Chair and SBCAN Co-President Dick Flacks.Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
    2. Proposition 10 and Rent Control. Proposition 10 would repeal the Costa Hawkins Act, which limits localities' capacity to regulate rents. Repeal would give localities the opportunity, now denied, to institute or expand rent regulation. Prop. 10 doesn’t itself create rent control, but discussing and understanding the debates and the models for local rent control is the intent of this primary topic at this meeting. Professor Rich Appelbaum of UCSB will be on hand—he was one of the leading academic analysts of the rent control debate back in the '80s and can help us decode the arguments. (40 min.)
    3. Average Unit Density. The City of Santa Barbara’s Planning Commission is meeting on September 13 to begin discussion about revising the AUD program. We will get a report on the status of that. (10 min.)
    4. Immigration Advocacy Collaboration. Jacqueline Inda is seeking support for resolutions supporting the migrant community. (10 min.)
    5. Mobile Homeowners Project. Sharon Rose will report on the success achieved in the state legislature this year. (5 min.)
    6. Brief updates from participants. (2 to 5 min. each)
    7. Open discussion about other items of interest. All (5 min.)
    8. Next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 12.

     

    Written by
    September 11, 2018

  • Community Meeting Thurs, Aug 30, 2018 re SM General Plan

    We invite you to participate in CAUSE's Community Town Hall meeting regarding the Santa Maria General Plan on Thursday, August 30th at 5:30 pm at the Veteran's Memorial Hall. Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) is a co-organizer of the event. We hope you will attend.

    Please see the flyers below in English and Spanish and the message from CAUSE N.C. Organizer Abe Melendrez:CAUSE_SM_General_Plan_Town_Hall_Flyer-Eng.jpg

    Written by
    August 27, 2018

  • Fun Alert: A Love Song Cabaret Sat. Aug. 25, 2018

    A_Love_Song_Cabaret-800px.jpg

    Written by
    August 24, 2018

  • SBCAN Roundtables: South is on, North is not

    The North County Roundtable, which would have been this Thursday, is cancelled. The next one is scheduled for September 13.

    The agenda for this Friday's South County Roundtable is below. We hope you'll join us.

    SBCAN South County Roundtable

    Friday, August 10, 2018, Noon to 1:30

    Union Bank’s Board Room, 15 East Carrillo St., Santa Barbara, CA

    AGENDA

     (times are approximate; feel free to bring your lunch)

    1. Call to Order by Chair and SBCAN Co-President Dick Flacks.Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
    2. Santa Barbara City Councilmember Kristen Sneddon will speak about key city issues especially housing issues. (40 min.)
    3. Joanna Kaufman & Ben Werner will present a proposal for a pilot housing initiative called the “Commons Collaborative.” (10 min.)
    4. Alena Simon will report on Food & Water Watch Activities. (5 min.)
    5. Proposal to Restart Offshore Oil Production and Transport Crude Oil by Truck. (5 min.)
    6. Sharon Rose will report on the Mobile Homeowners Project. (5 min.)
    7. Brief updates from participants. (2 to 5 min. each)
    8. Open discussion about other items of interest. All (5 min.)
    9. Next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled for September 14. 

    Written by
    August 07, 2018

  • Support Community Choice Energy with a letter, phone call or in person

    Join us in supporting Community Choice Energy
     
    On July 17 the Board of Supervisors will be receiving an updated report on the efficacy of Community Choice Energy (CCE) participation for Santa Barbara County (and participating cities). 
     
    The report states that all scenarios will be cost competitive with the Independent Owned Utilities, and that the participation of North County entities, particularly the City of Santa Maria, will improve the overall prospectus for all potential participants. This is a significantly different finding than the earlier study that evaluated CCE for a tri-county area. 
     
    The item will also be considered the same day by the Santa Barbara and Goleta city councils.
     
    Below is today's action alert from the Community Environmental Council, which contains information on these three meetings and asks you to sign a letter to local decision makers.
     
    If you live in District 5, it would be really helpful if you would contact Supervisor Steve Lavagnino at (805) 346-8400 or [email protected] and encourage his support. He supported the study the first time, but didn't the second time, noting that he hadn't heard from his constituents. The action we support on the 17th is to get started with unincorporated County, Goleta and Santa Barbara. Other cities can be added later.
     

    Written by
    July 10, 2018