Please join us at one of our roundtables - Thursday in Santa Maria or Friday in Santa Barbara --

SBCAN North County Roundtable

Thursday, July 12, 2018, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Rabobank Conference Room, Battles and South Broadway, Santa Maria

AGENDA

1. Call to Order: Co-president Janet Blevins. Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
2. Community Choice Energy. On Tuesday, 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. (15 min.)
3. Discussion of Santa Barbara County Supervisorial Redistricting Proposals. (10 min.)
4. Status of 750+ Unconventional Oil Wells Proposed for Cat Canyon. ERG’s DEIR is available; a second workshop to comment to staff on the adequacy of the DEIR is scheduled for July 17. Aera Energy’s DEIR is expected soon. PetroRock’s scoping hearing was held recently. (20 min.)
5. Santa Barbara County-Wide Integrated Stormwater Resource Plan.SBCAN submitted some project ideas. The County is holding a stakeholder meeting to solicit comments on the draft plan on July 19 at 5:30 P.M. in Santa Barbara. SBCAN staff will report on the matter. (10 min.)
6. Open Streets Event in Santa Maria. October 21 is the target date.  Staff will attend the monthly planning meeting on July 11 and will provide the latest updates.  (5 min.)
7. Strauss Wind Energy Project. The wind energy project near Lompoc surfaces again. A scoping meeting is to be held on July 19 at 6 PM in Lompoc’s City Council chambers. (5 min.)
8. Report on July 11 Scoping Meeting for Exxon Trucking Proposal. (5 min.)
9. Brief updates from participants. (2 to 5 min. each)
10. Open discussion aboutvother items of interest. All (5 min.)
11. Next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled for August 9.

    ---

One of the biggest issues for SBCAN right now is the prospect of more than 760 oil wells being drilled in Cat Canyon by three companies, all of them penetrating and putting at risk the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin. They all propose to use risky thermal-drilling techniques that have high rates of well-casing failures, leading to contamination of groundwater. This aquifer provides drinking water for 200,000 people and irrigation for over 50,000 acres of farmland.  If approved, these three projects would triple the amount of on-shore oil production in our county. 

The first of the three proposals is ERG’s.  A Draft EIR is published and is available here: http://sbcountyplanning.org/energy/projects/WCC_DEIR.asp. (Our Firefox browser did not display content correctly. Safari worked fine. Perhaps other browsers will be fine also.) Comments are due by August 3, 2018.

The first of two public workshops, at which County staff will take comments about the adequacy of the DEIR, is being held Monday, June 25 at 6 PM at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, in Santa Maria. A second one is scheduled on July 17 at 3 PM in Santa Barbara.

Food & Water Watch has organized an informational meeting about these three proposed projects. The meeting is in Santa Barbara tomorrow (Sunday, June 24) at 3 PM.  SBCAN and other organizations are co-sponsoring. Here is the information: https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/act/stop-new-wells-santa-barbara-county?ms=dist_re_06212018_SB-public-forum&oms=dist_re_06212018_SB-public-forum 

Please help us oppose these dangerous proposals. Check out SBCAN’s maps showing the relationship of past, current, and proposed oil and gas wells to the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin; find them at http://www.sbcan.org/issues_maps.

Thank you to everyone who came to our 2018 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser held Sunday, June 3 at  the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria.

We especially thank our sponsors, entertainers, volunteers, honorees and all of you who brought your loving sentiments to celebrate with us. 

For some of you, this will be your first email from us. If you would not like to receive further emails, please unsubscribe at the bottom of this page. If you would like to become involved with us, we'll email you when we have events and issues coming up. You can also check out our websiteand our Facebook page for more information.

We've posted event photos on Facebook. Click here to see them: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SBCANORG/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156303790180833

There is also an article in the Santa Maria Times: https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/santa-barbara-county-action-network-honors-volunteers/article_3d3204a8-3ca4-5627-b6a2-0cba1229875e.html

We'd appreciate your feedback. Tell us what you liked about the event. Tell us what we might do differently next time. Email us at [email protected].

Thanks again. We hope to see you soon!

Ken Hough, Executive Director

Jeanne Sparks, Associate Director

Six individuals received awards from Santa Barbara County Action Network during its awards dinner on Sunday. From left to right, they are Ines Ruiz, Virginia Souza, Elsa Velasco, Pati Cantú, Herb Kandel and Steve Heuring.

From left to right, Nai-Yun Chang, Gerrit Sperling, Will Sperling and Quentin Karamitsos perform “Wagon Wheel” for Virginia Souza as she received the “Looking Forward” Award from Santa Barbara County Action Network during its awards dinner on June 3.

The Santa Barbara County Action Network Board of Directors voted to support Proposition 68 and oppose Proposition 70. The propositions are on the ballot on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Click on the graphics below to call up those pages on the Secretary of State's site: http://sos.ca.gov

Please join us at one of our roundtables - Thursday in Santa Maria or Friday in Santa Barbara --

SBCAN North County Roundtable

Thursday, May 10, 2018, 6 PM

Rabobank Conference Room, Battles and South Broadway, Santa Maria

AGENDA

(times are approximate)

1. Call to Order; Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
2. Proposition 68 and What It May Mean for Santa Barbara County. This measure is on the June 2018 ballot. It would authorize the issuance of up to $4 billion to finance the Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018. Mary Rose will present this item; two documents are below. (20 min.)
3. Status of 750+ Unconventional Oil Wells Proposed for Cat Canyon. DEIRs are to be published soon. (20 min.)
4. Proposed Development of Homes at Rancho Santa Maria Golf Club: The Neighborhoods.(5 min.)
5. Annual Report on Santa Maria Valley Goundwater Basin.(5 min.--more if report is available)
6. Open Streets Event in Santa Maria.(5 min.)
7. SBCAN’s Looking Forward Awards Dinner.(5 min.)
8. Open discussion about other items of interest.(15 min.)
9. Suggestions for next month’s agenda (June 7).(5 min.)

SBCAN South County Roundtable

Friday, May 11, 2018, Noon

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 Dick Flacks. Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
2. Presentation by Craig Minus of The Towbes Group on the Proposed Heritage Ridge Housing Development in Goleta.(20 min.)
3. Continuing Discussion of How to Create Affordable Housing Including Land Trusts.(10 min.)
4. Isla Vista Issues:Measure R and Landlord/Tenant Mediation. (10 min.)
5. Update on Proposals for New Oil Drilling in Cat Canyon.(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 June 8. 

We've been asked to spread the word: (from Emily Allen, [email protected])

Our Voices, Our Homes Santa Barbara!

Monday, May 7, 2018 

4 p.m.-6 p.m. (program to begin at 5:15 p.m.) 

Community Room, 721 Laguna St, Presidio Springs, Santa Barbara 

Lead Organization: Joint Cities/County Housing Task Force
Contact: Kathleen Baushke, [email protected]

Attendees will have the opportunity to write letters and postcards to our elected officials in Washington, D.C., in support of federal affordable housing programs. Speakers will share more information about the issue of affordable housing locally and nationally. There will be activities for children as well. Contact Kathleen Baushke for more information.

Over 50 events planned between May 1-8, including in Santa Barbara County.

#OurHomesOurVoices National Housing Week of Action!: ourhomes-ourvoices.org

We hope you'll join us for our 2018 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser on Sunday, June 3 at 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, 3455 Skyway Drive, Santa Maria.

PURCHASE TICKETS AT WWW.SBCAN.ORG

Our North County Roundtable this month is cancelled, but we hope you will join us for our South County Roundtable:

SBCAN South County Roundtable

Friday, April 13, 2018, Noon

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

DRAFT AGENDA

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

1. Call to Order by Chair Dick Flacks. Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
2. Update on Santa Barbara Housing Issues Including Average Unit Density Program and Renter’s Rights Ordinance. We will be joined by City Councilmember Eric Friedman for this discussion. We will also discuss other issues of concern to SBCAN that Eric might want to share with us. (30 min.)
3. Proposition 68 and What It May Mean for Santa Barbara County. This measure is on the June 2018 ballot. It would authorize the issuance of up to $4 billion to finance the Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018. Mary Rose will present this item; more information is below. (20 min.)
4. Isla Vista Utility Tax. This tax measure, which is on the June ballot, would fund the newly formed Community Services District. (10 min.)
5. Update on ERG Proposal for New Drilling in Cat Canyon. (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 May 11. 

SBCAN will have a table at the Black History Month celebration on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at Pioneer Park in Santa Maria. We could use help at our table. We will have a free lunch for you. Please see the information below for more details.

If you'd like to volunteer, please contact me at [email protected]. 

Thanks,

Ken Hough

SBCAN Executive Director

805.563.0463