Jeanne Sparks
County Proposed Jail Expansion
Urge Board of Supervisors to reduce size of planned jail expansion
Thank you to the 40 participants who attend SBCAN's Roundtable on Friday, January 30 to focus on sustainable growth strategies for our county and reducing the jail population. Click here to view the recorded Roundtable.
From CLUE SB and the League of Women Voters SB
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is considering approval of over $460 million (including long-term financing and staffing) to expand the North Branch Jail by 1½ Housing Units (384 beds).
We call on the Board to limit the addition to just one housing unit (256 beds) at a savings of approximately $147 million.
The Board’s current plan would more than double the capacity of the Santa Maria jail and lock the County into decades of financing and higher operational costs. Our County is facing $23 million in cuts to social and safety-net programs next fiscal year and a $66 million deficit over the next 5 years.
Our jails hold many non-violent residents (including those with mental health or substance use disorders) who do not need to be in jail to protect public safety. Our jails are not designed as treatment facilities. Expanding jail capacity instead of community rehabilitation services will not improve public safety.
Sign this petition to:
Save approximately $147 million in construction, financing and operational costs.
- Enable closure of most of the outdated South County Main Jail.
- Enable funding to be redirected toward Board accepted jail population reduction measures, such as mental health counseling, addiction treatment, and other essential services.
- Choose crime prevention over incarceration to make Santa Barbara a safer place to live.
We respectfully but firmly call on our County Supervisors for their votes in support of a fiscally smarter, more affordable and humane choice. Build just one housing unit (256 beds) and defer or cancel other jail expansion.
NEW ITEM
Chevron’s Toxic Debris Mounds on our Ocean Floor
FEBRUARY 4, 8, 9
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NEW ITEM
Community Corrections Partnership
and Executive Committee of the Community Corrections Partnership
Joint Meeting
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5
9:00 am – 11:00 am
The Community Corrections Partnership serves as a local community corrections advisory board. The CCP also develops and recommends a strategic local plan to the county Board of Supervisors for the implementation of Criminal Justice Realignment (AB109).
Public Safety Realignment was signed into California law in 2011, as part of a statewide effort to reduce overcrowding in the prisons while simultaneously addressing the state's financial situation. As part of this effort, Realignment rerouted the pathways for specific types of criminal justice offenders to be served at the local level versus the state level. A main focus is to link these offenders with appropriate and effective treatments and interventions, in order to assist them in accessing resources that can help them to become successful while out in the community.
Public testimony can be given in person in Santa Barbara or Santa Maria or online:
- Santa Barbara Probation Training Room, 117 E. Carrillo St., Santa Barbara
- Santa Maria Probation Training Room, 2121 Centerpointe Pkwy, Santa Maria
- Click here for more information
NEW ITEM
Happy Black History Month!
FEBRUARY 5, 21, 27, 28
We honor the history, resilience, and leadership of Black communities here in Santa Barbara County and beyond, and reaffirm our commitment to advancing justice, equity, and belonging in our local communities.
We urge you to celebrate alongside community members at the following events:
PROPOSED PT. SAL
MARINE PROTECTED AREA
SBCAN URGES YOU TO SUPPORT
PROPOSED PT. SAL
MARINE PROTECTED AREA
We have an opportunity to expand Caifornia's Marine Protected Area network with the creation of an MPA at Pt. Sal, roughly 50 miles northwest of Pt. Conception.
Officials are developing their recommendations now on several proposed areas. The California Fish & Game Commission is expected to vote to approve or deny them in May 2026. Our state agencies need to hear loud and strong support from the public now!
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
- Sign the petition for Pt. Sal SMCA
- Write a letter of support and email it to [email protected] ASAP
- Show up to speak in support at the public hearing on May 5, in Santa Barbara
Point Sal State Marine Conservation Area
- Point Sal is part of the ancestral territory of the Chumash people and holds great historical and cultural significance. The Point Sal State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) proposal is co-sponsored by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, and seeks to enhance Tribal co-stewardship.
- Designating this MPA would honor and strengthen Chumash stewardship of their ancestral waters, and elevate historical and present-day Chumash connections to the region.
- Point Sal is exceptionally rich ecologically, supporting diverse ocean wildlife and habitats—including kelp beds, rocky reefs, tidepools, sandy beaches, a migratory whale corridor, a critical larval retention zone, and a seabird and sea lion rookery.
- Point Sal is an important area for baby fish and invertebrates in their earliest phase of life. Protecting it would help maintain these populations and boost ecosystem health.
- Because Point Sal is remote and accessible only by trail, it remains relatively pristine and healthy. Safeguarding areas like Point Sal is increasingly important amid warming waters, shifting ocean conditions, and expanding uses such as aquaculture, offshore wind, and continued oil and gas activity.
- By adding Point Sal to the state’s MPA network, Central California’s coast will benefit from increased habitat connectivity, representation, and replication – all key to increasing biodiversity in our waters.
- Safeguarding this unique and relatively undisturbed area now will help bolster ocean health and promote climate resilience into the future.
- Click here for more information
Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area
The California Fish & Game Commission will also consider a proposal to create a Marine Conservation Area at Carpinteria. SBCAN has not taken a position on this, but the Natural Resources Defense Council gives reasons to support it:
- Designating the Mishopshno SMCA would protect essential habitats—including sandy beaches, rocky reefs, and persistent kelp forests—that are showing signs of degradation.
- Mishopshno is the name of a thriving historical Chumash coastal village nearby where tomols were built, a traditional canoe used for hunting, transportation, and ceremonial voyages.
- Designating this MPA would honor and strengthen the Chumash peoples’ stewardship of the area and elevate their historical and present-day connection to the region.
- The Mishopshno MPA proposal is co-sponsored by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and seeks to support Tribal co-management and the continued use of marine resources for cultural and subsistence purposes for all Chumash people.
- The Mishopshno SMCA would protect one of the state’s last remaining persistent kelp forests. California’s iconic kelp forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, with losses exceeding 90% in parts of the state—threatening wildlife, coastal communities, and overall ocean health.
- Including this SMCA in the MPA network helps to improve connectivity between southern coastal ecosystems and increase the network’s representation of rocky intertidal and rocky reef habitat.
- Click here to download more information
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
- Sign the petition for Mishopno SMCA
- Write a letter of support and email it to [email protected] ASAP
- Show up to speak in support at the public hearing on May 5, in Santa Barbara
NRDC: Benefits of Point Sal and Mishopshno MPAs
- California has the chance to build on its legacy by adding new MPAs, such as the proposed Mishopshno SMCA and Point Sal SMCA.
- As climate change, biodiversity loss, and a hostile federal administration threaten to undermine progress made, it is time to strengthen our commitment to ocean conservation and ensure that California’s ocean is prepared for the changes ahead.
- These MPA proposals present an opportunity to strengthen the network to better prepare for current and emerging threats, and to include more thoroughly the groups that were underrepresented during the initial implementation – particularly California Native American Tribes.
- California’s Fish and Game Commissioners should vote to approve these MPA proposals!
