NEW ITEM

From Environmental Defense Center:

RESIST & RISE
A Community Vigil to Protect our Coast from Sable Pipeline

Thursday, March 19
6:30 pm

Dolphin Fountain
Cabrillo Blvd & State Street

As we enter SBCAN’s 25th year, we reflect on the impact our community has created together. Your support—whether through donations, volunteering, or simply championing our work—has helped us protect our environment, strengthen local communities, and empower residents to make a real difference.

We invite you to sponsor our annual celebration, SBCAN at 25: Honoring the Work, Empowering the Future on Sunday, June 28 at Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Your gift will help ensure that our work continues to grow and impact the community we all care about.

More than a fundraiser, SBCAN at 25 is a joyful gathering of our supporters—a chance to reflect on our collective achievements and envision the path forward for SBCAN in the years to come.

Because of supporters like you, SBCAN exists today as a thriving organization making a real difference in Santa Barbara County. Your participation as a sponsor will help us continue building a strong, resilient future together.

Please see the attached sponsorship form and make a gift at a level that feels meaningful to you, either by mail or online at sbcan.org/fundraiser.

We hope you won’t mind a call from us in the next few days to check in with you.

Thank you for your continued support!

Click here to view this letter as a PDF.

Take action today to stop hundreds of low-income families in Santa Barbara County from losing their housing.

Submit a letter opposing HUD's proposed rule regarding mixed-status families.

Thanks to the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara for bringing this to our attention.

Click here or the image below for a larger view of "Families at Risk"

Click here for the letter from the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara to HUD

Click here for California Association of Housing Authorities’ (CAHA) comment letter

Click here for a Word document to use in preparing your own comments

Click here for a Spanish version of the Word document if preferred for your comments

Click here to submit your comments to the Federal Register

FROM KATE CONNELL

I want to alert you to a new law in effect at the end of 2026, that will automatically register all men, and people identified male at birth, ages 18-26, for the military draft. This includes all undocumented residents as well. Please see more information below and share with your contacts about this urgent issue!

Tell Congress: REPEAL AUTOMATIC DRAFT REGISTRATION AND THE SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

Send an email message to your House and Senate members using this computerized system sponsored by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL): https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/32642/

As the Trump administration escalates military threats and actions globally, a diverse coalition of peace, civil liberties, and faith groups is mobilizing against a significant and under-reported federal law that paves the way for a military draft.

Please see our coalition's media release and full statement with 50+ organizational signers.

We are available for an interview or to provide further comment via the contacts listed in the release, Kate Connell and Edward Hasbrouck.

All the best,

Kate Connell

805-708-8058

Proposed County Jail Expansion

SBCAN asks you to urge Board of Supervisors to reduce the size of the planned jail expansion

Thank you to the 40 participants who attended 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 urge the County to save about $147 million in construction, financing and operational costs on expanding the North County Jail.

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.

Click here to see a letter signed by 18 local organizations calling for no more than one additional jail housing unit (256 beds).

Creativity Has No Expiration Date:

Local Author Deborah Brasket on Publishing Late in Life

Please RSVP now so we know how many people to plan for

“Have you ever wondered if it’s too late to write that novel, become an artist, learn to skydive, or play the piano?” local author Deborah Brasket muses.

Community members are invited to explore that question at a free event on Sunday, March 22 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Santa Maria Public Library, 420 S. Broadway in Santa Maria.

Join Brasket and Jeanne Sparks, co-executive director of Santa Barbara County Action Network, for a candid conversation about how Brasket came to publish her debut novel, When Things Go Missing, later in life. Brasket will share her journey, read from her book, answer questions, and sign copies.

The event is sponsored by SBCAN and Friends of the Santa Maria Public Library.

When Things Go Missing is about the fragility and resilience of family life.

When the mother who has been holding her family together mysteriously disappears, it sets into motion a ripple of anger, grief, and regret that reshapes the lives of those left behind--her two troubled adult children and distant husband. Each embarks on their own journeys to fill the missing pieces in their lives and make their family whole again.

The novel has been praised for its “gorgeous prose,” “grit and grace,” and for being a “propulsive page-turner that you cannot help getting swept up in.”

Brasket says, “When Things Go Missing is a love story long in the making. I dedicated it to all families who fall apart and struggle to find their way home again.”

She adds that while beginning her publishing career late in life, she doesn’t consider herself a “late bloomer.”

“Like many women, I’ve been creating things my whole life: in my home and family, my career and community. Publishing novels is just the latest bloom. Creativity truly has no expiration date.”

Brasket spent six years sailing around the world with her husband and children. When she returned home to the Central Coast, she earned her Master’s degree in English at Cal Poly and taught at Allan Hancock and Cuesta colleges before joining SBCAN. There she served as a board member, board president and then executive director.

After retirement, she settled among the golden hills and vineyards of Paso Robles to write the kinds of novels she loves to read. Her first novel When Things Go Missing was published in September 2025. Her second novel This Sea Within will be published in June 2026. Visit her website www.deborahjbrasket.com to learn more. Or contact her at [email protected]

A limited supply of When Things Go Missing will be available to purchase (cash or check only) at the event. It’s also available locally at Gavin’s Books, 230 Betteravia Rd, Suite K, Santa Maria. It’s available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats online at Amazon,Bookshop, Barnes & Noble.

Attendees are encouraged to purchase the book in advance to bring to the event for signing.

www.deborahjbrasket.com

[email protected]

www.sbcan.org

[email protected]

PROPOSED PT. SAL
MARINE PROTECTED AREA

SBCAN URGES YOU TO SUPPORT
THE 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 l etter 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.

After hearing concerns from the commercial fishing sector, the SBCANboard decided not to take a position unless, or until, they could get more information.

The Natural Resources Defense Council gives these 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 l etter 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!