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At the Center of Santa Barbara’s Cultural Conversation | www.VoiceSB.com
Community News VOICE Magazine Becomes Adjudicated Publication
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XPANDING BOTH COVERAGE AND READERSHIP, VOICE Magazine has officially been recognized as a newspaper of general circulation in Santa Barbara County, following adjudication on Oct. 27th in Santa Barbara Superior Court. “The additional publication of legal notices and information in VOICE Magazine gives readers a more comprehensive and transparent look at what is happening in our community,” stated editors and publishers, Kerry Methner and Mark Whitehurst. An award winning publication, VOICE Magazine and CASA Magazine have published weekly in Santa Barbara since 1993.
Eryn Shugart Joins Santa Barbara Education Foundation Team ERYN SHUGART has been selected to work with the Santa Barbara Education Foundation as its Major Gifts Officer. A Santa Barbara local, Shugart has a long history with public service in town. Her past experiences include working as senior development director and interim executive director at Teddy Bear Cancer Eryn Shugart Foundation, as well as working with the Friendship Adult Day Care Center. Shugart has also worked as an adjunct faculty in nursing and psychology at Santa Barbara City College. She holds her doctoral degree in psychology from Claremont Graduate School. In addition to her role with SBEF, Shugart will continue to sit on the Hospice of Santa Barbara’s board of directors, and serve as an ambassador to the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.
www.santabarbaraeducation.org
The Land Trust for SB County Welcomes New Executive Director Meredith Hendricks MEREDITH HENDRICKS has been named the new Executive Director for the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. Hendricks assumes this position already well-acquainted with the county’s beautiful landscape, with her family’s local Meredith Hendricks ranching history dating to the late 19th century. Hendricks holds two decades’ worth of experience in land management, environmental nonprofit leadership experience, and conservation. She has previously largely worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she focused on land conservation and developing public open spaces. Hendricks also held the position of Director of Land Programs with the Land Trust’s Save Mount Diablo for seven years. She believes “everyone deserves to spend time outside connecting with our spectacular landscapes, www.sblandtrust.org now and forever.”
November 6, 2020
SB Sea Glass & Ocean Arts Festival Donates $2,900 to SB Maritime Museum
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T’S NO SECRET THAT THE PAST EIGHT MONTHS HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT FOR MANY LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. In the spirit of community support, the Santa Barbara Sea Glass & Ocean Arts Festival (SBSGOAF) has donated $2,900 to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. This amount was raised thanks to SBSGOAF’s silent auction, which featured the works of twelve artists. “The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is deeply grateful to the Santa Barbara Sea Glass & Ocean Arts Festival, its artists, and to the community for their generosity in Artists Karen and Alan Clark presented the donation check to SBMM Executive Director Greg this difficult time,” read a statement from the Maritime Museum. “Thank Gorga (left) you one and all!” SBSGOAF hosted its virtual silent auction in October with the plan to donate all of the proceeds to the Maritime Museum. The participating artists were Tori Antonelis, Christine May Brand, Alan Clark, Pedro DeLaCruz, Brandon Harward, Julie Ippoliti, Rachel Kenney, Syd McCutcheon, Sierra Patti, Janet Reid, Sharon Schock, and Kim Snyder. Each of these individuals transformed a wooden fish cut-out into unique, beautiful works of art to be auctioned off. Ultimately their hard work paid off, and SBSGOAF was able to present the Maritime Museum with a check for $2,900 on October 29th. wwww.santabarbaraseaglassandoceanartsfestival.com | www.sbmm.org
SB County to Conduct Groundwater Survey Flights This Fall
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F YOU SPY A LOW-FLYING HELICOPTER HOVERING OVER SANTA YNEZ OR THE LOMPOC VALLEYS, don’t be alarmed — it’s just doing its job! Santa Barbara County and the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District have announced that they will be conducting a project to better understand the area’s groundwater and to map aquifers this fall. “Many protocols are in place to ensure the safety of the mission,” reads the SB County’s Public Works Department statement. “The airborne geophysical survey will be conducted by pilots who are specially trained for low-level flying. The helicopter will not fly over businesses, homes, other inhabitable structures, or confined animal feeding operations.” The Aerial Electromagnetic Method survey Proposed AEM Survey, Draft 10/8/2020 will consist of suspending instruments about 100 feet above the ground that use electromagnetic this data will improve understanding of the geographic extent of signals. These signals interact with geologic materials sands, clays, and gravels that comprise the regional groundwater underground, allowing for the gathering of data quickly from the system’s aquifers. air. When completed, the process will create images that show The survey flights are expected to begin November 15th and variation in the earth’s electrical properties up to a thousand feet last for five to seven days after, however this may be extended. below the land surface. Combined with pre-existing knowledge,
www.santaynezwater.org/aem-survey-ema
Land Development Team Makes Simplified Online Submittals and On-Demand Reroofing Permits Available
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S LOCALS INCREASINGLY TURN TO ONLINE RESOURCES, the City of Santa Barbara’s Land Development Team is taking steps to improve their customers’ online experience. As of November 9th, these efforts will feature a system that will simplify building permit application choices and offer an on-demand permitting process. “The new electronic application submittal and plan review also helps with the current social distancing procedures in place due to COVID-19,” reads the City’s statement. “Applicants may apply for permits from their home or office and eliminate unnecessary inperson contact. The online citizen portal is ‘open’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week to submit plans or pay fees.” The process to improve customers’ online experience began this past spring, when the City launched its Accela Citizen Access Portal (ACA). This portal provided applicants the chance to track their project applications’ progress and the City’s activities. It
allowed the Land Development Team staff to review plans and permits more quickly. On November 9th, the online system will be further improved by presenting simplified building application choices and beginning its on-demand permitting process. This service will allow applicants to pay fees, apply, and instantly get their building permit all online. For now, the on-demand process will be limited to “like-for-like” roofing replacements. However, the service will ultimately cover more simple repair and replacement building permits. There will be a virtual online submittal process and ondemand permitting system training session this fall. Individuals wanting to learn more can visit
www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/cd/building/acabuildingpermits.asp or www.santabarbaraca.gov/services/planning/planningesubmittals.asp.
For information on the Public Works Permit Counter, visit
www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/engineering/permits/default.asp.