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‘Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 3’
Arizona faces border surge will move some migrants to other states - A3
Review: New film sees characters find their destinies in strong story - B1
Our 167th Year
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Encounters with Spirit
City of SB looks at new financial policy Approach would allow city to recover fees for services By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In light of a looming $3.8 million General Fund deficit for Fiscal Year 2024, city of Santa Barbara staff is doing whatever it can to save taxpayers money. One approach staff is seeking to implement is a cost recovery and revenue policy that will enable the city, wherever possible, to recover fees for services, in particular those benefiting individuals. Staff unveiled the new policy at last week’s Finance Committee in regard to the city’s General Fund. “The city charges fees for many of the services that are provided to the community,” City Finance Director Keith DeMartini said. “It is important to evaluate the optimal level of cost recovery that should be achieved for certain services. This policy will only serve as a guideline for staff when proposing changes to or new fees, and for the City Council when evaluating these changes for eventual approval.” Finance Committee Chair Eric Friedman calls the policy a “positive tool to help the city in making decisions when we look at service cost recovery fees.
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“It is important to evaluate the optimal level of cost recovery that should be achieved for certain services,” said Keith DeMartini, finance director for the city of Santa Barbara.
(It’s) a guide for staff and council when trying to determine the level of subsidy for a specific purpose” as well as the fees associated with cost recovery. “While ideally cost recovery would be captured, in many cases there are reasons that full cost recovery may not be feasible or a desired policy goal,” he said. “There are some services the city provides that benefit a specific individual, some that have a broad public benefit and others that have some public Please see FINANCE on A4
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Visitors meet Spirit the horse at the Return to Freedom: Wild Horse Conservation sanctuary in Lompoc, where Spirit’s 28th birthday was celebrated Saturday with live music, vendors and food. Spirit inspired the animated movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” (2002). As shown in one of these photos, visitors hiked Saturday at the 300acre home for wild horses and burros. For more information, go to returntofreedom.org.
SB City Council to consider personal property ordinance By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Dr. Erika Endrijonas named SBCC president By KIRA LOGAN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The Santa Barbara Community College District Board of Trustees has just selected City College’s next superintendent/president: Dr. Erika Endrijonas. Dr. Endrijonas has been the superintendent/president of Pasadena City College since January 2019, and she previously served as president of Los Angeles Valley College in the Los Angeles Community College District for four-and-a-half years. Dr. Endrijonas earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Cal State Northridge, and her master’s and doctorate degrees from USC in American and Women’s History. She currently teaches in the Educational
Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program at Cal State Northridge. Dr. Endrijonas is excited to fulfill the role of Santa Barbara City College’s next president. “It has been my goal since I left SBCC to return,” Dr. Endrijonas said in a news release Monday evening that announced her selection. “It is where I started my community college career. I am thrilled to render service in a place I love.” Board President Jonathan Abboud said, “Dr. Endrijonas brings a strong commitment to the work we do for student access and success. “She has a wealth of experience as a community college president overseeing a budget of over $300 million at Pasadena City College.
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Dr. Erika Endrijonas
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Trustees at its June 15 meeting. email: klogan@newspress.com
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She has demonstrated that she is equity- and antiracism- focused, transparent and collaborative.” A nationwide search for the next superintendent/president was conducted by the board of trustees. Three finalists were chosen by a 19-member screening committee in November 2022 that included faculty, academic professionals, students, community members and more. The three finalists then participated in public forums and were then interviewed by the Board of Trustees before a decision was made. Dr. Endrijonas is expected to begin her work as president on Aug. 1. Her contract is currently subject to contract negotiations and will go before the Board of
The Santa Barbara City Council today will consider adopting an ordinance to regulate the storage of personal property in public places. The council’s meeting will start at 2 p.m. at city hall, 735 Anacapa St. The purpose of the draft ordinance is to address the health and safety issues that relate to unattended or stored personal property in public areas in the city of Santa Barbara, staff said. The Ordinance Committee discussed the proposed ordinance on April 25 and subsequently voted unanimously to forward the ordinance to the full council for introduction and adoption. “The public streets, rights-ofway, sidewalks, paseos, parks and other publicly-owned or controlled property within the city should be readily accessible and available to residents, businesses, and the public at large for their intended purposes,” staff said in its report to the council. “The use of public places for private storage of personal property is inconsistent with use for public purposes and denies public use and enjoyment of public areas by exclusively occupying public property for private storage,” staff said. “Unattended or stored personal property in certain public spaces threatens the health and safety of residents and visitors
because it interferes with the safe passage of pedestrians and people with disabilities in the public right-of-way and can foster unsanitary conditions.” At the same time, staff said, “the needs of the public to access clean, sanitary, and attractive public areas must be balanced with the needs of individuals who have no other alternatives for the storage of personal property, and who reasonably need to retain access to a limited amount of personal property in public areas.” The city of Santa Barbara benefits from tourism, and often travelers of all economic means may be seen carrying substantial quantities of personal possessions, staff said. “Therefore, the intent of this draft ordinance is not to focus on people experiencing homelessness or to discourage tourism, but rather to maintain the city’s ability to preserve clean, accessible public areas and to address specific safety issues. “The draft ordinance is also mindful that while the city is not required to allow the storage of personal property within its public open spaces, it may not discriminately remove and destroy that property.” The draft ordinance prohibits storage of unattended personal property in public areas such as a street, sidewalk, plaza, parking lot, park, beach or building. It also prohibits the storage in a public area of excessive amounts of personal property that cannot Please see COUNCIL on A4
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Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 7-17-21-29-42 Mega: 22
Monday’s DAILY 4: 4-5-9-0
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 16-18-28-42-43 Mega: 11
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 10-11-21-29-32
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 01-05-04 Time: 1:46.63
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 31-39-47-51-53 Meganumber: 6
Monday’s DAILY 3: 9-2-6 / Midday 6-3-1