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Our 165th Year
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W E DN E S DAY, SE P T E M BE R 2 , 2 0 2 0
CONCEPTION:
Supervisors approve FY 2019-20 budget
One year later
By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Today marks the one year anniversary of the tragic Conception boat fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island that claimed 34 lives.
Remembering lives lost in boat fire By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
They came from a variety of backgrounds, from recent college graduates to artists, from photographers to animal lovers, from recently married couples to solo travelers and many more. They each got on Conception for a different reason, whether it be scuba diving or watercolor painting, taking professional photos or celebrating a 42nd birthday, or simply studying water systems or a leisure vacation. While only a few of the victims were locals of the county,
residents of Santa Barbara still — and will always — feel connected to them as though they were family. One year ago today, 34 lives were lost in a tragic boat fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island. Early Labor Day morning of Sept. 2, 2019, the 75-foot charter boat Conception burst into flames, claiming the lives of 33 passengers and one crew member. Five of the crew members survived. In honor of the victims and their families, the city of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department is holding a virtual
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Family members and community members created a memorial outside the SEA Landing dock where Conception was docked. The city of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department is holding a virtual commemoration and plaque dedication today in honor of the year anniversary.
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After losing $4.4 million during fiscal year 2019-20, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department is “trending on budget” for the current fiscal year. That was the message delivered to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, as they unanimously adopted the FY 2019-20 budget. Undersheriff Solomon Linver did caution, however, that this could change when the Northern Branch Jail activates later this fiscal year. “We’re trending on budget, but then we’re going to see what North Branch Jail does to us,” he said. The $4.4 million loss, the largest among the county’s departments, is just 2.75% of the Sheriff’s Office $160 million budget. The loss represents a significant increase over last year’s $1.1 million deficit, which represented just 0.7% of the Sheriff’s Office $149.7 million budget. According to the report, the FY 2019-20 deficit was mainly caused by spending on overtime that wasn’t completely offset by salary savings from vacant positions. The Sheriff’s Office dedicated 35,000 hours, the equivalent of 17 full-time employees, to training officers. While a new recruit undergoes academy and on-thejob training, the recruit receives full pay and benefits but is not yet a “working asset” that can work free of supervision. On top of these costs, the 35,000 hours of training necessitated a backfill of
staff, demanding overtime. The supervisors unanimously voted to file a report on the fiscal status of fiscal year 2019-2020 during its Tuesday meeting. According to the report, the county ended FY 2019-20 with a net positive of $3.8 million in its general fund, less than the $8 million positive variance that ended the previous year. Overall, general revenues ended the year $6.5 million above budget, though this revenue was offset by deficits in certain departments. This variance is 2.3% on a $248.3 million adjusted budget, which is largely due to higher than budgeted current year secured property taxes, prior year unsecured property taxes, RDA distributions, interest income, and payment in lieu of taxes. General fund departments that ended the fiscal year with positive net variances due to salary savings or higher than anticipated revenues include: Probation, $815,000; Auditor-Controller, $700,000; and Treasurer-Tax Collector, with $607,000. While most departments ended balanced or slightly positive, some departments ended with negative variances. These include: Planning and Development, which lost $229,000, Community Services-Parks,$398,000, and the Sheriff’s Office, $4.4 million. The county’s special revenue funds are required to end the fiscal year balanced, but a couple departments had to address revenue shortfalls with their own fund balances. Please see BUDGET on A8
One year ago, the 75-foot charter boat burst into flames and the reason is still unknown. The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the fire and will release its final report next month. COURTESY PHOTO
commemoration and plaque dedication. All members of the public are welcome to attend, and it started at 7 this morning. The victims were: Carol Diana Adamic, 60, of Santa Cruz; Juha Pekka Ahopelto, 50, of Sunnyvale; Neal Gustav Baltz, 42, of Phoenix; Patricia Ann Beitzinger, 48, of Chandler, Ariz..; Vaidehi Campbell, 41, of Felton; Raymond “Scott” Chan, 59, of Los Altos; Kendra Chan, 26, of Oxnard; Adrian Dahood-Fritz, 40, of Sacramento; Justin Carroll Dignam, 58, of Anaheim; Berenice Felipe, 16, of Santa Cruz; Lisa Fielder, 52, of Mill Valley; Kristina “Kristy” Finstad, 41, of Santa Cruz; Andrew Fritz, 40, of Sacramento; Daniel Garcia, 46, of Berkeley; Marybeth Guiney, 51, of Santa Monica; Yuko Hatano, 39, of San Jose; Yulia Krashennaya, 40, of Berkeley; Alexandra Kurtz, 26, of Santa Barbara; Xiang Lin, 45, of Fremont; Caroline McLaughlin, 35, of Oakland; Charles McIlvain, 44, of Santa Monica; Kaustubh Nirmal, 33, and Sanjeeri DeoPujari (Nirmal), 31, both of Stamford, Conn.; Angela Rose Quitasol, 28, of Stockton; Evan Michel
Quitasol, 37, of Stockton; Nicole Storm Quitasol, 31, of Imperial Beach; Michael Quitasol, 62, of Stockton; Steven Salika, 55, of Santa Cruz; Tia Salika-Adamic, 17, of Santa Cruz; Sumil Sandhu, 45, of Half Moon Bay; Fernisa Sison, 57, of Stockton; Ted Strom, 62, of Germantown, TN.; Kristian Takvam, 34, of San Francisco; and Wei Tan, 26, of Goleta. In the wake of the tragedy, on Dec. 12, 2019, Rep. Salud Carbajal sponsored and introduced legislation to mandate additional regulations to secure the safety of individuals and property on board certain small passenger vessels. In a statement to the NewsPress, the congressman said these mandates were “long overdue” for boats like Conception “so we never have to experience another disaster like this again. “The Conception Boat Fire was an unbelievable tragedy. 34 innocent lives were lost that night, including two from our own community. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of all the victims, whose pain I can’t begin to imagine,” he said in a Please see conception on A8
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Jorge Salgado, owner of The Barber Shop and Victorian Salon, at 1233 State St., resumed indoor operations Monday at both his barbershop and salon.
The Barber Shop, Victorian Salon resume limited indoor operations By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
While most county businesses are still barred from operating indoors due to the novel coronavirus, barbershops and hair salons have been given the go-ahead to do so — albeit at limited capacity. As approved recently by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newest state guideline, it has been deemed safe to reopen indoor operations for barbershops and salons. This is largely due to their history of following strict hygiene guidelines, Dr. Henning Ansorg, the Santa Barbara County health officer, told the News-Press Tuesday.
“I think that just by virtue of their training and licensing, they are really well poised to accommodate customers in a safe way,” he said. Dr. Ansorg noted that barbershops and salons are being careful about wearing masks and keeping social distance between the barbers’ or stylists’ chairs. Jorge Salgado, owner of The Barber Shop and Victorian Salon at 1233 State St., agreed with Dr. Ansorg’s assessment. “Sanitation is pretty much our number one priority when it comes to our business, so sanitation protocol affects every part of our business and we have been doing that for a long time,” Please see HAIR on A2
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