On Tuesday, May 17, around 3 p.m., the Board of Supervisors will consider whether to extend the Santa Maria River levee trail to Guadalupe.

This trail would provide a much needed scenic, recreational and transportation corridor between Santa Maria and Guadalupe that could accommodate bicyclists, joggers and pedestrians. It's a unique asset that the public should be able to access. It would provide more access to nature, more opportunities for recreational activities for residents and economic stimulation for local businesses in both cities.

Although the levee is in the north county, we are looking for support from members of the public from throughout the county.

Can you join us and sign a petition supporting the extension now? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/santa-maria-river-trail-expansion-support-petition?source=email&

If you can, please attend a rally organized by CAUSE prior to the item coming before the board. It will be Tuesday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. You can also provide testimony there or on the fourth floor at the county building at 105 East Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara. 

If you can’t show up in person, please send written comments to the board by 5 p.m. Monday or testify remotely on Tuesday.

If you would like to submit a pre-drafted email, which you can modify, click here: https://causenow.org/content/extend-sm-river-trail-guadalupe?fbclid=IwAR3961LihuIwKjjkBBHJ5ribM6D2ZZZ1cCi00hp1rGXaUcldAqOzNkAUwdE

Or click here to create an email to the Clerk of the Board. Add a subject line such as "May 17 BOS Agenda Item #7, Letter in support of the Santa Maria River Levee Trail." 

More information about testifying is below.

On Tuesday, May 17, the Board of Supervisors will consider whether to extend the Santa Maria levee trail to Guadalupe, which could become a wonderful recreational and transportation asset for residents of the Santa Maria Valley.

We urge you to attend a rally organized by CAUSE prior to the item coming before the board. It will be Tuesday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. 

If you can’t show up in person, please send written comments to the board by 5 p.m. Monday or testify remotely on Tuesday.

More information about testifying is below.

For more information on the issue, read this op-ed written by Jeanne Sparks and published in the Santa Maria Times May 14, 2022:

We will be hosting both a North and South County Roundtable this month.

For North County, come to meet our new SBCAN North County co-president, Rebeca Garcia! We will discuss the Santa Maria River Trail, Farmworker strikes, and the Santa Maria General Plan Update. 

For South County, we will hear from Santa Barbara City Staff about their Housing Element Update, and we will give an update on the Rent Stabilization efforts.  

We hope you will join us.

Santa Barbara County Action Network will hold its 2022 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser on Sunday, June 26 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Blosser Urban Garden, 915 S Blosser Rd, Santa Maria.  

Please mark your calendar and keep an eye out for additional information we will be putting out soon! We are eager to be back with each other in person outdoors after two years of virtual-only events.

Every year we recognize individuals or organizations that work to protect our environment and the rights of our county’s residents. These awards help encourage this good work to continue and to raise the funds we need to keep doing our part.

Santa Barbara County Action Network will hold its 2022 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser on Sunday, June 26 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Blosser Urban Gardens, 915 S Blosser Rd, Santa Maria.  

Please mark your calendar and keep an eye out for additional information we will be putting out soon! We are eager to be back with each other in person outdoors after two years of virtual-only events.

Every year we recognize individuals or organizations that work to protect our environment and the rights of our county’s residents. These awards help encourage this good work to continue and to raise the funds we need to keep doing our part.

We are excited to announce this year’s award recipients:

• Mireya Piña, "Looking Forward" Award
• Sara Macdonald, Giving Back Award
• Wildling Museum, Environmental Award
• MICOP (Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project), Working Families Award
• Pastor Chris Brown, Social Justice Award
• Elizabeth Beebe, Youth Activist Award

We hope you will come celebrate with us on Sunday, June 26.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact [email protected].

Please note that all guests should be fully vaccinated or have a negative test within 48 hours of the event. Thank you for your cooperation.

Santa Barbara County Action Network will hold its 2022 North County “Looking Forward” Awards Dinner & Fundraiser on Sunday, June 26 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Blosser Urban Gardens, 915 S Blosser Rd, Santa Maria.  

Please mark your calendar and keep an eye out for additional information we will be putting out soon! We are eager to be back with each other in person outdoors after two years of virtual-only events.

Every year we recognize individuals or organizations that work to protect our environment and the rights of our county’s residents. These awards help encourage this good work to continue and to raise the funds we need to keep doing our part.

Please see below for information about a virtual workshop on housing that the Blum Center is sponsoring on Thursday, April 28th from 5:30-7:00pm via Zoom, including SBCAN's South County Co-president, Dick Flacks as one of the presenters. This is the second in a series of Blum Center-sponsored workshops on the crisis of affordable housing in California and the Central Coast. The workshop is free and open to the public.   

There are two important issues coming to Santa Barbara City Hall on April 19th. 

The Santa Barbara City Council will be discussing a potential scope for a study on Rental Stabilization. We need to emphasize the urgency to speed up this process to stop the displacement of our community.

Immediately before that at 1pm, city workers in Santa Barbara are hosting a rally in front of City Hall calling on the city to pay its workers a living wage. The City passed an ordinance requiring outside contractors to be paid a living wage, yet many of its own employees earn below a living wage and are not able to live in the city where they work. Issues around wages and rents go hand in hand and we hope you will lend your voice in support of both of these issues.

If you can't make it in person to the council meeting at City Hall, join virtually via zoom by registering on the following link, and choosing to speak on Item number 15:

https://santabarbaraca-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BHXU9bk1SWq0ntGHplRq0Q

Keep up to date for the start time of the agenda item via our Social Media, or sign up for Text Alerts from our friends at CAUSE by texting #RentSB to (805) 500- 2627

Take Action Now!
1. Email SB City Council asking them to “cap the rent at 2 percent”! by filling out this petition

2. Sign on to the support letter for Santa Barbara city workers HERE