Action Alerts
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URGENT - SM Councilwoman Terri Zuniga asks for your help tonight at City Council Meeting
We are forwarding an urgent message from Santa Maria City Councilwoman Terri Zuniga about the Betteravia Development going before the City Council tonight. Please attend or send an email. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 110 E. Cook St., Santa Maria.
EMAIL MESSAGE FROM COUNCILWOMAN TERRI ZUNIGA:
Tonight the city council will be making important decisions regarding trees and the streetscape in the new Betteravia Development. The car dealers in particular are pushing hard AGAINST the vision and are asking for limited trees and streetscape. This completely flies in the direction the council gave staff for new developments!!! If you care what your community looks like in the future please come out and voice your opinion. Let the city council know what YOUR VISION for YOUR COMMUNITY is!!!!! Or email the council TODAY, ask that your correspondence be READ into the record!!!! Post on social media and ask your friends to come to the meeting to speak on the item, send emails and post. Let your voices be heard!
(Read Terri's talking points below.)MESSAGE FROM SBCAN:
We agree with everything Terri says. We would add:
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Take action on Farmworkers Bill of Rights
SBCAN is joining with CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy) in asking the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to pass a Farmworker Bill of Rights.
Please add your voice to this call for action today! Please email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].Here is a sample message:
"Hi. My name is __________ and I am a Santa Barbara County resident. I support CAUSE's proposed Farmworker Bill of Rights because I am concerned with the working conditions of farmworkers in Santa Barbara County. Farmworkers do one of the most difficult, dangerous and underpaid jobs in our community and they deserve humane treatment. Please do everything in the county’s power to set and enforce basic standards to prevent extreme overwork, wage theft, and health and safety problems in our fields. Please put the Farmworker Bill of Rights on your agenda by Cesar Chavez Day March 31. Thank you." -
Oscars Viewing Gala and your support of SBCAN
It is easy to pay dues as monthly recurring payments right here:We notified you last week about the cancellation of our annual Oscars Viewing Gala. Pasted below is the public message about this that we sent to the local media. Please read it--and please read this:The Oscars Viewing Gala has been one of our three annual fundraisers (aside from our membership drive). With this cancellation, which was widely supported by our members and the participants in past Galas, we have even greater need of your support to continue our advocacy work.
If you are behind in your dues, please rejoin. If you would have come to the Gala and bought tickets, paid dues, or made donations, PLEASE do this now to indicate your support of our decision to join the boycott and of our ongoing advocacy of policies you have supported in the past.
https://sbcan.nationbuilder.com/membership_monthly_dues
From that link it is easy to click on "one-time payment" if you prefer that. More and more of our members are signing up for recurring monthly payments.If you are unsure of your payment status, please let me know and I will get back to you right away. We need your support now as much as ever.Thank you for your support!
Ken Hough
SBCAN Executive Director
[email protected]
805.563.0463 -
PG&E Workshops Tuesday and Wednesday in Santa Maria
SBCAN has not yet considered the specifics of the project, but we are in favor of solar and other local alternative energy sources connected through a microgrid, which could reduce the need for major new transmission lines. According to the Santa Maria Times, it will be five years until locations might be determined and approved. It is always a good idea, though, to get engaged at the beginning of a major planning process.Public workshops are being held to engage the community in the planning process. PG&E wants input as to the potential location of these facilities.In addition to the daytime hearings we wrote to you about a few days ago (see below), there are two open houses in Santa Maria that are of interest.PG&E is beginning work on a new project called, "Central California Power Connect." The company is considering a major new transmission line from the Central Valley to the Central Coast and a new substation near Santa Maria.
The two local workshops are tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 4 to 7 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Community Center, 313 W. Tunnel Street, Santa Maria and Wednesday, Feb. 24, 4 to 7 p.m. at Santa Maria VFW Post 2521, 200 East Battles Road, Santa Maria.
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3 Important Public Hearings: SB Bikeway Plan, SB Short-term Rentals, SLO County Rail Spur
Three Important Public Hearings Next Week!
1. Tuesday, February 23, 2016: Santa Barbara City Council Consideration of Bikeway Master Plan.
2. Wednesday, February 24, 2016: County of Santa Barbara Planning Commission Consideration of Short-term Housing Rentals in Agriculturally Zoned Land.
3. Thursday, February 25, 2016: Continuation of County of San Luis Obispo Planning Commission's Hearing on the Phillips 66 Rail Spur. -
SBCAN's Oscars Viewing Gala cancelled, NC Awards Dinner scheduled, Farmworkers Bill of Rights op-ed
1. SBCAN Cancels Oscars Viewing Gala in favor of boycott
2. Save the date for SBCAN's North County "Looking Forward" Awards Dinner May 22
3. Farmworkers Bill of Rights - op-ed by Ken Hough, published Feb. 12
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Coastal Commission director under attack, H.O.T. Committee Meetings
1. California Coastal Commission director under attack
2. North County H.O.T. Committee meets Thursday at 6 p.m. in Santa Maria
3. South County H.O.T. Committee meets Friday at noon in Santa Barbara -
Testify on Feb. 4 & 5 against the proposed Phillips 66 Rail Terminal
Please help protect Santa Barbara County and beyond from the impacts of the proposed Phillips 66 Rail Terminal.
This is not our first plea for your help and it won’t be our last. This Thursday and Friday, Feb. 4 and 5, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission is holding a hearing to consider whether to approve or deny a rail terminal at the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery in the Nipomo Dunes that would accommodate mile-long trains full of volatile crude oil. The hearing will be at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Chamber, 1055 Monterey St., Room D170, San Luis Obispo. Overflow seating, with live streaming, will be in the Fremont Theater next door.
Our own inboxes and local newspapers have been full of reports and opinions about the proposal. You have probably seen a lot about this proposal. Many cities and counties (including Santa Barbara County, and the cities of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta) and special districts have urged San Luis Obispo County to deny the project.
Now is the time for you to express your opposition. County planning staff have recommended denial of the project; this is heartening, but too much is at risk. We need your voice to be heard. Please don’t miss the last link, which is SBCAN’s own.
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APCD and SBCAG meetings Jan. 21 and Phillips 66 Oil Train Terminal meeting on Feb. 4 and 5
Santa Barbara County Action Network
January 20, 20161. APCD Meeting Thursday, January 21 including air quality monitoring network
2. SBCAG Meeting Thursday, January 21 including Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
3. SLO County Planning Commission Hearing February 4 and 5 on Phillips 66 Oil Train Terminal -
SBCAN Action Alert - NC HOT on Thursday, MLK celebration Sat., op-ed writers for SM Times, Buena Vista Beautifiers
Santa Barbara County Action Network
January 12, 2016
1. SBCAN North County H.O.T. (Housing, Open space and Transportation) Committee meeting, Thursday, January 14, Santa Maria
2. Martin Luther King Celebration, Saturday, January 16, Santa Maria
3. Looking Forward op-ed writers needed (Santa Maria Times)
4. Buena Vista Beautifiers Facebook page