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
1. California Coastal Commission director under attack
Our friends at Food and Water Watch sent us this call to action. It has been in the news the last few days and the hearing is this Wednesday.
Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 5:40 PM
Subject: We are Winning on Oil Trains! But Urgent Help is Needed Today!
Hello Climate Heroes and Oil Trains Fighters,
Thanks to continued hard work, we are winning the fight against oil trains on the Central Coast! But now, we face the urgent threat that this hard work might be undone by a secret takeover of our vital Coastal Commission, this Wednesday.
Last week's hearing and rally in SLO was truly amazing! People power at its finest. Thanks for contributing to this effort in so many ways: signing petitions, attending forums, urging our local elected officials to send letters of opposition - and an extra big thank you to those of you who made phone calls or joined me on the bus last Thursday. It was a huge success, with about 600 people in attendance over the course of the 2 day hearing. A decision on the Phillips 66 Rail Spur won't be reached until Feb. 25, but I will make sure you hear as soon as it is made public.
And now, we must take the next step to ensure that our Coastal Commission isn't taken over by industry interests this week. You see, the Phillips 66 Oil Trains decision will most likely be appealed to the Coastal Commission, and we need Dr. Lester to remain as their Executive Director.
1) Please take a moment to sign and share this petition, in order to inundate the Coastal Commission and Gov. Brown with our urgent message. I will post it on Facebook tomorrow morning, as well. Please share tomorrow.
https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2510
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The California Coastal Commission, which has been vital to coastal protection for over 40 years, is under attack. To win our battles against the fossil fuel industry, we must protect Executive Director, Dr. Lester from being wrongfully fired this week!
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Sign up here to carpool.
Onward together,
Rebecca Claassen
Santa Barbara County Organizer
Food & Water Watch
cell: (805) 865-2231
2. North County H.O.T. Committee meets Thursday at 6 p.m. in Santa Maria
SBCAN North County Housing, Open space & Transportation Committee
Thursday, February 11, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
BACK TO PREVIOUS LOCATION:
Cornerstone Community Room, on Jones Street at 705 S. McClelland, in the same building as the Discovery Museum
DRAFT AGENDA
- Call to Order by Chair Jerry Connor; Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
- Phillips 66 Rail Spur Project Update: Planning Commission hearings in San Luis Obispo occurred on Feb. 4 and 5 and will continue on Feb.25. (20 min.)
- Coastal Commission Hearing on Tenure of Executive Director: Dr. Lester’s tenure as Executive Director of the Coastal Commission is under attack by what many believe are pro-development commissioners. What would normally be a closed-door personnel issue is out in the open at Dr. Lester’s request. There is a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in Morro Bay. (10 min.)
- Short-Term Vacation Rentals on Agriculturally Zoned Properties: We discussed this last month, but since it will be before the County Planning Commission on February 24, we want to be sure everyone has expressed their opinions about the issue. (10 min.)
- Exxon/Mobil Proposal for Trucking Crude Oil: this emergency request was granted, so we can expect 30 crude-oil trucks per day on U.S. 101 and some local roads for the next few months. (5 min.)
- Discussion of SBCAN Priorities for 2016 (10 min.)
- Reports from Participants (Sierra Club, Clean Energy Now, NAACP, CAUSE, others)
- Suggestions for next month’s agenda
3. South County H.O.T. Committee meets Friday at noon in Santa Barbara
Along with our usual chance for everyone to speak on their issues, we have a special guest: Joan Hartmann, who has served for several years on the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission and is running for Third District Supervisor. We want to hear what she has to say about the issues she faced on the Commission and she wants to learn from us about the issues we care about. Joan came to January's North County H.O.T. meeting and we had a lively discussion about many important issues.
SBCAN South County Housing, Open space & Transportation Committee
Noon, Friday, February 12, 2016
Rabobank, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 33 Carrillo St. (corner of Anacapa Street)
DRAFT AGENDA
1. Call to Order; Introductions; Agenda Review (5 min.)
2. Brief updates from invited, but not necessarily confirmed, participants (2 to 5 min. each)
a. Bike Coalition: Ed France
b. Milpas Business Improvement District: Jacquiline Inda
c. Sierra Club: Jerry Connor, Katie Davis
d. Food and Water Watch and World Business Academy: Becca Claassen
e. Mobile-Home Project: Sharon Rose
f. Citizens Planning Association: Lee Moldaver
g. Isla Vista Self-Governance Project: Jonathan Abboud
h. Sustainable Living Research Initiative: Ben Werner
i. Community Environmental Council: Jefferson Litton
j. Other
3. Open Dialog with Joan Hartmann: Joan was the County’s District 3 Planning Commissioner until last month and is running for the supervisorial seat that Doreen Farr has held for the last two terms and is retiring from. Joan will summarize the past, current and future issues facing our county and she looks forward to learning from SBCAN members about the issues as we see them. (45 min.)
4. Short-Term Vacation Rentals on Agriculturally Zoned Properties: We may find ourselves discussing this under item #3, but since it will be before the County Planning Commission on February 24, we want to be sure to discuss it now and advise the SBCAN Board of any consensus recommendations. (10 min.)
5. Other HOT topics of interest to those in attendance (10 min.)
6. Discuss priorities for 2016 (10 min.)