Planning Director rejects Santa Barbara Civil Grand Jury report findings

By Sam Womack/Staff Writer
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The Jesusita Fire is at the top of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ agenda Tuesday in Santa Maria.

The board plans to receive an update on the blaze, which has burned in the hills above Santa Barbara since the afternoon of May 5.

The fire has eaten up thousands of acres and dozens of homes mostly in the 2nd District, but the fire has spread closer to the boundaries of the 1st and 3rd Districts in recent days.

The Santa Barbara County supervisors declared a local emergency Tuesday because of the fire’s ferocity and on Wednesday, the governor proclaimed a state of emergency in Santa Barbara.

In a separate matter, the board is slated to respond to a grand jury report which claimed that the county-appointed committees achieved very little or no change.

In response to the grand jury’s findings, the director of the Planning and Development Department rejected most as false and claimed that many of the jury’s recommendations were already in place.

Two out of the four committees were associated with the planning department, which has garnered its fair share of complaints over the years.

The Board of Supervisors must review and then respond to the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury’s findings and recommendations, according to the California penal code.

Also, the board is slated to receive a financial status report as of March 31, the third quarter of the 2008-09.

The third quarter had low revenues and many departmental budgets were much tighter than has been seen in recent years, according to the staff report presented to supervisors.

In order to fill budget shortfalls and maintain and fund staff, who would have been laid-off, the Board of Supervisors approved several million dollar transfers from reserve accounts.

If additional transfers are not made before the end of the fiscal year, June 30, it’s possible that the general fund would end with a negative balance, according to the report.

More information by fund and by department is scheduled to be discussed at the board meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Betteravia Government Center at 511 East Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria.

The public can address the board in person or by remote video in the hearing room on the fourth floor of the county Administration Building at 105 East Anapamu St.

For those who cannot make it to either location, there is a live stream of the Board of Supervisors’ meetings and copies of agendas and minutes of the meetings at www.countyofsb.org.