In the wake of a recent critical grand jury report, Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino believes the city of Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County are moving forward together to work toward a common goal of making the community safer for its youth.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to submit required responses to the report titled "Youth Safety in Santa Maria, Developing a New Strategy."
"We did get off to a rocky start, but at the end of the day, the city has to be the driving force behind this thing," Lavagnino said about Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino's task force on youth safety. "We are now working collaboratively, and the county is a huge player. We are moving in the right direction."
Patino formed a task force on youth violence earlier this year in response to the rash of violence between late 2014 and the end of 2016 that shook Santa Maria. The majority of the murders during that nearly 1 1/2 years were gang-related, with many of the deaths youth-on-youth killings.
Prior to Patino forming the city's task force, there was discussion between the county, which had a different vision than city leaders, and Santa Maria to form a North County-specific group that would focus on youth safety. Those talks didn't come to fruition, though.
Released in mid-June, the grand jury report concludes a successful Santa Maria Youth Task Force should reach out to surrounding area communities and their agencies.
In the report, jurors point to Patino and the City Council initially refusing to collaborate with Lavagnino to utilize a $75,000 county allocation to hire an executive level coordinator for the task force. A portion of that funding has been used to hire a consultant to develop a strategic plan for quelling youth violence in the city.
In their proposed response, the supervisors note they partially disagree with the finding.
August 29, 2017
Lompoc Record
By April Charlton
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