SB train station maintains its charm
Local farmers star in behind-the-scenes videos Farm Day becomes virtual in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties - A3
Our 165th Year
Our Rafael Maldonado takes photos of 1905 building on State Street - A4
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Back in business
Ambassadors help more than 4,000 county businesses reopen during COVID-19
The Barber Shop, salons to resume indoor operations By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara County barbershops and hair salons will be permitted to resume indoor operations today. The reopening efforts come after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newest state guidelines, which allow barbershops and salons to operate indoors at a limited capacity. Jorge Salgado, the owner of The Barber Shop, which also houses Victorian Salon, at 1233 State St., will be reopening on indoor operations today, he confirmed to the News-Press. Like several other county establishments, The Barber Shop has been doing its haircuts
outdoors for the past month. Victorian Salon, however, was unable to pivot outdoors because it could not wash hair nor do hair coloring outside. All normal hair cuts will still be conducted outside but hair treatments, washing, and coloring can now be done indoors. The same sanitation process of checking temperatures, routine cleaning, and providing hand sanitizer will also continue to be used. Mr. Salgado said they are currently looking for help so any interested barbers or hairstylists looking for a place to work can contact him. email: jmercado@newspress.com
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
A sign, below, attests that the Architectural Antique & Salvage Co. in downtown Santa Barbara has reopened with COVID-19 safety in mind.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Through partnerships, oneon-one consultation and a public health-centered mindset, county ambassadors have assisted more than 4,000 businesses in Santa Barbara County in safely reopening during the coronavirus pandemic. The county created a guide for businesses called RISE (Reopening In Safe Environment), where each business has to complete a series of tasks in order to demonstrate they can provide a safe environment for every customer, especially the most vulnerable populations. The guide was developed by medical experts in conjunction with city leaders, elected officials, chambers of commerce, industry sectors, faith-based communities, representatives of essential workers and organizations that regularly work with minority and underserved populations. Once the guide was created, a team of ambassadors set out to offer one-on-one help for each individual business and help them reopen safely and successfully. “We didn’t know if it was going to be helpful or not to have the ambassadors,” said Suzanne Grimmesey, the chief quality care and strategy officer with the county Department of Behavioral Wellness. “They went out and it was incredibly effective. Within a couple of weeks, it was so effective that they kept going.” She told the News-Press only a couple handfuls of ambassadors started in the unincorporated areas of the county because cities had their own process. Once it proved effective, the ambassadors divided and conquered all areas of the county. After going over the initial guidelines (all involving
NEWS-PRESS FILE
The Barber Shop owner Jorge Salgado cuts hair outside of his business in July.
Supervisors to receive budget update By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
social distancing, sanitizing, face coverings, and etc.), the ambassadors provide each business with a template to create their own custom COVID-19 protection plan consistent with current health orders. The county provided guidelines specific to nearly 40 different business types, from agriculture and livestock to food packaging to hotels and lodging to museums, galleries, zoos and aquariums and many more. Under each category, businesses can view the RISE guide, followed by a checklist in English and Spanish, and their specific COVID-19 Prevention Plan Template in English and Spanish as well. Ms. Grimmesey said the Please see BUSINESSES on A8
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Two people stroll past the Banana Republic clothing store on State Street.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will receive a report during Tuesday’s meeting on the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019-20. The report will provide a look at the county’s year-end financial position relative to the FY 2019-20 adjusted budget. “COVID-19 continued to notably affect fourth quarter expenditures and revenues,” the staff report reads. “In the General Fund, various departments as well as major discretionary revenue sources experienced significant financial impacts of both the pandemic response activities as well as the related economic downturn.” The county ended with a net positive of $3.8 in the general fund, more than $4 million less than the $8 million positive balance in the year prior. Though general revenues ended the fiscal year $6.5 million above budget, the revenue was offset by deficits in various county departments. The departments that ended the fiscal year with positive net variances due to salary savings or higher-than-anticipated revenues included: Probation ($851,000);
Auditor-Controller ($700,000); and Treasurer-Tax Collector ($607,000). The positive variances were partially offset by negative variances in other departments, including: the Sheriff’s Department ($4.4 million); Community Services-Parks Division ($398,000); and Planning & Development ($229,000), according to the staff report. The Public Defender, District Attorney, Community Services and Human Resources departments also ended the year with “slightly negative variances,” which county officials said reflects the participation in contact tracing, Emergency Operations Center support, and other activities outside the normal scope of responsibilities, the staff report reads. The larger deficits are also attributed to the pandemic. “Special Revenue Funds are required to end the year balanced, so those funds are not included in this update,” the staff report states. The county Public Health Department used $2 million in fund balance and the county Behavior Wellness Department used $6 million to cover COVID-19 Please see budget on A2
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