Chef, winemakers join Santa Ynez Valley enterprise
Celebrating his 106th birthday City of Goleta, Dream Flights honor veteran Charles Dever - A3
Our 166th Year
Meet the new staff at Gleason Family Vineyards - B1
75¢
T H U R S DA Y, O C T O B E R 7, 2 0 2 1
SB police experiences staff shortages By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara Police Department is experiencing staffing shortages that officials say will lead to a reprioritization of calls for service. The shortages are determined by the department’s functional strength, which is ultimately determined by how many officers are available to be immediately deployed to calls for service. While officer availability ebbs and flows, SBPD officials estimate that the department is currently experiencing functional shortages
of about 25-30%. According to Commander Marylinda Arroyo, who oversees field operations at SBPD, there are a number of reasons for these shortages. For one, a number of officers are currently on medical or military leave, which shifts the department’s functional strength because the officers are not available to be immediately deployed. Once they return, the functional strength will shift, Ms. Arroyo explained. But there are also unfilled vacancies in the SBPD that are contributing to the current staffing shortage. Ms. Arroyo said some
officers have chosen to leave the SBPD to join other police departments closer to family, a few have retired, and others have resigned to take jobs in other industries. Until these vacancies can be filled, Interim Police Chief Bernard Melekian has implemented a reprioritization of calls, which will alter the way officers have traditionally responded to calls for service. According to Ms. Arroyo, this method will focus on “priority 1” and “priority 2” level calls, which either involve life-or-death situations or serious incidents
that require police response. Other calls, such as “priority 3” or reporting calls, will take a lower priority. When possible, Ms. Arroyo said the department hopes to deploy coresponse partners from the city to address calls and reports that are non-life-threatening. One example of this, she said, is that if there is a tree in someone’s yard that is causing a problem. Perhaps the best person to respond to this complaint is not a peace officer, but a city official with a background in code enforcement or zoning. She explained that in some cases, this
could help to resolve problems quicker than going through the police department. “(This method) is about finding alternatives to sending peace officers when we have other issues that are being addressed,” Ms. Arroyo told the News-Press. “If someone is calling to make a complaint that is not a crime, and there is nobody in distress and there is not a threat of any kind, how might that be resolved as opposed to just sending a peace officer? That’s what we want to provide — the highest level of service possible within the city and utilize our partner departments.”
Ballots distributed
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The city of Santa Barbara’s election will be held Nov. 2, and voters inside city limits should have their ballots already. The Santa Barbara County ClerkRecorder’s Office is conducting the election on behalf of the city clerk. The office sent ballots Oct. 1. Registered voters who have not received a ballot may contact the Clerk Recorder’s Office at 800-SBCVOTE or 805-568-2200. Citizens who are not yet registered, or who have changed their name or address, may register through Oct. 18 at registertovote. ca.gov. To vote, use black or blue ink to select candidates, enclose the ballot in the envelope and sign and date the envelope in the spaces provided. The signature should match the signature
provided upon voter registration. Ballots can be dropped in a ballot drop box, mailed and postmarked by election day or delivered at a voter service station by 8 p.m. Nov. 2. Voters citywide can cast their vote for mayor. Residents in districts 4, 5 and 6 have their city council members up for re-election. The candidates for mayor are: James Joyce III, Matt Kilrain (“Boat Rat Matt”), incumbent Cathy Murillo, Randy Rowse, Deborah Schwartz and Mark Whitehurst. Barrett Reed is challenging incumbent Kristen Sneddon in the District 4 City Council race. Councilmember Eric Friedman is running unopposed in District 5. Incumbent Meagan Harmon faces three challengers in District 6: Jason Carlton, Nina Johnson and Zachary Pike. email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
FOLLOW US ON
6
66833 00050
3
BALLOT DROP BOX LOCATIONS • Eastside Public Library, 1102 E Montecito St.: Accessible, walk-up • County Administration Building, 105 E Anapamu St. (Anacapa St. entrance) Santa Barbara City Hall, 735 Anacapa St.: Accessible, walk-upAccessible, walk-up San Andres Hardware, 635 W Micheltorena St.: Accessible, walk-up. • Santa Barbara City College (west campus drop-off zone), 721 Cliff Drive: Accessible, drive-up. • MacKenzie Park parking lot, 3111 State St.: Accessible, drive-up, walk-up, available sunrise to half hour after sunset. • County Elections Main Office, 4440-A Calle Real: Accessible, drive-up, walk-up. VOTER SERVICE STATIONS • Santa Barbara County Elections Main Office, 4440-A Calle Real: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, except holidays; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 30; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 2. Santa Barbara City Hall lobby, 735 Anacapa St.: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 30; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 2. • Eastside Public Library (MLK Jr. Wing), 1102 E Montecito St.: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 2. • Westside Neighborhood Center auditorium, 423 W Victoria St.: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 2. MacKenzie Center, 3111 State St.: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 2.
Please see STAFFING on A2
Five candidates fined for campaign violations in Santa Barbara race
Less than a month left until city of Santa Barbara’s Nov. 2 election
Ballots have been mailed for the Nov. 2 mayoral and city council election in Santa Barbara.
Ms. Arroyo said this new method could impact response times for calls that are labeled low priority, though she expects the department to maintain its track record of responding to the most urgent of calls in a matter of minutes. According to the department’s CompStat summary from August, officers responded to the highest priority calls in an average of 5.5 minutes and responded to “priority 2” calls in an average of 20.3 minutes. By deploying officers to the most urgent calls and utilizing the city’s network for
Five campaigns for city of Santa Barbara offices have accrued fines after filing late contribution reports, Interim City Administrator/City Clerk Rebecca Bjork announced Wednesday. The California Fair Political Practices Commission requires that campaign committees file within 24 hours of receiving contributions of $1,000 or more within 90 days of the election. The fine is $10 per each day a report is late. The Nina Johnson for City Council campaign faces a fine of $6,570. Randy Rowse for Mayor is charged $4,020. Mark Whitehurst for Mayor owes $800. James Joyce for Mayor has a $90 violation, and Deborah Schwartz for Mayor was fined $40. Sarah Gorman, City Clerk services manager, couldn’t speak to how often the City fines candidates, but she commented on the extent of the violations. “These particular violations are viewed as particularly strong,” she told the NewsPress. Ms. Bjork provided her comments in a news release. “The law is clear that contribution reports must be filed on time,” she said. “The public is deprived of important information it needs to make informed decisions, election decisions when reports are not filed on time.” Ms. Johnson, senior assistant to the city administrator’s, and Mr. Rowse don’t recall learning about the filing requirements
from the City. Mr. Rowse wonders if he got everyone else in trouble. He looked up the deadlines online one day and realized he had made a mistake and reported himself to the city clerk. It seemed like she didn’t know what enforcement actions to take right away, he said. He told the News-Press the 24-hour rule was new and must have been established after he ran in 2015 for City Council. But the Political Reform Act was reformed to include the rule prior to his 2015 campaign. Mr. Rowse didn’t know because perhaps it wasn’t enforced. As for the $4,020 coming out of his $270,875.85, he feels bad to disappoint his donors. His transgression was this: Mr. Rowse collected nearly $24,000 in contributions from Aug. 8 to Sep. 17 before realizing his mistake. On Sept. 17, he filed 12 reports. Ms. Johnson reported over $50,000 in contributions received from Aug. 8 to Sep. 27, separated into 27 individual reports she filed on Sep. 27. “The misunderstanding on the filing requirement is one that I take full responsibility for,” she said in a statement to the News-Press. “As soon as we learned about the requirement, we filed the larger campaign statement as soon as possible on Sept. 25 and the remaining statements were filed on Sept. 27, and we have been in compliance ever since. “All information was fully disclosed and available online for the public to view, well before ballots were mailed Please see VIOLATIONS on B4
Crossword puzzles are back! Get out your pencils. The crossword puzzle is back in the NewsPress. A new series of puzzles with a Santa Barbara focus begins today on Diversions, B3. Today’s puzzle is all about popular local places. Answers will be in Friday’s paper, along with another puzzle concerning Santa Barbara. We appreciate our readers’ patience and are glad we can help you start your day in the right (rhymes with “day,” three letters) way.
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 0-7-6-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 7-11-18-30-36 Meganumber: 4
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 2-7-14-21-22
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-04-03 Time: 1:48.36
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 4-0-1 / Wednesday’s Midday 5-8-6