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T U E S DAY, F E BRUA RY 2 3 , 2 0 21
Goal of saving kangaroos Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action names Xtreme Soccer in investigation
Mayors dispute proposed hike in sheriff’s costs By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Four mayors are disputing an increased compensation proposal from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office that would drive up the cost of contracted law enforcement services by nearly 50% in some areas. Mayors from Carpinteria, Solvang, Goleta and Buellton are preparing to send a joint letter, pending approval by their city councils, which would request a recalculation of charges from the Sheriff’s Office for fiscal year 2021-2022, which begins in July. The four cities currently contract law enforcement services from the Sheriff’s Office and provide compensation based on annual agreements. According to the terms of the agreement, the Sheriff’s Office must provide an estimated compensation adjustment for each fiscal year by Nov. 1 and a final compensation adjustment by Jan. 15. The source of the dispute is
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Animal rights organizations list Xtreme Soccer, located at 401 N Milpas St. in Santa Barbara, as a top violator of California’s ban against products made from kangaroos.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
More than a year after Australia’s devastating bushfires, advocates are still trying to save kangaroos. But they’re not saving these marsupials from the flames; they’re focused on soccer cleats. There are manufacturers who make those cleats from kangaroo skin. And California is the only state that prohibits the sale of products using kangaroo parts, though companies frequently ignore this law. One of those companies, according to an allegation by the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action, has
a store in Santa Barbara. The center’s investigation is naming Xtreme Soccer, which has a store on Milpas Street in Santa Barbara as well as its flagship store in Oxnard, for its involvement in selling soccer cleats made from kangaroos. Wayne Pacelle, the center’s president, named Xtreme Soccer as the “most notable violator” of California Penal Code § 653o during a News-Press interview Monday. The Center for a Humane Economy contacted Xtreme Soccer’s owner David Mora, who agreed not to display kangaroo-leather shoes but has continued selling them, alleged Jeff Burnside, one of the center’s
investigators. Mr. Mora did not respond to the News-Press’ request for comment. Prior to the investigation, about two-thirds of soccercleat retailers in California sold “k-leather” cleats. After the Center for a Humane Economy contacted them, half of those businesses stopped carrying kangaroo cleats. “When we began the campaign a year ago, most of them were vaguely aware of it but faintly because no one was enforcing it. Now most of them are violating the law knowingly and egregiously,” Mr. Burnside told the News-Press Monday. The California Department
of Fish and Wildlife is one of multiple agencies that can enforce the law, but it told the center it relies on specific tips to identify violators. “If California ban was fully enforced, it would put a huge dent in this global market,” Mr. Burnside said, estimating that California comprises 15% of the U.S. market of soccer shoes. When manufacturers, such as Nike or Adidas, sell kangarooleather shoes to California stores or ship to California addresses, they are also breaking the law. “The companies should exhibit a measure of social responsibility that they are not sourcing skins from kangaroos living in their Please see KANGAROO on A4
Xtreme Soccer stocks a variety of soccer gear. But activists are most worried about kangaroo-leather soccer cleats.
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Settlement reached in complaint against Best Buy By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Santa Barbara County and three other counties have settled a consumer protection action against Best Buy. The electronics chain has agreed to revise its business practices and pay a total of $633,570 in the settlement, which was announced Monday by Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley and district attorneys in San Diego, Alameda and Riverside counties. The Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office said Best Buy, which has retail outlets in Goleta and Santa Maria, did not admit to liability. The case concerned Best Buy’s pricing accuracy and return policy. The District Attorney’s Office explained that the complaint alleged that Best Buy misrepresented the price of items sold and failed to accurately disclose material aspects of its return policy, among other violations. The Santa Barbara County Weights & Measures Department discovered pricing-accuracy violations, as did other weights and measures departments across the state, the District Attorney’s Office noted. The office explained that the final judgment requires Best Buy to institute changes in its business practices to ensure there’s no recurrence of the problems identified in the complaint. These include a renewed pricingaccuracy program and enhanced disclosures of return policies. Without admitting liability, Best Buy agreed to pay $449,065 in civil penalties, $109,505 in costs and $75,000 in restitution. Of these funds, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office will receive $112,266 in civil penalties and $20,000 in costs. The
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced a settlement Monday with Best Buy over a consumer protection action.
Santa Barbara County Weights & Measures Department will receive $3,840 in costs. As required by California law, the civil penalties will be used for the enforcement of consumer protection laws. “Consumers are entitled to being charged the lowest advertised price and to return policies with clear and conspicuous terms,” District Attorney Dudley said in a statement. “We are grateful that Best Buy cooperated and agreed to modify its practices. If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a complaint with my office, and we will investigate it, no matter the size of the company.” The District Attorney website explains how to submit a consumer complaint form. Go to countyofsb.org/da/civ_consumer_ protection.html. Consumer complaint forms are available in English and Spanish. email: dmason@newspress.com
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coming from significant leaps in the Sheriff’s Office’s proposed costs for the upcoming fiscal year. Officials in the four cities said they were alerted of an estimated 5.5% increase in costs from the Sheriff’s Office in November, but when the final compensation adjustment was announced in January, the cost was between 3049% higher than last fiscal year. “We are alarmed by the Sheriff’s Office’s unexpected, significant and unsupported proposed cost increases,” the four mayors wrote in the joint letter. In a Council Staff Report from the city of Carpinteria, officials wrote that “no supporting evidence” was provided by the Sheriff’s Office to support the cost increases. On Feb. 8, the Carpinteria City Council sent a Notice of Dispute to the county concerning the calculation of monthly invoices that have already occurred for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, as well as the proposed costs for the 2021-2022 year. Please see mayors on A4
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