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W E DN E SDAY, J U N E 9, 2 021
Yellow tier is here
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Santa Barbara County moves to least restrictive level
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county’s public health officer, said the move to the yellow tier is “excellent news.”
Santa Barbara County officially qualified for the yellow tier of COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday after nearly seven weeks in the orange tier. The yellow tier, which is the least restrictive of the state’s tiers, will go into effect at 8 this morning.
Under yellow tier restrictions, restaurants, gyms, wineries, movie theaters and places of worship can open at 50% capacity indoors. In addition, retail stores can open with no capacity limitations. To reach the yellow tier, the county maintained an adjusted case rate of less than two cases per every 100,000 residents, a testing positivity rate of less than 2% and less than 2.2% positive tests for the health
equity quartile. As of Tuesday, the county’s case rate stands at 0.9 cases per 100,000, the positivity rate is 0.7%, and the positive tests in the health equity quartile stands at 1%. Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county’s public health officer, told the News-Press the move to the yellow tier is “excellent news” and confirmation that the county’s case rate is going in the right direction. “I think it’s really reassuring just to
City declares local emergency, shelter crisis
have confirmation that our case rate is indeed still downtrending, and that is, of course, very reassuring for the Public Health (Department) to see that (trend) factually and (to see) that even loosening up restrictions hasn’t had a negative effect,” Dr. Ansorg said. The county’s tier shift comes just one week before the state will dissolve the tier Please see YELLOW on A3
SB County reviews billion dollar budget By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors discussed the county’s proposed $1.35 billion budget, which features more than $31 million in cannabis revenue, during a hearing Tuesday. The budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $160.5 million higher than last year’s budget. It’s bolstered in part by funding from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act and increases in cannabis revenue. During Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors pitched potential ideas for uses of the cannabis tax revenue and discretionary funding from ARPA. After deliberations, the supervisors agreed to provide ongoing funding to cover the hire of an ordinance planner in the Planning & Development Department, additional misdemeanor staffing for the Public Defender’s Office and a cost of living adjustment for county libraries. For the fulfillment of one-time funding sources, the County Board of Supervisors allocated funding for parks, trails and open spaces in North County; Santa Maria recreation; parks and trails in the South County; a library consultant and cannabisfunded mobility projects. In addition to these deliberations, the Board of Supervisors also heard a lengthy presentation from the county’s public safety departments. The district attorney’s, public defender’s and sheriff’s offices elaborated on additional budget requests for the coming fiscal year. The public safety departments pitched their original budgets during hearings in April. In the coming fiscal year, the District Attorney’s Office is requesting an additional $260,000 in ongoing funds to establish a postconviction litigation unit. The Public Defender’s Office is asking for more than $150,000 to promote two extra help deputies to permanent staff. And the Sheriff’s Office is requesting more than $1 million for the expansion of its cannabis compliance team and funding for future data center replacements. The supervisors ended up granting the public defender’s request for additional funding to increase staffing. The budget for the Sheriff’s Office has been a contentious topic for supervisors in recent weeks. Officials are eyeing ways to keep the jail population low while addressing the historic backlog of cases piling up during the pandemic. Tracy Macuga, the head of the Public Defender’s Office, asked supervisors to “level the playing field” by providing her department with the adequate funds to have a more equitable justice system. Please see BUDGET on A2
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday declared a local emergency due to homeless encampments in fire-prone areas, also declaring a shelter crisis in order to provide housing to the individuals living in those encampments.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to proclaim the existence of a local emergency due to human encampments in fire prone areas that pose hazards to the community. Furthermore, the council members voted to proclaim a shelter crisis. To house individuals living in fire prone areas, they directed city staff to return in three weeks with the option of a hotel for CityNet to master lease. As a backup, the council voted to have a safe encampment shelter in the Castillo/Carrillo Commuter Lot in downtown Santa Barbara. An example photo of an encampment shelter from Los Angeles was presented, and showed tents spaced apart in white squares on the pavement. “There are no easy answers here,” Councilman Eric Friedman said. “(We need to) really look at this from the residents’ standpoint who all live here. We want to feel safe, we want to address these fire issues and we really want to get those who need mental health services and addiction services into the services they Please see HOMELESS on A4
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