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Peter Adam bids farewell to Board of Supervisors By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
After eight years of public service, Fourth District Supervisor and Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Peter Adam had his last board meeting on Tuesday, during which he was honored by past and present colleagues from Santa Barbara County. Following the meeting’s departmental agenda, the board adopted a resolution to honor Mr. Adam’s service to the county. Fellow board members, Sheriff Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, and others paid a round of compliments to the Santa Maria resident and farmer, with some occasional light
roasting. Many of the comments praising Mr. Adam centered around him pushing for fiscal responsibility, better infrastructure, addressing deferred maintenance, and being open and honest about his opinions even when he was the only one to hold them. County CEO Mona Miyasato thanked Mr. Adam for his “doggedness” in pushing the board to be more concerned about deferred maintenance and “the essentials of what government is supposed to do.” She added, “Even though in your whole eight years you only voted once to approve the recommended budget, I and my department always felt supported by you.”
Mr. Adam was then shown a gift not “to him,” Ms. Miyasato said, but rather a gift “from him,” a framed board inquiry form that Mr. Adam sent last fiscal year regarding deferred maintenance costs. County assistant CEO Jeff Frapwell remarked that the framed BIF form serves as an important reminder of the county government’s obligation to be “faithful stewards of taxpayers’ resources.” Assistant CEO Barney Melekian praised Mr. Adam’s integrity and delineated that the outgoing supervisor is a “public servant” rather than a “politician.” “He thinks that as public servants, we should recognize that the greatest gift of our job is to make the opportunity to
make a positive difference in peoples’ lives, and the greatest sin is indifference to those people and their problems,” he said. Mr. Melekian added that Mr. Adam has never spoken badly of any of his fellow board members even though he often had an opposite opinion and was frequently outvoted. Mr. Adam’s willingness to plainly express opinions different from those of his colleagues was complimented by many. Sheriff Brown stated that Mr. Adam’s viewpoints brought an “important sense of balance” to the board. “It’s important that we have a mixture of thought and a mixture of belief,” the sheriff Please see ADAM on A8
COURTESY PHOTO
Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam participated in his last Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
SB Unified plans ahead
Dramatic tide
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
A king tide pushes the water close to the parking lot and restrooms Monday at Leadbetter Beach.
Council prohibits conversion of senior mobile home parks, rent increases By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously adopted an interim urgency ordinance prohibiting the conversion of senior mobile home parks and excessive vacancy rent increases in its regular meeting Tuesday. This move comes after numerous mobile home park residents spoke up about recent notices from the Flamingo Mobile Home Park ownership announcing a rule change to convert the park from its current senior-only occupancy to an all-age park. Residents expressed fear that the loss of senior-only occupancy would destabilize them socially and
economically. The ordinance prohibits the conversion and enacts an interim vacancy rent control cap of 10% to prevent excessive space rent increases from being imposed upon transfer of ownership of a mobile home. “Nationwide, there is a move to raise the rent on the underlying ground that devalues the mobile home that the residents own, so what happens is that those residents are not able to either sell their home, or when rent comes up, it devalues them and puts them in even more of a financial predicament,” Council member Eric Friedman said. “It is paramount that we understand this issue, that we have an interim ordinance today to allow us time to put a pause on everything
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definitely an at-risk and very needed housing component that we’re trying to protect.” The council also unanimously approved the proposed amendments to the Municipal Code pertaining to permits and regulations for special events, including parades, athletic events and other special events in parks or requiring the closure of streets and other public rights of way. The new process will clarify special event permit requirements, designate a city special events coordinator, enhance customer service for event organizers and streamline the permit review and approval process to achieve efficiencies. Please see council on A8
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and work through a process where we can protect our seniors in housing that they have.” The ordinance is effective immediately and will expire in 45 days, unless extended by the council. After notice, public hearing and a four-fifths vote, the council could extend the ordinance for an additional 22 months and 15 days. Council member Mike Jordan said he would likely not be inclined to extend it for the duration. “I would be inclined to put some pressure on staff and the property owners of Flamingo to clear up some of the disconnect we’ve heard today… and provide those answers in a shorter period of time than two years,” he said. “Senior housing is
The board of the Santa Barbara Unified School District met Tuesday night to tackle year-end tasks and strategize how to better serve students in response to the pandemic. Santa Barbara County Public Health Department school liaison Susan Klein-Rothschild answered questions related to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, as well as the vaccine recently approved by the FDA. The new case rate for Santa Barbara County is 24.4 cases per 100,000 population. The state’s guidance does not allow schools to reopen under a waiver when the case rate is above 14. The case positivity rate, which has not been an issue this fall, has now escalated into purpletier level with more than 6% of tests coming back positive. Ms. Klein-Rothschild offered to consult with SB Unified on its reopening plan now, so it will be ready to reopen when metrics allow. SB Unified has had a total of 25 cases among students and staff that have been on campus in the small cohort system. Over 2,500 students and 300 staff members have been on campus. Dr. Frann Wageneck, assistant superintendent, pointed out that 68% of the positive cases occurred after Thanksgiving. In a poll to high school principals, she learned that on-campus cohort participation has declined since Thanksgiving with families worried about the increase of COVID-19 in the community. On-campus transmission has not been detected, Dr. Wageneck said. Ms. Klein-Rothschild said she hasn’t seen evidence of schools creating much transmission of the virus, mentioning a recent study showing a small risk of transmission on campus. “We haven’t had those 25 individuals transmit the virus to any other individuals on campus or in our Please see sbusd on A8
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Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 1-13-24-26-39 Meganumber: 17
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 2-6-7-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 1-10-18-20-46 Meganumber: 15
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 4-6-12-17-21
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-01-11 Time: 1:49.30
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 17-54-56-63-69 Meganumber: 20
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 4-3-1 / Sunday’s Midday 7-8-4
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