Category Archives: News

Cottage pushes for chance to spring into action

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Pending environmental review, hospital renovation could start in a few months

Warning a project delay will ultimately cost the community more money and may threaten health-care services, Cottage Health System officials last week pushed the city Planning Commission to move quickly to approve a new, $407 million regional hospital.

The rebuilding program, due to begin in 2005 with completion by 2012, involves replacing the existing hospital, to meet new seismic standards. It also includes the construction of three nursing pavilions, a new entrance at Castillo and Pueblo streets, and a diagnostic and therapeutic wing on the Junipero Street side of the complex.

Cottage plans to use a combination of hospital reserves, a tax-exempt bond issue, foundation assets, and a major community fund-raising effort to pay for the project, but will not rely on tax dollars.

Construction could begin in the spring, but first it must get past an environmental review, the first phase of which was heard Dec. 2.

About 70 people attended the meeting but many left early as the discussion stretched to nearly five hours. It was clear there was strong support for the state-of-the-art hospital but also many concerns about the effects on the surrounding neighborhood. Speakers expressed concerns about construction, traffic and environmental impacts.

“Given that the purpose of the hospital is to improve our community’s health and given that Santa Barbara is often a front-runner in implementing proactive environmental practices that often exceed the requirements of law, the redesign of Cottage Hospital should be viewed as an opportunity to implement the best possible protections of health and environment,” said Kira Schmidt, executive director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.

Her sentiments were echoed by representatives from the Citizen’s Planning Association and Heal the Ocean, both of whom also suggested a closer look at the sewage system and possible development of a sewage treatment plant for the hospital.

This was the first public meeting in which the project’s draft environmental impact report was discussed. Public comment ends Dec. 15 and the matter must return to the commission for final approval early next year.

For a copy of the report visit www.santabarbaraca.gov/Resident/Community/Planning/cottage.htm. Comments may be sent to Irma Unzueta, the project planner for the city, via e-mail to iunzueta@SantaBarbaraCA.gov or P.O. Box 1990, Santa Barbara 93102.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on December 9, 2004.

Hope principals set goals high

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Students aren’t the only ones that have to make the grade to be successful. Last week principals from the three Hope District schools presented their goals and plans to the Board of Trustees.

One of the themes that resonated throughout all of the presentations was the desire, as Monte Vista principal Judy Stettler put it, “to better address the individual needs of each child by challenging all students while meeting the academic needs of the high, average and low achievers and also teaching and valuing the whole child through the cultural arts, technology and health and fitness.”

That includes addressing the special needs of English learners, students with disabilities, those who are economically challenged, as well as GATE (gifted and talented education) students.

“It’s really a mandate that comes out of our data. It has to do with making sure that we are able to fulfill the performance goals for our significant subgroups,” said Vieja Valley principal Barbara LaCorte, who is working with staff to create a new model for the school’s GATE program.

To develop and promote moral and character education is another priority for the schools. While both Vieja Valley and Monte Vista plan to address concerns about bullying on campus this year, Hope School principal Patrick Plamondon said, “I don’t feel we have a bullying problem. I attribute a lot of behavior on the playground to the Character Counts program.”

Plamondon also said Hope School has a school-wide commitment to “every child a reader,” a program he attributed in part to librarian Mary Jo Chrestenson. “We have more volumes at Hope Library than at La Colina Junior High School,” he said.

All three principals praised their teaching staffs and gave kudos to parents for being involved in the schools both in terms of working in the classrooms and helping to fund many of the enrichment programs.

These presentations are part of a comprehensive process to better inform the Trustees and the community about each school’s yearly progress and goals, said Board President Joseph Liebman. The next board meeting will be on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Hope District Board Room, 3970 La Colina Road.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on December 2, 2004.

Sansum gets $90,000 diabetes grant

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Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) received a $90,000 multi-year grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation to support the construction of a new Diabetes Research & Care Center, said Rochelle Rose, Director of Development.

The grant brings the total amount raised to date to $1.8 million toward the $2.7 million capital campaign goal.

Phase 1 of the renovation of the 5,000 square-foot patient care facility at 2219 Bath St. began in October and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2005. The state-of-the-art center will include a new community education center, metabolic training kitchen, medical procedure/surgical laboratory, and offices for a new diabetes educator, nutritionist, and pediatric endocrinologist.

Approximately 17,000 people in the Santa Barbara area have diabetes, Rose said.

One of the research projects in progress at SDRI involves identifying risk factors for Type 2 diabetes in local youth. With the increase in obesity and inactivity among teens, this type of diabetes (which involves resistance to the normal action of insulin by body tissues) is becoming more prevalent.

“We are seeing if we can develop a very simple test using a finger-stick blood sample …. to select out those high school students who look like they’re at particular risk of having the disease,” said Dr. David Pettitt, who heads up the project team.

Eating healthy food and living a healthy lifestyle are the best ways to prevent diabetes at any age. “Every invention of mankind is designed to let us do something with a lower energy expenditure. And it’s just getting to the point where we’re doing less and less,” said Pettitt.

“People can develop little tricks, like instead of driving all the way to work or all the way to school, they can park a mile away like I do and walk a mile twice a day,” he said.

SDRI offers free community education and diabetes prevention classes year-round. For more information on programs or to donate to the capital campaign call 682.7638 or visit www.sansum.org/research.htm.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on November 18, 2004.

Policies throw wrench into school programs

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The charms of a one-size-fits-all approach to high school education are obvious. Parents – especially middle-class parents – want to believe their children are destined for college and white-collar careers. But not everyone is suited for the academic world, and society and our economy depend on the skills of people who build things, make things and fix things.

The challenges of providing a comprehensive high school education that truly meets the needs of all students have become even greater with the passage of federal legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB. Local leaders in education and business recently gathered to discuss ways to strengthen technical education offerings while continuing to meet academic requirements.

“Comprehensive high school used to be, in some sense, a shopping mall high school, where students would go from class to class (with) not much connection in between … Teachers didn’t really even talk about what was being offered from department to department – that’s gone,” said Jan Zettel, assistant superintendent secondary education for the Santa Barbara School Districts.

“With the stringent accountability measures that we’re finding in NCLB … no longer can we have those individual teachers in the classrooms not talking, not sharing and not working together,” he continued.

Zettel recently attended the state’s first High School Summit in Sacramento and shared some of the highlights.

“Career technical skill attainment is an empty victory without the mastery of academic skills. So a student who is able to set up an excel spreadsheet but has never mastered percentages, has no idea how to write a formula to calculate a sale price when you have mark-up percentages, that doesn’t work,” Zettel said.

“Students who are in those academic classes master those skills at both the knowledge level and the comprehensive level that will get you a diploma but it won’t get you a job. Not in today’s market.

“… We need to continue to push for small learning communities … your academies, your magnet programs, working together with business partnerships, those are key,” said Zettel. “… Because if we don’t educate all kids to the highest level, college preparatory level, our economy is going to tank.”

A broad coalition of California business and education organizations – including the California Chamber of Commerce, California Building Industry Association, California Restaurant Association, and California Industrial & Technology Education Association, among others – recently banded together to relay to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger their concerns about career and technical education.

“The impacts of a weakened career and technical education system have been felt by both our students who are increasingly leaving our public schools without employable skills and employers who face significant challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled workers to meet the needs of the marketplace,” wrote the coalition.

Among the group’s recommended guidelines for education policy: Greater flexibility and choices for the student learning experience; a stronger emphasis on hands-on skills training and education; and attention to the relevancy of education to the economy.

Along those same lines is the TRADART Foundation, formed in Santa Barbara about four years ago to support the skilled trades and career technical education. The group advises the Dos Pueblos High Construction Academy, provides continuing education classes for employed construction workers and summer internships for high school students.

TRADART board member Frank Schipper summed it up: “Expecting all high school students to complete a college preparatory curriculum ignores the range of skills and education required by the labor market today. … High school programs need to engage all students, be relevant to their futures and be academically rigorous. … Career technical education can and must be an integral part of this effort.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on November 11, 2004.

Blum finds freedom with her openness

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Marty Blum

Marty Blum

Living your life under a microscope is just part of the job for most politicians, but having your breasts on display, so to speak, is another story. That’s basically what happened this summer, when Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum announced she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

“Everybody knows an awful lot about my body right now,” said Blum, who had a double mastectomy on July 28.

While some have criticized her for going back to work (part-time) only two days after her surgery, Blum said it made her feel better to keep going.

“I didn’t just feel like sitting still or lying down,” she said.

Part of her motivation for returning quickly was to let city employees know that she was going to be fine.

“Walking in here to me was a big statement, because of the fear that it would be a long haul,” Blum said from her City Hall office.

Luckily for Blum and for the city, she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation treatment. She still sees her surgeon to check her progress regularly and is taking a drug to block potential cancer cells; otherwise she hasn’t missed too many beats.

Blum still thinks about the cancer every morning when she gets dressed.

“I have these little prosthesis I have to put in my bra, so I think about it, but not in a negative way. It’s almost a positive experience for me,” she said.

“I know I’m changed but it’s OK.”

She was also surprised and gratified by the community support.

Now Blum is working with a coalition of health-care groups to bring a mobile mammogram machine to Santa Barbara, to help ensure all women can have the same early detection. She also wants to help bring the discussion of breast cancer prevention and treatment even more out into the open.

And the fact that so many in the community are also worried about her health makes her ever more diligent.

“Now that I’ve had this they feel closer to me in some ways,” said Blum, noting that people come up and tell her their cancer stories. “People have a lot on their minds, so it’s OK if they want to share it with me.”

After all, she shared her story with them, and feels happy about that decision.

“The negative of being out there in the world publicly and bearing all is outweighed by all the positives,” said Blum.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon

Schools share in afternoon recreation programs

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“I find myself in a position to share good news, good news, good news,” said Nancy Rapp, the acting Parks and Recreation Director, addressing a joint session of the Santa Barbara City Council and the Board of Education. “This is probably the strongest relationship that we have had in years.”

The Parks and Recreation Department shares facilities with the school districts and does the after-school scheduling for the fields. Among the projects Rapp said are planned: improved lighting at La Colina and Santa Barbara Junior High Schools, renovations at Ortega Park which will include easier pickup and drop off for Santa Barbara Junior High students, and the exploration of synthetic turf use at various facilities.

She also reviewed the status of 14 different joint-funded elementary school and junior high after school programs. The elementary programs include A-OK! Afterschool Opportunities for Kids, which costs parents $25 per month and targets underachieving students at Franklin, Harding, McKinley, Adams and Cleveland Schools; and the Recreation Afterschool Program (RAP), which is open to all students at Caesar Chavez, Open Alternative, Washington, Roosevelt and Monroe Schools, and costs $74 per month. While the A-OK! Program is only open to qualified students, the RAP program is open to all, and Rapp emphasized how inexpensive that program is compared to fees between $200 and $315 per month at the YMCA and other similar programs.

The city also administers junior high afterschool sports and arts programs at all four junior high schools, which cost participants $36 per semester.

All of the publicly funded programs at the elementary and junior high schools have scholarships available as well, said Rapp. For more information call 564-5495.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on October 14, 2004.

Ellwood teacher gets an A+ for Energy

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While most teachers were kicking up their heels with joy at the end of the last school year, Ellwood’s Deborah Gans was digging hers in … to submit a last minute grant application. The effort paid off: last week global energy provider BP awarded Gans $10,000 to help teach her sixth grade students about energy and how it affects their lives.

The end of the school year is crazy for teachers, especially those with graduating sixth graders. “It’s total chaos,” said Gans, who didn’t even think about the “A+ for Energy” application until about June 22. It was due the end of that month. Gans said she just started dreaming about what she would do with her class if she had that $10,000, an unheard of program budget in these tight economic times.

Among the wish list projects Gans and her class will now get to see happen: the creation of solar cars and a solar car raceway; field trips to oil rigs, a sanitation plant and a landfill; creation of an electronics circuitry lab; and water wheels and wind energy demonstrations.

The other Ellwood sixth graders will also benefit from Gans’ grant. Each class will get its own electronics lab, digital camera and other specialized equipment. Sixth grade students will also design an online scavenger hunt and a coloring book for the primary students, to help share what they’ve learned about energy use and conservation.

Gans also plans to get the other Goleta Schools in the act by challenging them to a competition to cut the most electrical and water usage and recycle the largest percentage of reusable material. “The winning school gets a prize … it’s going to be an ice cream feed,” she said.

BP’s A+ for Energy program awarded $2 million in cash grants to 1,075 California K-12 teachers who use innovative ideas to teach kids about energy and energy conservation. The winning teachers and their principals, including Gans and Ellwood School Principal JoAnne Meade Young, attended a celebratory awards event Oct. 5 at Universal Studios’ Globe Theatre.

“The party was really nice and they even paid for our substitutes,” said Gans, showing off fun pictures of herself and Young starring with Marilyn Monroe, the Nutty Professor and Doc Brown from Back to the Future. “My favorite picture is actually this one,” she said. “They had a red carpet for us.”

“The program is all about enhancing teachers’ efforts to create a spark in a child’s mind, encouraging them to reach further, be creative and excel,” said Irene A. Brown, BP’s Director, California Community Relations.

Gans was the only South Coast teacher selected from more than 5,000 applications from all over California. Each grant recipient will also get a scholarship to attend a five-day energy training conference hosted by the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project in Long Beach in the summer of 2005.

“BP (probably best known to Californians probably through ARCO, its West Coast gasoline brand) knows that teachers set the standard for excellence in education,” said Brown.

Sounds like an A+ to us.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on October 14, 2004.

What Do They Mean?

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Decoding the language of housing

Are you confused by the bureaucrat-speak often used to describe various housing elements and policies? We were, too, so we put together a glossary to help you understand the language.

Affordable Housing

In the city of Santa Barbara the term means households should not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their gross monthly income on rent and utilities, or 35 percent on house payments, homeowners’ association dues, insurance and property taxes, and that the unit should remain affordable to subsequent residents or owners throughout the term of the affordability controls. Specific affordability requirements vary depending upon whether the housing is for rental or sale.

Area Median Income (AMI)

The Housing and Urban Development Department determines the “Area Median Income” for areas throughout the nation, and updates the figure approximately yearly. Municipalities use this figure as a basis for calculating the maximum rents and maximum sale prices permitted under various affordable housing programs. The current annual AMI for a family of four in this area is $64,7000.

The city of Santa Barbara uses the following guidelines to define income:

Income Percentage of Category/Area Median Income

Very low Income 50% or below

Low Income +50% – 80%

Moderate Income +80% – 120%

Middle Income +120% – 160%

Upper-Middle Income +160% – 200%

Density Bonus

When a municipality allows development of a greater number of units than would normally be allowed under the existing zoning. In general, as a trade-off, some of the units on the site are then subject to rent restrictions or resale controls.

Inclusionary Housing Programs

Designed to increase the availability of housing opportunities for middle-income and upper-middle income households. Programs, which vary throughout the South Coast, include requirements for larger projects to provide a specified number of inclusionary units within the project or pay in-lieu fees to be used toward producing more housing at an alternate site.

Sweat Equity

A term used by Habitat for Humanity in which recipients of low-cost housing are required to put in a certain number of hours of labor to build the house.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on October 7, 2004.

St. Vincent’s project digs into future for housing

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170 affordable units will be ready in 2006

The largest affordable housing project in Santa Barbara’s history broke ground Wednesday. When completed in early 2006, the St. Vincent’s affordable housing project will provide 170 new low-cost rental units to the community, 95 of which will be reserved for low-income seniors, and 75 of which will be for low-income families.

The project, located at 4200 Calle Real near Highway 154, has taken more than seven years of planning, fund raising, negotiating and coordinating between St. Vincent’s Daughters of Charity, Mercy Housing, the city, the county, the Hope and Santa Barbara school districts, builders Melchiori Construction and Walton Construction, and various other government and nonprofit entities.

“Although they say it takes a village to raise a child, apparently it takes a universe to raise a house,” Sister Amy Bayley of Mercy Housing said as she thanked the many people who worked to bring the project to fruition.

The total combined cost of the housing development, improvements ments to existing administrative buildings, creation of an adult day health center, and establishment of an operating endowment is estimated at $57 million.

“Rejoice with us. The dream of providing a safe haven for families and seniors is finally becoming a reality. We are thrilled that we are able to respond to this need for the Santa Barbara community,” said Sister Alicia Martin of St. Vincent’s.

Part of the reason the project took so long to break ground was its 19-acre site, which has a creek running through it. The property also had to be annexed from into the city from the county in order to make it eligible for redevelopment agency funds, said city housing and redevelopment manager Dave Gustafson.

Mitigations to the school districts were another factor that had to be negotiated. Because the property feeds into the Hope Elementary School District and the Santa Barbara High School District, they will share the $400,000 development fee to help offset the cost of providing additional classrooms, teachers and other support for the students the project is expected to bring.

The Hope district only has three schools, so the impact of the estimated 60 additional students is much more significant than it will be on the high school district. In recognition of this, the St. Francis Hospital Foundation generously pledged an additional $150,000 to help the district, said school board member Michael Underwood

Even though St. Francis Medical Center closed before the St. Vincent’s project got off the ground, its owner, Catholic Healthcare West, still met the financial obligation to the schools, said Bayley.

The site is currently zoned as part of the Vieja Valley School District, although that might change.

“The board is always looking to make sure that the socioeconomic balance is spread as equally as possible within the district … so that will be something that we be re-evaluating … in addition to our enrollment that we have, and the availability at each of our three school sites,” Underwood said.

Mercy Housing will act as landlord for both the senior and the family units, and expects to begin taking applications late next year. Households with incomes at or below 60 percent of area median income ($38,820 for a family of four) will be eligible for the two-, three-, and four-bedroom family units. The one-bedroom senior apartments will be available to seniors with a head of household 62 years or older, with incomes at or below 50 percent of area median income ($22,650 for a one-person household or $25,900 per year for a two-person household).

Originally published in South Coast Beacon

New housing inches its way into town

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Housing projects from Habitat for Humanity, the Mental Health Association and Hillside House are all inching their way to reality. Here’s an update on these three projects:

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County cleared a final hurdle to start with plans to build three homes for low-income families last week when the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), backed by the Santa Barbara City Council, gave its final approval of a $240,000 loan to aid in the purchase of land on Via Lucero near upper State and Calle Real. It will be the first major building project for Habitat for Humanity here. Escrow was cleared last week.

Supported by local churches, corporations, foundation and individual donors, Habitat for Humanity has raised 70 percent of the nearly $800,000 needed to pay for materials, design and permit fees.

“I am looking forward to seeing many community volunteers out there swinging hammers,” said Mayor Marty Blum.

The organization will now recruit volunteers to help build the houses and determine who will live there. A requirement for homeowners is they must contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” for construction.

The Mental Health Association in Santa Barbara County’s “Building Hope” capital campaign to build up to 50 units of housing has raised 58 percent of its $4.1 million fundraising goal, organizers announced this week. Half of the homes will be reserved for MHA clients and half for affordable housing for downtown workers.

As I understand it, in the recipe of capital campaigns, reaching that 58 percent goal is really significant, said executive director Annemarie Cameron.

The total project cost is $17.3 million but with the City of Santa Barbara’s commitment of $4.6 million in Redevelopment Agency funds, bond financing and the donation of all development costs by Bermant Development Company, only $4.1 million will come from fundraising.

In addition to housing, the new facility at 617 Garden St. will also accommodate the MHA offices, a resource center for families and the Fellowship Club, where people with mental health disabilities can meet for social time and life skills learning.

Hillside House and partners Bermant Development Company and the County Housing Authority have been working closely with neighbors and the Planning Commission to develop a master plan for the site at 1235 Veronica Springs Road. The conceptual proposal for the 26.74 acre site, reviewed by the Planning Commission this week, included 38 residential buildings with up to 127 homes, public pedestrian, equestrian and bike trails and 17.74 acres of open space with 9 acres developed.

I think the neighbors are not as worried as before, said Kirsten Ayers, spokeswoman for the development group.

The project is planned in two phases to ensure that the 59 residents of Hillside House will be able to remain on the property continuously. Groundbreaking is not anticipated until early 2006.

This story contains additional reporting by Sally Cappon.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on September 23, 2004.