Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) has elected its 2020 leadership and approved the Board of Directors regular meeting schedule through December 2020.
The Board of Directors selected Second District County Supervisor Gregg Hart as chair and Buellton Mayor Holly Sierra as vice-chair. The board also extended its appreciation to outgoing chair, Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino.
“As a former Santa Barbara County Association of Governments deputy director, I understand transportation and housing issues facing our region,” said Hart.
“I will work hard with my board colleagues, SBCAG staff and our partners to secure full funding to complete the 101 widening project, expand rail service, increase funding for transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements and create new opportunities for affordable housing,” he said.
In 2020, SBCAG, in partnership with Caltrans, will be focused on the Santa Barbara U.S. 101 Multimodal Corridor Project, which is the priority project of Measure A, the transportation measure passed by voters in 2008.
Measure A funding helped leverage $184 million in competitive Senate Bill 1 funding for the project from Carpinteria to Summerland with construction starting in 2020. SBCAG will seek to leverage additional Senate Bill 1 funding in 2020 to secure the remaining investment needed for the entirety of the project to Santa Barbara.
The funding also supports improving local connections for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit and rail users. To stay informed on the progress, community members can sign up to receive updates at www.sbroads.com.
SBCAG will also be engaged in Connected 2050, Santa Barbara County’s next Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP-SCS). The
RTP-SCS is the long-range plan that is updated every four years and helps guide future planning efforts and policy decisions that affect transportation, including its relationship with housing and land use. The current RTP-SCS, Fast Forward 2040, as its name suggests, plans out to the year 2040.
Connected 2050 will plan out to 2050. Connected 2050 will also align with the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process as directed by the state of California to support how Santa Barbara communities can adequately plan to meet the housing needs for our region.
Public participation will be vital to the development of Connected 2050 and SBCAG will conduct public meetings and surveys in advance of a draft release of Connected 2050 anticipated in June 2021.
Regular meetings of the SBCAG Board of Directors take place at 10 a.m. the third Thursday of each month.
Santa Barbara meetings are held in the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 East Anapamu St. (fourth floor). Santa Maria meetings are held in the Santa Maria Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy., Santa Maria.
Regular meeting dates and locations in 2020 are as follows:
Jan. 16, Santa Barbara
Feb. 20, Santa Maria
March 19, Santa Barbara
April 16, Santa Maria
May 21, Santa Barbara
June 18, Santa Maria
July 16, Santa Barbara
Aug. 20, Santa Maria
Sept. 17, Santa Barbara
Oct. 15, Santa Maria
Nov. 19, Santa Barbara
Dec. 17, Santa Maria
— Lauren Bianchi Klemann for Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.