Representatives of local businesses and organizations as well as elected officials gathered Friday at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara to discuss housing, the economy, employment and more issues that have an effect in Santa Barbara County. 

The third annual State of the County event was presented by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce. Speakers included Santa Barbara County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato, UCSB Economic Forecast Project Director Peter Rupert, county Board of Supervisors chairman Das Williams and Second District Supervisor Laura Capps. 

“The chamber represents business, and it’s very important that business connects to government in so many ways,” Kristen Miller, president and CEO of the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce, told Noozhawk.

Housing for Santa Barbara County’s workforce was the big talk of the night. Capps addressed how much of Santa Barbara’s workforce is unable to reside in the areas they work. 

She noted that a third of County of Santa Barbara employees live outside the county, half of City of Santa Barbara employees live outside of the city and 19% of City of Goleta employees do not live on the South Coast.

“It’s my belief that our community will be stronger if they work where they live,” Capps said on Friday. “Your employees are more productive and happier if they’re not stuck on the 101.”

Capps also addressed the county’s child care crisis. She said there’s not enough space for the families who need child care and that 37% of a family’s income goes to child care.

One solution Capps mentioned on Friday is the earned income tax credit, which is an unclaimed tax credit for families so that they can put money back in the hands of families so that they can afford child care. 

About $15 million already has been claimed by Santa Barbara residents just this year to help with the costs of housing and child care.

“There are some solutions, but it takes everyone coming to the table with creative ideas and a willingness to roll up our sleeves on behalf of families,” Capps told Noozhawk. “The fiscal health of our county is 100% dependent on the fiscal health of families, and right now they’re having a hard time.”

Williams spoke about how the number of people commuting into Santa Barbara County affects the county’s climate and carbon emissions. 

“Instead of saving the environment, we’re actually destroying it,” Williams said on Friday. “Forty-nine percent of our emissions come from vehicle traffic, and it is going up.”

He pointed out how issues such as the climate, diversity, economic development all lead back to the issue of housing. He stated that he hoped the county would have the political courage to address the housing crisis head-on.

He said that while the county has the goal to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, it is not on track to meet that goal mainly because of the housing crisis and the number of people commuting. 

“For us to meet our goals, we would have to have 108,000 electric cars by 2030,” Williams said, “or some of those could be subsidized by housing units closer to jobs.”