January Public Policy Committee Update

At last month’s Public Policy Committee meeting on January 26th, the committee welcomed guest speaker Garrett Wong with the County of Santa Barbara’s Once Climate Initiative. The committee has focused considerable effort on providing business feedback to the County’s 2030 Climate Action Plan. Feedback is currently being taken online through consider.it, a public engagement tool, open through February 15th. The Chamber is urging the county to prioritize feedback from subject matter experts and business owners. Discussion between Wong and the committee included the possible economic impacts of the Climate Action Plan.

The committee also welcomed Tom Evans of the Goleta Water District’s Board of Directors. The Goleta Water District is currently undergoing the process of transitioning from at-large elections to district elections and must choose a map that will determine the five new districts’ lines. Director Evans gave an overview of the Water District’s efforts in determining communities of interest to define district lines throughout this process, with the Board looking at demographics of Goleta’s different neighborhoods, as well as the differing water demands by region. Evans pointed out that the Board is encouraging local participation in the decision process. The final map is scheduled to be adopted at the Board’s March 8 meeting.