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Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams — New EV Fast Charger Opens in Carpinteria

by Community Contributor • April 20, 2023 • Comments Off

EV Fast Charger opens in Carpinteria

Congratulations to The Towbes Group and Shepard Place Shops for installing Carpinteria’s first EV Fast Charger! As a Board member of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, we are supporting projects just like this across the County. This one received $100,000 as part of our regional strategy to promote zero-emission vehicles. Beginning today, you can view the draft report Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy report, and on April 20, attend a virtual public workshop to provide feedback on potential charging station locations: www.centralcoastzevstrategy.com

Animals Need Your Help

Since January of this year, Santa Barbara County Animal Services experienced a 58% increase in animals. These numbers are unprecedented, and they have reached a crisis level. Today, April 18, they have 165 animals in their care, and over 120 are dogs.

You can help by fostering a pet in your home or coming in to adopt.Animal Services works hard to make fostering easy providing you with resources while the pet is in your care. Additionally, they need volunteers to help out at the shelter. You can learn more about volunteering here. You can learn more about fostering here.

New Tenant Protection

On April 6, Supervisor Laura Capps and I brought forward an Urgency Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors to adopt “just-cause” eviction protections for tenants in the unincorporated areas of the County. This action is in response to what is quite possibly the largest mass eviction in all of California. But research shows that “renovictions” – which threaten to eliminate the few naturally occurring affordable housing units that we have left – are becoming more common across the County. The ordinance requires that landlords act in good faith by providing advanced notice and obtaining all necessary permits before beginning the eviction process. You can learn more about the urgency ordinance here.

Highway 101 Construction Update

This week, through April 29, crews will plant vegetation in the Highway 101 median in Carpinteria between Linden and Bailard Aveneus. Please expect daytime lane closures of the carpool lanes.

Additionally, a variety of on/off ramps will be closed in between Carpinteria Ave and Olive Mill Rd. Please note: consecutive ramps in the same direction will not be closed at the same time (unless where noted) to allow drivers to use a ramp before or after a closure. To view timelines, detours, and maps, please visit www.SBROADS.com and select the project segment.

Learn More

End Gun Violence

I am proud of the dozens of elementary school students in Carpinteria who participated in a school walkout last week to end gun violence. Across our nation, we continue to see a frightening trend of violence committed with guns. It pains me to have to talk with my daughters about what to do if someone were to enter their school with a gun. There are common-sense gun safety measures that research has proven to prevent gun violence, like the red flag law I authored as our State Assemblymember. We need to continue speaking up and encouraging action. Thank you to Moms Demand Action for organizing this action, and helping our kids speak out.

Don’t Lose MediCal Coverage

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medi-Cal continued coverage without requiring annual renewal. But starting this month, Medi-Cal once again requires us to determine eligibility each year.

Don’t lose coverage – make sure to update your contact information so MediCal can reach you.

Learn More