Sheriff Satellite Office and the Houseless
The Montecito Association May 2025 meeting was held on Tuesday, May 13.
Present were MA President Doug Black; 1st VP Leslie Lundgren; Executive Director Houghton Hyatt; MA board members; George Isaac, Finance Committee, Board of Trustees Montecito Community Foundation; invited speakers and residents.
Jillian Wittman of the MA Safety Subcommittee reported on the Sheriff’s Department Montecito satellite office on San Ysidro Road and thanked the Montecito Community Foundation for their $30,000 grant. At this time, a letter of intent to lease is signed. Once funding is realized at $75,000 the lease will take effect. Wittman estimated a two-year budget at $130,000 for the lease and IT needs. To date, they have received $40K pledged and $30K for a total of $70,000. The MCF has a donate button on their website. The team is reaching out to families of the MUS and CSS students. The Rosewood Miramar Beach is working on a satellite sheriff’s office, and that may be a location to which the station may relocate in the future.
Lt. Rich Brittingham’s crime report showed that the South American Theft Group made two different attempts at burglary that failed, deputies patrolling Channel Drive continues, and he reviewed crimes that have occured (also reported weekly in the Montecito Journal).
Hyatt’s report recapped the MA April 22 Town Hall meeting, and based on response, the MA will do another Town Hall later in the year. The next Hands Across Montecito Outreach walk is May 21, starting at the Chevron Station.
Aida Thau, deputy chief for SBC 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee’s office, reported on their office’s collaboration with the Depts of Public Works, Parks, Sheriff’s Office, Montecito Fire and the U.S. Forest Service regarding the Hot Springs Trail and parking area to mitigate and implement solutions. Over Memorial Day weekend, work will be done to change the fencing to be higher and more difficult to scale.
John Weigold, general manager of Montecito Sanitation District, reported they are handling 7,000 gallons of sewage a day in Montecito without issues; the manhole and pipeline relining project is 15% complete and they are now going to the next process to secure the balance of funding for the project; and the wastewater treatment plant will be rebuilt due to aging parts that are no longer replaceable, with estimated costs in the millions. They are talking with contractors on what can be saved. He encouraged residents to come to the sanitation dept. for a tour, and to possibly retrieve lost items, like cell phones.
The Hands Across Montecito MA committee invited Al Ortiz, Regional Program Supervisor of City Net, to present on what City Net does and how they work with Hands Across Montecito. Once homeless himself, Ortiz outlined:
– City Net’s mission is to house the homeless and reduce it to functional zero.
– Services include street outreach and engagement, shelter entries, integrated services to provide stabilization for the homeless person, census and police diversion response teams.
– Some people just want to remain homeless.
– As of March 2025, the funding available from the MA is $41,298 that can cover one homeless person’s motel/shelter stay for nine months; they did 120 outreach contacts, 63 service requests, 31 client engagements, three shelter placements and one housing placement.
– Once a homeless person is in a shelter, they need to have primary medical doctor, mental health services, and get employment/income opportunities.
– Housing is now limited as there are no vouchers available, cost of living and fixed income.
– Goal to operate is $211,000 for shelter for one year and $10,000 for Admin/Supervisors.
– Rescue Mission and PATH have no available beds.
– City Net Regional Program Supervisor Al Ortiz suggested they needed funding via charity galas, business sponsorships, and similar fundraising vehicles.
Hands Across Montecito also invited Andrew Velikanje, founder Earthcomb, who is a licensed Peer Advocate. Velikanje said his company works with the Sheriff’s Dept, the Summerland Citizens Association, is on retainer with the Montecito Association, has a partnership with Heal the Ocean, and does cleanups in Carpinteria and wherever is needed. He talked about his experience of being homeless and writing his phone number on the tent he set up at the cemetery. He got a call from Sharon Byrne, then executive director of the Montecito Association, who played a key role in his recovery. He gave up alcohol and cigarettes, lost weight, got housed within three weeks, and launched his trash clean-up company based on his experience living in a homeless camp. Dubbed the “litter bandit” for cleaning up trash on the 154 for free, he got a call from Hilary Hauser of Heal the Ocean, who offered him work. His company helped 24 people with employment who were homeless, and picked up over 238,550 pounds of trash in Santa Barbara County. Earthcomb does litter removal, homeless outreach, and helps wildlife. He then showed video clips from all over SB County of Earthcomb removing the litter – parts of Channel Drive full of sewage, a trail in Lompoc, and the removal of shopping carts, bikes, and mattresses from riverbeds and hillsides.
Cold Spring School Superintendent/Principal Amy Alzina, and Montecito Union School Superintendent Anthony Ranii briefly reported on their schools. The search for four teachers at MUS is in process. Ranii mentioned that both schools require funding for art and music, and that MUS’s assessment of AI shows that, “students today are different, there is a neurodiversity in students whereby they require intervention for socio skills, either because they excel in school or need help to process the anxiety or loss of focus.”
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