Tag archives: The Partnership for Resilient Communities
A succession of winter storms has dropped four to six inches of intense rainfall on Montecito, and so far, cleaned-out debris basins, combined with wider creek channels, have saved the day. Now is an ideal time to pause and reflect on how you as an individual can help to make the Montecito community a safer […]
Last Friday, February 1, nearly 1,500 residents were evacuated in anticipation of a predicted storm that was forecasted to exceed debris flow rain threshold rates in the foothills above Montecito. The storm, which produced the most rain in the early morning hours of Saturday, did indeed hit threshold levels estimated at 1 inch per hour, […]
On Tuesday, January 22, over 100 Montecito residents gathered at Montecito Union School to hear from the Partnership for Resilient Communities, the group of private citizens who have set out to move forward with installing environmentally-friendly Swiss-made steel nets, which catch debris as it comes down the hillsides. “When the events of last year happened, […]
If you do nothing else this week, pull out your pen and write a check to the Partnership for Resilient Communities, or go to the website (partnershipsb.org) to make a tax-deductible donation through the Santa Barbara Foundation. Contributions can be as low as $10 or as high as $250,000. The future of Montecito may depend […]
Screenwriter/Builder/Designer Les Firestein and former city fire chief Pat McElroy, founders of Partnership for Resilient Communities in Santa Barbara County, established after the Thomas Fire and the catastrophic mudslides a year ago, got priceless publicity, not to mention a $20,000 check, when they appeared on Montecito TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres‘s eponymous Los Angeles […]
This is being written as much of Montecito is under a Mandatory Evacuation Notice. Tuesday, January 15, at 10 am sharp, Montecito Inn hotel guests were required to check out, as were Four Seasons Biltmore guests. Traffic continued to move along critical roadways for a while, but many of those roads began to be closed […]
Next Wednesday, January 16, the Partnership for Resilient Communities and Montecito Union School’s superintendent Anthony Ranii will host an informational community meeting to discuss realistic opportunities to mitigate future debris flows. In late December, the Partnership received emergency permits to proceed with the installation of 11 debris flow control nets in San Ysidro, Buena Vista, […]
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 was the 71st annual Montecito Association meeting, marking the retirement of directors Frank Abatemarco, Frank Blue, Barbara Matthews, and Michelle Saltoun. Outgoing president Charlene Nagel thanked the board for their service during her two-year tenure as president, noting the achievements of the Association in the last year, including several successful events, […]
While most of us in Montecito were making merry over the holiday season, former City of Santa Barbara Fire Chief, Pat McElroy, who is now Executive Director of the Partnership (Partnership for Resilient Communities), was pounding the halls of government, along with Montecito land use attorney Joe Cole, permitting guru Suzanne Elledge, and local government […]
It is more than obvious that 2018 was a pivotal year for Montecito and its residents. The first week of the year, we were recovering from the Thomas Fire, which weeks earlier had suffocated Montecito and Santa Barbara in smoke and ash while scorching nearly 282,000 acres from Ventura to Santa Barbara, including ten structures […]
While keeping a wary eye on the weather this winter, residents of Montecito are watching their rainfall charts, fearful of a repeat of heavy storms and mandatory evacuation notices. Seared in our minds are personal memories of the 1/9 disaster when a massive debris flow destroyed or damaged 470 homes in Montecito, and brutally took […]
At last week’s Montecito Association (MA) board meeting, Brett Matthews with the Partnership for Resilient Communities reported that his group has filed an emergency permit to install 15 temporary steel nets for five canyons in Montecito; the MA board voted unanimously to support the group’s permit application, agreeing to send a letter to the director […]
At this month’s Montecito Association Board of Directors meeting, Pat McElroy from the Partnership for Resilient Communities reported that his group funded another lidar radar flight over Montecito, which showed 71 sites in the foothills that would be appropriate for steel-wire ring nets to slow down or stop debris from falling. McElroy said they are […]
The Montecito community faces a difficult 2018-2019 winter season. If we get too little rain, we will return to drought worries; too much rain and Montecito residents face evacuation and the possibility of additional mud and rock flows. Of the two perils – severe drought versus debris flow – the more pressing danger is the […]
At this month’s Montecito Association (MA) Board meeting, board members thanked the co-chairs of the Village Fourth festivities for one of the best turnouts in event history. “Every year I say, ‘This is the best year yet,’ but this time I really mean it,” said board president Charlene Nagel. Mindy Denson, Trish Davis, and Kathi […]
At this month’s Montecito Association (MA) Board meeting, Coast Village Association president Bob Ludwick addressed board members to give an update on the CVA’s initiatives and mission. Representing about 125 businesses, 85 of which are retail or restaurants, as well as nearby residents, the CVA has three active committees, including Beautification, Events & Promotion, and […]
Without a mayor and a town council that have both authority to set priorities and resources to fund selected programs, disaster recovery options are limited. Local efforts are confined to supporting the county government team and offering a host of volunteer services. The historic role, for example, of the Montecito Association (MA) has been “the […]
At this month’s Montecito Association (MA) Board of Directors meeting, MUS Board chair Gwyn Lurie and former Santa Barbara Fire chief Pat McElroy reported on the work they are doing as part of the Partnership for Resilient Communities. The group of private citizens, which includes Lurie, McElroy, Brett Mathews, and Joe Cole, have formed a […]
The Thomas Wildfire and the January 9 debris flow have presented the county with the most complex disaster recovery and preparedness scenarios in California history. The confluence of events leading to the twin disasters was unprecedented, the threat of a repeat disaster is still imminent, acceptable mitigation solutions are still amorphous, and their costs uncertain. […]
Last week, an overflow crowd turned out at the Granada Theatre for a community conversation titled “Drought, Fire and Flood: The New Normal” sponsored by the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, the Santa Barbara Museum of National History, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Community Environmental Council. Moderating this Town Hall event […]
