PUBLIC SAFETY & EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Monday, September 9, 2024
1:00 – 2:30 P.M.
City Hall – Conference Room 1
130 Cremona Drive, Suite B
Goleta, California
Mayor Paula Perotte
Mayor Pro Tempore Luz Reyes-Martín
Robert Nisbet, City Manager
Jaime Valdez, Assistant City Manager
Undersheriff Craig Bonner
Lieutenant Frank Vasquez
Sergeant Noel Rivas
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AGENDA
I. Public Comment
II. Receive an update from Community Resource Deputy Worden on activities and Citizen Academy
III. Receive an update on City-led effort to lower speed limits throughout the City and Motor Traffic Unit on education and enforcement
IV. Discuss potential protocols on information sharing including suspicious behavior (noncrimes) V. Receive an update on the FY 2023/2024 – FY 2026/2027 Law Enforcement Contract and on securing a fourth motor officer for the Traffic Motor Unit VI. Schedule next Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Standing Committee meeting Americans with Disabilities Act: In compliance with the ADA, if assistance is needed to participate in a City Council meeting (including assisted listening devices), please contact the City Clerk's office at (805) 961-7505. Notification 48 hours prior helps to ensure that reasonable arrangements can be made to provide accessibility to the meeting.
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: September 9, 2024
TO: Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Standing Committee FROM: Robert Nisbet, Assistant City Manager
Jaime A. Valdez, Assistant City Manager
Shannon Kirn, Assistant to the City Manager
SUBJECT: September 9, 2024, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Standing Committee Meeting
Item I. Public Comment
Receive public comment.
Item II. Receive an update from Community Resource Deputy Worden on activities and Citizen Academy
Item III. Receive an update on City-led effort to lower speed limits throughout the City and Motor Traffic Unit on education and enforcement
BACKGROUND:
On August 20, 2024, the City Council introduced an ordinance to lower speed limits on roadways in Goleta based on new State law. Assembly Bill (AB) 43 – Traffic Safety. AB 43, passed by the legislature in 2021 and effective as of June 30, 2024, which gives local governments new authority to reduce speed limits on “safety corridors”, (streets with the highest number of serious injury and fatal collisions) and streets where conditions support high concentrations of bikes and pedestrians.
The new lower speed limits ordinance, which was adopted at the City Council meeting of September 3rd, 2024:
• Lowers enforceable speed limits on nearly all major roadways by five (5) to 10 miles per hour
• Reduces the risk of traffic-related injuries and deaths • Improves comfort and safety for bikes and pedestrians, particularly children, seniors and the disabled
Enforcement of these new speed limits will not begin until appropriate signs have been installed, likely toward the end of this year.
Item IV. Discuss potential protocols on information sharing including suspicious behavior (non-crimes)
BACKGROUND:
On occasion, community members have informed City staff about warnings put out by local schools of suspicious behavior that did not result in an actual crime. An example would be an adult in a van following a child or children walking or biking to school for blocks, potentially making verbal contact with the child or children, but ultimately continuing on without incident.
Item V. Receive an update on the FY 2023/2024 – FY 2026/2027 Law Enforcement Contract and on securing a fourth motor officer for the Traffic Motor Unit BACKGROUND:
On September 19, 2023, the City Council approved the new Law Enforcement Services Agreement (New Agreement) with the County of Santa Barbara (County) with a term from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2027.
As part of the previous Law Enforcement Services Agreements and since FY 2011-12, the City’s Motor Traffic Unit (“Motor Unit”) has been composed of four individuals: one (1.0) Sheriff’s Sergeant, one (1.0) Sheriff’s Deputy II (also known as “Senior Deputy”), and two (2.0) Deputy positions. However, one of the two Sheriff’s Deputy positions of the four-person Traffic Motor Unit (“Motor Unit”) has been vacant since October 2022. At that time the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office (SBSO) notified staff that this position could not be filled due to challenges with recruitment and notified City staff that when they were able to fill the position, they would assign it to the fourth City of Goleta Motor Unit.
When the County calculated the base year contract amount for FY 2023-24 for the New Agreement, it included only the existing filled positions for general law enforcement services and Menu Items at the time of negotiations. The Menu Items shown in Table 1 below, sourced from Exhibit E of the New Agreement, total seven (7.0) FTEs. This removed the City’s historic fourth Motor Unit position from the Menu Items; had it been reflected in Exhibit E, the “Sheriff’s Deputy” FTE Count would have been two (2.0) and the Total Menu Item FTE Count would have been eight (8.0).
Table 1: Motor Unit FTEs from Exhibit E of the New Agreement Position Title FTE Count Assignment
Parking Enforcement
Officer
1.0 Parking Enforcement
Sheriff’s Deputy 1.0 Motor Unit
Sheriff’s Deputy II – Spcl 1.0 Motor Unit
1.0 Community Resource Deputy
1.0 Community Resource Deputy, formerly
School Resource Deputy
1.0 Narcotics Detective
Sheriff’s Sergeant 1.0 Motor Unit
Total 7.0
At the March 11, 2024, Committee meeting, staff provided, and the Committee considered:
• Information regarding the reduction in traffic and school enforcement due to the loss of the fourth Motor Unit.
• The estimated cost of adding the fourth Motor Unit for FY 2025 (if the option is made available by the SBSO) at about $235,200.
• The option of adding a fourth Motor Unit for FY25 and subsequent years or keep this service level at three Motor Units.
Item VI. Schedule next Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Standing Committee meeting
Staff recommends setting the date of the next Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Standing Committee meeting for Monday, March 10, 2025.