CLUE Santa Barbara

Category: Action Alerts

  • Final Reminder: Mark your Calendar!  

    CITY & FAITH COMMUNITY SUMMIT TO 
    ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS – View the Summit Program Below

    Dear friends, 

    Please join Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-SB) for a conversation on how faith communities and city government can work together more effectively to address homelessness. The summit will be held Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:00pm–8:00pm. 

    Location: City of Santa Barbara Community Development Building
    630 Garden Street, David Gebhard Room 
    Santa Barbara, CA 93101  

    Clergy, lay leaders, congregation members, volunteers, and people with lived experience of homelessness are welcome. Together with local government, nonprofit organizations, and faith communities, we will learn about current efforts, identify gaps, and explore practical partnerships—including what faith communities need from the City to strengthen their work. 

    Santa Barbara’s faith communities have a long-standing tradition of serving neighbors experiencing hardship. Let’s build on that commitment to identify next steps toward housing, stability, and well-being for our unhoused neighbors. 

    Please let us know if you plan to attend by clicking here. 

    Hoping to see you there!

    View Program

  • Faith Communities & City Government: Addressing Homelessness Together

    Dear friends, 

    Please join Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-SB) for a conversation on how faith communities and city government can work together more effectively to address homelessness. The summit will be held Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:00pm–8:00pm. 

    Location: City of Santa Barbara Community Development Bldg.
    630 Garden Street, David Gebhard Room 
    Santa Barbara, CA 93101  

    Clergy, lay leaders, congregation members, volunteers, and people with lived experience of homelessness are welcome. Together with local government, nonprofit organizations, and faith communities, we will learn about current efforts, identify gaps, and explore practical partnerships—including what faith communities need from the City to strengthen their work. 

    Santa Barbara’s faith communities have a long-standing tradition of serving neighbors experiencing hardship. Let’s build on that commitment to identify next steps toward housing, stability, and well-being for our unhoused neighbors. 

    Please let us know if you plan to attend by clicking here. 

    Hoping to see you there!

  • Join Us October 25! RSVP for the CLUE-SB Workshop

    Dear CLUE-SB Community,

    We hope you’ll join us for our upcoming free workshop!

    Spiritually-Based Justice in Uncertain Times: Environmental, Housing, and Criminal Justice

    Sunday, October 25, 2026 | 2:00–4:00 PM
    Trinity Episcopal Church
    1500 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

    To help us plan for the event, please let us know if you’ll be attending by completing our RSVP form below.

    RSVP

  • Criminal Justice Action Alert

    Dear CLUE Members,

    On October 20, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will consider the proposed $167 million jail design, a decision that will affect our county for years to come.

    What is proposed?

    • 880 beds in the total county jail system.
    • Six new 64-bed housing units (384 beds) at the North Branch Jail to reach that total.
    •  All six units built to hardened high-security standards, regardless of whether residents are classified as high, medium, or low security. Limited adjustments made within a high security building.

    Our CLUE/LWV Criminal Justice Workgroup recommendation:
    Vote to move forward with four 64-bed housing units, but PAUSE approval of the other two until updated data justifies the need.

    What data is needed before approving the other two housing units?

    1. Updated jail population projections: The average daily jail population (ADP) has declined by 141 people—from 790 in July 2025 to 649 in September 2026. How many new housing units are actually needed?  Updated jail population projection form County expert Mike Wilson needed.     
    2. Current security-level counts: How many people currently in jail are classified as needing high-, medium-, or low-security housing?  September average count per level needed. 
    3. Comparison of housing designs: What are the construction costs, staffing needs, program access, reentry benefits, and future flexibility of a medium/low-security housing unit compared with a hardened high-security unit as currently proposed?

    PLEASE ACT BEFORE OCTOBER 20!
    Take five minutes to read the attached flyer and one-page background summary, then email the Board of Supervisors.
    One email to the Clerk of the Board reaches all five supervisors. The flyer includes a short suggested message you can send.

    Thank you for helping CLUE advocate for responsible use of public funds and a more effective, humane criminal justice system

  • Environmental Justice Action Alert

    PLEASE DO THIS IMPORTANT ACTION – TAKES ONLY TWO MINUTES!
    Tell Governor Newsom to Sign AB 1448

    TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR EMAIL TO Gov. Newsom

    • AB 1448 will close the loophole that allows the federal government to reopen offshore drilling and route the oil through California’s aging pipeline and platforms – the same infrastructure that has already burst and flooded our coastline and local waters with oil.
    • We have seen how disastrous oil spills affect our environment, our fisheries, and our tourism. We cannot let this happen again.
    • (Add a personal note, e.g. if you or your grandchildren particularly love surfing, or if you have a personal stake in the fishing industry, if you witnessed the results of the oil spill in Gaviota in 2015, etc…)
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  • Criminal Justice Action Alert

    Please see the attached announcement regarding upcoming community engagement opportunities focused on the Northern Branch Jail project.

    From the County of Santa Barbara:

    We are now under contract with a design‑build firm, and their team will be present to hear directly from community members. You may attend in person on either August 19 or 20 at 5 p.m. or participate virtually via Zoom on August 20.

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  • Environmental Justice Action Alert

    JOIN STATEWIDE EFFORTS TO PROTECT OUR OCEAN AND PUBLIC LANDS

    There are many actions we can take to help protect California’s environment:

    • The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving to auction nearly 36,000 acres of federal public land and mineral rights to industrial oil development in the Carrizo Plain, one of the last undeveloped remnants of the southern San Joaquin Valley ecosystem. Its sweeping grasslands and rugged ridges support one of California’s greatest concentrations of rare and endangered plants and animals.

    The BLM is accepting public comments through August 1 before completing its environmental review. 
    Take action: https://forestwatch.org/campaign/stop-new-oil-drilling-next-to-the-carrizo-plain/

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  • Housing Justice Action Alert

    Dear supporters of housing justice,
     
    On Tuesday, July 28, the Santa Barbara City Council will meet at 5:00pm to consider proposed amendments to the rent stabilization ordinance, based on extensive public input. This is a crucial meeting, which will decide whether or not Santa Barbara adopts a strong ordinance to protect tenants from escalating rents.

    • The City webpage, with relevant information (including may documents) can be accessed here.  
    • Please come to City Hall, 735 Anacapa, at 5:00 to offer your support (and hopefully testify!).
    • You can also watch and testify by Zoom at https://santabarbaraca-gov.zoom.us/j/89359334270.

  • Housing Justice Action Alert

    Dear supporters of Housing Justice:

    The next 9 days could shape the future of tenant protections in Santa Barbara.

    After years of organizing, testimony, and community pressure, we’re closer than ever to winning meaningful tenant protections in Santa Barbara. But we’re not across the finish line yet. 

    The public comment period for Santa Barbara’s proposed Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), along with Just Cause and Ellis Act amendments, is now open through July 10, 2026. This is our chance to make sure City leaders hear directly from the people who will be impacted most: renters, working families, seniors, students, and community members fighting to stay in Santa Barbara.

    We community members make our voices heard. This is a moment when public participation can make a real difference!

    Please take action today. Email your public comment to: RSO@santabarbaraca.gov and CC to ana@causenow.org, sbtenantsunion@gmail.com, and rich@global.ucsb.edu.  

    Rich Appelbaum, Ana Arce, Larry Severance, Wayne Mellinger
    CLUE Housing Justice Workgroup

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  • Housing Justice Action Alert

    As the attached letter to the Mayor and City Council indicates, at tomorrow’s City Council meeting they will be deciding whether or not to reopen State Street to vehicular traffic, even though the long-awaited State Street Master Plan will not be finalized – based on public input – until later this summer.

    Please let the City know your thoughts in this (we think State Street should remain closed until the Master Plan is finalized).

    • You can do so on the City’s website for this purpose, although that is for long-term input and unlikely to influence the City Council meeting tomorrow.
    • You can also email the City Clerk (Clerk@santabarbaraca.gov) and ask that your thoughts be shared with the Mayor and Council.
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