Few, if any, people left the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors June budget hearings with smiles on their faces. While the supervisors did scrape together about $5 million to pad the county’s strategic reserve, they still had to make more than $15 million in cuts to balance the 2010-11 budget.
Since then, confusion over the decision-making process has kicked up a cloud of worry over the status of some county services, particularly the 4-H program.
“They’re cutting 4-H,” one concerned citizen told the Sun. “Why would they ever do that? This county is founded on agriculture.”
Completely eliminating a much-loved children’s program seemed like a pretty drastic move, even during a time of economic duress. So the Sun called up the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office to investigate.
“A lot of people are thinking that we’re cutting the program, and that’s simply not true,” said department assistant director Elena Morelos.
The board voted to approve funding for 4-H and other services provided by the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) program, Morelos explained, but not the amount program directors were hoping for.
UCCE was allotted approximately $111,700 for staffing and services, which include 4-H and numerous other research- and education-based services.
But that sum won’t keep the program going in Santa Barbra County, according to UCCE program directors.
“We proposed an operational budget of $180,000,” UCCE spokesman Don Klingborg said. “That was as low as we could possibly go and still provide services.”
Funding for UCCE comes from several sources: the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state, the University of California, and the counties that choose to make use of the program’s services. In return for funding, the counties receive support from University of California advisors in subjects such as specialty crops, marketing, marine research, gardening, and animal husbandry.
“We’re like the 11th campus of the UC system,” Klingborg explained, “but instead of working with students who pay tuition, we’re working with the public, policymakers, and local industry. … We focus on locally relevant crops and issues.”
Traditionally, Santa Barbara County has allocated UCCE about $200,000 to $240,000 each year. Recognizing the fiscal challenges facing the county (and the rest of the state), Klingborg said, program staffers proposed restructuring its services.
“[The UC system is] as broke as the counties are, and has been for a few years more,” he said. “We’re hoping that we’ll have a new system in place by next year that will work for everyone.”
Under the new plan, the Santa Barbara County advisors would be working out of offices in Ventura and San Luis Obispo. From UCCE’s perspective, the move would give advisors more clerical support and ultimately save the county money.
“We’re asking for enough one-time money to get [the facilities] and vehicles necessary to operate,” Klingborg said, adding that facilities, vehicles, and clerical support are all things the county agreed to provide when signing on with UCCE.
Additionally, about $45,000 of the approximately $68,000 requested is already in the county’s budget, Klingborg said, because the county “adjusted its budget downward every time they decided not to fill a [vacant] clerical position.”
Some of the supervisors and county staffers, however, remain unconvinced that such changes are necessary—or even possible.
In June, UCCE failed to garner the four-fifths vote necessary to acquire additional funding. Fourth District Supervisor Joni Gray and 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf voted against the proposal.
“I didn’t feel we were getting an understandable story of what was occurring from the people [making the presentation],” Gray said. “It seemed like they were asking to increase program funding and coming in with new programs.”
Wolf agreed: “They didn’t make the case that if the program didn’t get the additional $68,000, it would be eliminated,” she said. “Absolutely my vote had nothing to do
with the value of the program. I believe very much in the value of 4-H and agricultural programs.”
The reality is that all county programs have had to face funding cuts, Wolf explained.
“I wouldn’t want to cut it,” she said. “If someone can make a good case and the revenue is there, I’d [support the proposal].”
UCCE directors, including Klingborg, will get a second chance to convince the supervisors at another hearing scheduled tentatively for July 27.
“I’m optimistic, having talked to supervisors Wolf and Gray and CEO [Michael] Brown, that we’ll be able to come to an agreement,” Klingborg said.
Until then, he said, UCCE employees will do their best to carry on as usual.
“You guys will be having your fair this month, and we want the kids to be able to show their animals just like any other year,” he said.
Contact News Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com
This article appears in Jul 15-22, 2010.