• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s (D-Santa Barbara) Senate Bill 160, her office announced on Oct. 2. The bill aims to combat the threat of wildfires by integrating “the diverse cultural, linguistic, and other differences of residents in their emergency preparations,” according to a press release from Jackson’s office. SB 160 requires that counties include translators in emergency communications and use culturally appropriate resources to help prepare community members for disasters. “I am very pleased that the governor of our very diverse state recognizes that emergency planning cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” Jackson said in the release. “To effectively plan and communicate during a disaster, communities must have a very thorough understanding of their residents, partner with them, and take into account linguistic, cultural, socio-economic, and other relevant differences so we can ensure the best communication and the safety of all Californians.” Panelists of a Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management raised the issue of inadequate emergency alert translations last year. “During the 2017 Thomas Fire, the reliance upon Google translate instead of knowledgeable translators led to the fire being translated as a ‘hairbrush fire’ in Spanish in county emergency alerts. In the fires in Mendocino county, members of the LGBTQ-plus community sometimes did not feel welcome in shelters for evacuees held in churches. These are examples of how California communities did not do the best job they could do reaching and communicating with diverse populations during an emergency, and this bill provides a more effective path forward,” Jackson said in the statement. The state senator has other emergency safety and planning legislation moving through the pipeline, including SB 182, which would establish standards and guidelines for buildings close to areas with high fire risk.
• Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) is hosting a data privacy and media balance forum on Oct. 15 with Common Sense Media, he announced in a post on his Facebook page. “Children are addicted to their technology. Parents, educators, and health professionals are increasingly concerned about technology’s overwhelming presence in children’s daily lives,” according to the Facebook page. At the forum, participants will learn about the risks to privacy, non-stop connectivity, and how to achieve a better balance. The event is from 6 to 7 p.m. at Laguna Middle School, 11050 Los Osos Valley Road, SLO.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom officially changed the state’s primary elections from June to March for 2020. On Oct. 2, he signed a proclamation designating the 2020 primary for March 3. The new date will include voting for president, U.S. representatives, state senators and Assembly members, and other state, county, and judicial officials.
• On Oct. 3, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1505 introduced by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach). The bill changes the Charter Schools Act of 1992 to address challenges for both public school districts and charter schools. The bill enables communities to consider the impact that a new charter school could have on existing schools in a neighborhood, including allowing charter authorizers to close charter schools due to fiscal concerns, consider a new charter school’s fiscal affect on other schools in the community, and deny a charter school if the district is in financial distress. “AB 1505 is a long overdue reform of charter school law,” O’Donnell said in a press release. “This bill ensures that we will have qualified teachers in all classrooms and gives local school boards more discretion over charter authorization.” In a statement, Newsom said that the bill is a framework for charter and traditional schools to collaborate “in service of their communities and neighborhoods.”
This article appears in Oct 10-17, 2019.
