1. 2A Pacific Coast Business Times Nov. 13-19, 2015 Nov. 13-19, 2015 Pacific Coast Business Times 3A
Theraceforthesprawling24th
Congressional District may turn
onthequestionofhowwellcandi-
datesrunoutsidetheirhometurf.
That’s why recent inroads by
San Luis Obispo Assemblymem-
ber Katcho Achadjian in Santa
Barbarahavecaughtourattention.
Achadjian raised his South
Coast profile on Oct. 22 when he
attendedaGOPdebateatMulligan’s,
the restaurant at the Santa Barbara
Golf Club. Opponent Justin Fareed
didn’t participate, but did surface at
the UCLA-Cal football game that
day. He’s a Bruin.
Fareed’s campaign said he gave
notice“wellinadvance”thathewould
beano-show.Achadjianimpresseda
numberofFareedsupporters,accord-
ing to our sources. Meanwhile, SLO County
Supervisor Adam Hill has been introducing
Democrat Salud Carbajal around the Cen-
tral Coast.
CENTRAL COAST CONNECTIONS
Most of the business elite of San Luis
NoshowbyFareedliftsAchadjian’sSouthCoastprofile
Camarillo’s Semtech is a leader in LoRa technology, which can be used to connect Internet of Things devices.
Spanning the globe
Semtech’sLoRatechnologydebutsinVenturaCounty,India,France
By Philip Joens
Staff Writer
A Camarillo company is making tech-
nologythatcouldonedayconnecttheIn-
ternet to everything.
Semtech makes semiconductors and
its LoRa, or Low Power Wide Area Net-
works, could connect everything from
sidewalks to light bulbs. It even has the
potentialtochangehowwaterisusedby
farmers throughout the Central Coast.
LoRatechnologyisawirelessnetwork
thatcanconnectvarioussensors,systems
andcomputers,muchlikeBluetoothtech-
nology, Wi-Fi and cell phone signals. Its
signalsarelongerthanBluetoothandWi-
Fi, but shorter than cell phone signals.
The system is comprised of Semtech
chips and towers that transmit LoRa sig-
nals.LoRaenableddevicesoperateatlow
powerlevelssobatteriesdon’tneedtobe
replaced often, and LoRa networks re-
quire fewer transmitting towers than cell
phone networks.
COURTESYOFSEMTECH
By Alex Kacik
Staff Writer
Regulators have put crab season on ice.
The tri-county commercial fishing industry is feeling the
sting of a toxin that’s been found in some of the area’s sea-
food.
TheCaliforniaDepartmentofPublicHealthadvisedcon-
sumersinaNov.3announcementnottoeatDungenessand
rockcrabscaughtbetweentheOregonborderandthesouth-
ernSantaBarbaraCountylinebecausesomecontaineddan-
gerous levels of domoic acid.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has since
indefinitelyclosedtheDungenessandrockcrabfisheriesin
thatregion,accordingtoChrisVoss,executivedirectorofthe
Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara.
“It’s a disaster,” he said.
The toxin can cause intestinal issues in mild cases; rare
severecasescanleadtodeath,fishandwildlifeofficialssaid.
But there have been no related illnesses yet, they said.
This is one of the busiest times for fishermen as the holi-
days near.
Rick Gutierrez works for the Santa Barbara Seafood Sta-
tion, which is losing about $10,000 a week.
“TherearethreeorfourothercompaniesinSantaBarbara
thatdothesameamountofbusiness,”saidGutierrez,adding
that they make about a third of their business this time of
year.
But Santa Barbara fishermen contend that there haven’t
been enough tests, especially throughout Santa Barbara
where fisheries span miles of open water. Public health of-
ficialshavemainlytestedtheviscera,orthegut,notthemeat,
Voss said.
“We should be very careful in how we declare these clo-
sures and be certain they are necessary,” said Voss, adding
thattheregulatorshaven’tbeenresponsivetorepeatedphone
calls. “We are all concerned about catching and selling safe
seafoodbutwealsowanttheagenciesthatareinchargeof
closures to make sure they make them with justification.”
ThemajorbuyersofSantaBarbararockcrabcanceledall
of their orders on Nov. 4, sources said. Smaller buyers fol-
lowed suit shortly thereafter. Buyers are also asking for re-
funds of their current stock.
“Crab is an important part of California’s culture and
economy, and I did not make this decision lightly,” Chuck
Bonham, the fish and wildlife director, said in a Nov. 6
see CRAB on page 18A
STREET
SMARTS
Crabseasondelayhurtstri-countyfishermen
Energy prices in California are a just-
below-the-radar set of costs that make the
GoldenStatelesscompetitiveforbusinesses.
Part of the problem is what the Sacra-
mento-basedCaliforniaCenterforJobsand
theEconomycallsthe“regulatoryisolation”
of California’s fuel markets for diesel and
gasoline. In addition, the cost of transmit-
ting power and
meetingcarbon
emission man-
datesiskeeping
the state’s elec-
tric costs higher
thanmostofthe
U.S.
The October
price of gaso-
line eased 22.9
centstoanaver-
age of $2.89 per
gallon for regu-
lar, the center
said, citing U.S.
Energy Infor-
mation Agency
and Gas Buddy.
comdata.That’s
about60.3cents
above the U.S.
average.
Diesel prices
are about 30
cents higher
thantheU.S.av-
erage at $2.81.
Residential
electricratesfor
the first 10 months of the year were more
than17centsperkilowatthourorabout34
percenthigherthantheU.S.averageof12.6
cents.Californiawaseighthhighestamong
the states.
Commercial electricity rates were $15.6
centsperkilowatthourorabout47percent
abovethenationalaverage.Industrialelec-
tricity rates were 11.7 cents per kilowatt
hour or nearly 70 percent higher than the
U.S. average of around 6.9 cents.
State’senergyprices
higher than nation’s
60.3
Thegapincentsbetween
prices for regular gas in
Californiaandthenational
average in September.
34%
Gap between cost of
residentialelectricpower
in California and the
national average.
6th
California’s rank for the
highest average cost of
electricityforcommercial
users among the states.
Source: Center for Jobs and the Economy
VITAL SIGNS
see SEMTECH on page 18A
see STREET SMARTS on page 19A

2. 18A Pacific Coast Business Times Nov. 13-19, 2015 Nov. 13-19, 2015 Pacific Coast Business Times 19A
About 500 people attended the Central Coast Economic Forecast on Nov. 6 in San Luis Obispo.
HENRYDUBROFFPHOTO
OIL
Continued from page 1A
SEMTECH
Continued from page 3A
STREET SMARTS
Continued from page 3A
ECONOMY
Continued from page 1A
TRADEContinued from page 1A
CRAB
Continued from page 3A
Schniepp told a room full of oil executives, members of the
ChumashandpublicofficialsattheSantaMariaRadissonon
Nov. 5. “But there is some concern about how long the cur-
rent (seven-year) expansion will last.”
The job market is growing but it does have a ceiling.
Schniepp expects the region to reach full employment by
mid-2016.
“There are very few people left to hire so we will see a
slowdown, particularly as the expansion enters the mature
phasesaswegetintotheeighthandninthyears,”Schniepp
said.
The Central Coast has to find places to house its new
employees. San Luis Obispo County has about a 1,300-unit
housing shortage, economists estimate.
Limited housing stock and a decrease in oil production
due to the pipeline shutdowns following May’s Refugio oil
spill may rein in the economic expansion, economists said.
“We’re simply not building enough fast enough in order
to meet even the limited population growth that we have,”
Schniepp said.
Homebuilding will drive expansion for at least another
year, he said.
“Therewillbemorehousing,too,givenalloftheprojects
thatareapprovedornotquiteyetapproved,”saidSchniepp,
notingtheHeritageSquare,HancockTerraceandBetteravia
Plazadevelopmentsthatwilladdmorethan830unitstothe
SantaMariahousingmarket.“Lookforhousingtonowpro-
duce more reasons for growth in the Santa Maria Valley.”
Santa Maria’s agricultural sector has also blossomed de-
spite the drought. While farm employment has remained
relatively flat, the sales of Santa Maria ag products are at an
all-time high at an estimated $1.3 billion in 2014, according
to Schniepp. That’s led by about $465 million in strawberry
sales.
“Thedroughtreallyhasn’thadmuchofanimpactoverall
on values,” he said.
But Santa Barbara County Fourth District Supervisor Pe-
ter Adam isn’t convinced. Adam said he is short about 15
to 20 percent on labor at Adams Brothers Family Farms. It
employs about 400 people in Santa Maria.
“Welostmoreproductthisyearthanwe’veeverlostinthe
historyofourcompany,”hesaid.“Thelaborrateshavegone
up and it isn’t attracting people to come out and work.”
The planned Chumash Casino Resort’s expansion will
also benefit the North County economy, speakers said. The
$165 million expansion will include 215 additional hotel
rooms, increase the gaming floor, employ a total of around
1,600constructionworkers,addcloseto250casinojobsand
increase annual payroll by about $2 million.
It will bring in about 274,000 additional visitors per year
whentheproject’scompletedbyMay2016,accordingtoJoe
Armendariz of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Asso-
ciation.
WhenitcomestoNorthCounty’sneighbors,economists
expect the San Luis Obispo County housing, tourism, wine
and technology industries to spur growth.
The overall San Luis Obispo County labor market is
growing at a rate faster than the state’s, led by an all-time
highinnonfarmemployment,accordingtoanalysisfromthe
Central Coast Economic Forecast.
Emergingsectorsincludecomputersystemsdesign,soft-
ware and electronic markets.
Inordertomaintainthatgrowth,theregionmustsupport
the technology sector as well as residential development,
includingaffordableandworkforcehousing,speakerssaid.
Otherchallengesincluderecruitingskilledworkers,improv-
ing aging infrastructure and managing water resources.
“Thehardestpartwillbefindingtherightwaytobalance
the growth,” Levine said.
It’s a broad-based recovery in terms of San Luis Obispo
County job growth, with the exception of professional ser-
vices and finance occupations ticking slightly down. The
constructionindustrysawthebiggestimprovementoverthe
pastyear,witha15.2percentincreaseintotalemployment,
followedbywholesaletradethatgrew7percent.Someofthe
region’sbiggestemploymentsectors,educationandhealth,
rose 6 percent.
The San Luis Obispo County housing market, tourism,
spending and the commercial market are all moving in the
right direction, the speakers said.
“Rightnow,wedon’tseemuchevidenceofanyrecession-
ary trend yet,” Schniepp said.
statement.“Butdoingeverythingwecanto
limittherisktopublichealthhastotakepre-
cedence.”
Santa Barbara commercial fishermen
generated more than $1.9 million in 2013
from the sale of rock crab, according to
CFSB. Santa Barbara supplies about 75 per-
centofCalifornia’srockcrab;thevastmajor-
ityisshippedoutsideofSantaBarbaraforan
average of $1.50 per pound.
The California Fish and Game Commis-
sion voted on Nov. 5 to postpone the recre-
ational Dungeness season, as well as close
recreational Dungeness and rock crab fish-
eries north of the Ventura County line. The
commercialDungenesscrabseasonisslated
to begin Nov. 15, while the recreational sea-
sonwasplannedtostartonNov.7.Thecom-
mission closed the commercial rock crab
season on Nov. 6.
ThestateOfficeofEnvironmentalHealth
HazardAssessmentendorsedthedelayand
closures after tests by the Department of
PublicHealthfoundhighlevelsoftheneuro-
toxinpotentiallybroughtonbyalgaeblooms
that proliferate with warmer water.
Half of six samples of Santa Barbara rock
crab collected on Nov. 3 had toxin levels
abovethesafetythresholdintheviscera,ac-
cordingtothepublichealthdepartment.But
thesamplesizewasn’tbroadenough,Gutier-
rez said.
“They have shown very little cause,” he
said.
The safe levels, according to the depart-
ment, are 20 parts per million in all fish and
30 parts per million in specifically the crab’s
viscera.
“The rising water temperature is really
concerning,” Gutierrez said.
Regional crab fishermen have already
been hit by a six-week closure of fisheries
near the Gaviota coast following May 19th’s
Refugio oil spill. They are also facing com-
petition from Mexican fishermen who have
been selling their product for about half of
Santa Barbara’s going rate, Gutierrez said.
The domoic acid scare has also hurt lob-
ster sales, Voss said. Sales of California spiny
lobsternettedmorethan$3.3millionin2013.
Inthemeantime,SantaBarbaracommer-
cial fishermen mull over potential legal ac-
tioniftheregulatorsaren’ttransparentwith
their findings and the methods used. They
may perform independent tests as well.
Thedepartmentofpublichealthandthe
office of environmental health hazards will
continue to test crab along the coast. Once
twoconsecutivetestssevendaysapartdem-
onstratesafetoxinlevels,thedepartmentof
fish and wildlife can reopen the fisheries.
“It appears the most recent results from
the Central Coast indicate that concentra-
tions are declining,” Voss said.
Butevenafterthecrabsaredeemedsafe
to eat, it may take some time for sales to re-
bound.
opportunities,” Cordeiro said. “I hear from
a lot of businesses that ‘I’m doing well, so
whyshouldIbotherwithforeigntrade?’The
UnitedStateshasahealthyeconomybutthe
rest of the world is growing faster than we
are.Therearemoreopportunitiesoutthere.
Why not take advantage of them?”
The financial benefits of exporting their
goods could also lead to job growth in the
regionandkeepbusinesseshealthier,hesaid.
“Most companies that export have an
easiertimeridingoutfluctuationsintheU.S.
economyandaremorelikelytostayinbusi-
ness,” Cordeiro said. “U.S. companies that
export not only grow faster, they are nearly
8.5percentlesslikelytogooutofbusiness.”
While the Asian Pacific region was heav-
ily characterized as “the next big thing,” the
speakershighlightedsomeofthecompetitive
advantagestosimilargoodsandservicesof-
fered by Latin American countries.
Mexico,thelargesteconomyofthegroup,
haspositioneditselfasacompetitortoChina
for manufacturing, labor and productivity.
Transportcostspresenta“significantcostad-
vantage”forthesecountriesovertradewith
China, Cordeiro said, and Chilean Trade
Commissioner Rodrigo Mladinić Dragičević
cited the benefits of shared time zones and
socialsimilaritieswhencontractingwithfor-
eign countries.
Harry Abraham-Castillo, a content and
digital marketing specialist at d2H Partners
in Ventura and Los Angeles, voiced his con-
cern about intellectual property rights and
digital trade, an important factor in trade
agreements along the California coast.
“Wealwayslookattrainsandairportsand
trucks but there is a lot of trade in the world
that is happening digitally now,” Abraham-
Castillo said. “It all comes down to pricing.
We try to do business with our Latin Ameri-
canneighborsbutwejustgeteatenbyprices
whenitcomestowebdevelopment,appde-
velopment and (technical support).”
Colombia Consul for Community Affairs
Johnathan Alvarez Alzua said standards
havebecomeveryhighonintellectualprop-
ertyprotectionsandthefocusisnowonhow
to strengthen systems in Latin America to
makeinformationandservicesclearer,more
transparent and more accessible.
Businessesareabletoaccessdigitaltrade
records,askquestions,talkaboutdoubtsand
be reassured before committing their busi-
ness to that country, he said.
“Itgoesbeyondatradeagreement.There
areveryimportantinitiativestocreatestudy
scholarships for students, to fight against
climate change, to promote investment. It’s
aboutintegrationandabouthowweproject
ourselves to the world.”
Pacific Alliance countries have also sim-
plified member travel requirements.
“There’s also a platform for academic
and student mobility,” Alzua said. “The best
ambassador of a country is an international
exchangestudent.Studentsgettheopportu-
nitytoknoweachother,knowthecountry,to
work together toward a brighter future.”
Added Alberto Hart, deputy consul of
Peru, “For the countries that have ratified
the Pacific Alliance, this framework has the
strength of law,” “All those who want to be
a part of this alliance must think as we think
intermsofeconomicdevelopmentandeco-
nomicmodels.Thatisperhapsthemaindif-
ference in this exercise. We four think in the
same way.”
Semtech CEO Mohan Maheswaran said
thecompanyhasbeendevelopingthetech-
nology for the past 10 years.
“We acquired companies with technol-
ogythatenabledustodesignandmanufac-
ture the LoRa platform,” Maheswaran said.
“There are some types of technologies that
can be used for this. That niche just so hap-
pens to be huge.”
Criticshavesaidthetechnologyoperates
at a low frequency that can’t be licensed in
the U.S.
“It’spurelyfortemperaturesensing,pres-
sure sensing, those types of things,” Ma-
heswaran said. “The only trade-off with
LoRa is that it’s very low bandwidth. It’s not
intended for video.”
The market for Semtech could be huge.
On Nov. 3, Mumbai, India-based Tata
Communications announced it concluded
trials of LoRa networks in Mumbai and Del-
hi. After the trials, Tata said it plans to create
a nationwide public LoRa network.
Paris-based Orange S.A. announced in
SeptemberthatitwouldcreateapublicLoRa
networkinFranceduringthespringof2016.
The Lace Company, based in St. Petersburg,
Russia, is also building a 9,000-square-kilo-
meter LoRa network across Russia.
Proponents of LoRa technology say that
itcouldbeusedforalmostanything.There’s
even a term for it — the Internet of Things.
In a world connected by the Internet of
Things, sidewalks will be able to tell mu-
nicipalities if they are wet or dry. Lightbulbs
willbeabletotellbuildingandhomeowners
whentheyneedtobechanged.Vendingma-
chineswillbeabletotellownerswhenthey
need to be refilled.
Adoptionofthenewtechnologyisgrow-
ing, but is still experimental. A trade group
founded last year by Semtech, IBM and Cis-
coSystems,amongothercompanies,saidin
a Nov. 10 news release there are nine fully
operationalLoRanetworksaroundtheworld
and 56 more networks in trial stages.
One network in trial stages is in Ventura
County.
In August, the Fox Canyon Groundwater
Management Agency announced it would
work with Semtech to develop a LoRa net-
worktomonitorgroundwaterusagebycus-
tomers.Theagencyservesfarmersandurban
customers in and around Ventura, Oxnard,
Port Huneme, Moorpark and Camarillo.
LoRa technology could change Califor-
nia’s water market forever, said Jeff Pratt,
director of public works for Ventura County
and executive officer for the Fox Canyon
Groundwater Management Agency.
“Traditionally,waterusagehasbeenself-
reported,”Prattsaid.“Foryears,peoplehave
thoughtthatwaterusagehasbeenunderre-
ported.”
In September 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown
signed the Sustainable Groundwater Man-
agement Act. The act allows local agencies
tocreategroundwatermanagementplansfor
the first time in the state’s history. Pratt said
beforetheactwassigned,waterusagebyus-
ers was not monitored. Only levels of aqui-
fers were monitored.
Farmersintheregionuse60to70percent
ofwaterfromtheagency,accordingtoPratt.
He said now that water use will be moni-
tored, it will have monetary value.
“There will be an incentive to conserve
because that water has value,” Pratt said.
“We would reduce the regulatory nature of
the(FoxCanyonGroundwaterManagement
Agency) and, theoretically, we could have a
private stock exchange for the water.”
The agency serves an area of about 300
squaremiles,Prattsaid,soitneverhasbeen
economicallyfeasiblefortheagencytoman-
ually monitor usage by rural customers. In
the past, the agency experimented with re-
mote monitoring systems using cell phone
signalsensors.Drawbacksincludedthecost
of cell phone service subscriptions.
Theagencyistestingabout20LoRasen-
sorsonfarmsthroughoutVenturaCounty.A
handfulofLoRasensorswereplacedinaqui-
fers to monitor water levels. Pratt said most
LoRa sensors cost between $500 and $600.
Ventura County also wants to become a
smart county that integrates LoRa technol-
ogy into public works programs. Pratt said
thesensorscouldalsobeusedforthingslike
monitoringtheamountoftrashintrashcans
and traffic flows at traffic lights.
“We’ve talked with (Semtech) about the
possibilities,” Pratt said. “The possibilities
are mind-boggling.”
presentation during the Economic Action
Summit at the Santa Maria Radisson.
The county would potentially miss out
on about $5 million in federal royalties,
$37 million in property taxes, 155 jobs and
$32 million in worker income.
“This could probably be expedited and,
given the economic impacts I’m about to
showyou,itoughttobeexpedited,”Schniepp
told about 100 people at the Radisson in
Santa Maria. The summit was sponsored
byseveraloftheregion’soilcompaniesand
the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
“There are a lot of claimants losing a lot of
dollars and will lose them going forward.”
But many tri-county residents, environ-
mental nonprofits and public officials want
to make sure the pipelines are better main-
tained and inspected before they resume.
Major oil producers like Venoco, Exxon-
Mobil and Freeport McMoRan rely on Line
901 and Line 903 to transport their crude.
Thecompanieshavepartiallyorcompletely
ceased their operations since the pipelines
were shut down after the spill and can’t do
much more than sit and wait — for now.
Venoco’s Platform Holly in the Santa
Barbara Channel was shut down following
the spill. The company paid more than $7.2
million in property taxes in 2014 in Santa
Barbara and Ventura counties.
“It was the largest assessed property in
the county in 2014,” Schniepp said.
Venoco is going through the permitting
process for a project that would allow it to
draw an additional 60 million barrels of oil
fromwellsalreadyinplaceonPlatformHol-
ly. The “lease line adjustment” would give
thecompanyrightstodrillintoa3,400-acre
area east of the platform; it would give up
about 3,800 acres in exchange. If approved
andeventuallycompletedin2017,thatwould
result in an additional $10 million in annual
incremental property taxes for the county.
Exxon is the region’s biggest oil opera-
tor,producingnearly30,000barrelsperday
thatgeneratednearly$1.2billioninrevenue
last year. Exxon was on pace to generate
$636 million in Santa Barbara County in
2015,Schnieppsaid,butithasonlygenerat-
edanestimated$216.6millionbecausepro-
ductionwasshutdownafterthespill.About
65 jobs may be transferred to other Exxon
facilities, he said.
Santa Barbara County recently rejected
Exxon’s emergency application to truck oil
to refineries because the company did not
provethatanemergencyexists,thecounty
said.
“It seems that we should probably do
whatwecandotogetthingsupandrunning
inordertoenjoythebenefitswehadpriorto
the shut down,” Schniepp said. “People are
going to feel it.”
Public schools, social services and other
publicservicesbenefitfromthepropertytax
revenuesgeneratedfrombigoil.Ifthestatus
quo remains, Santa Barbara County public
schools would miss out on about $24.1 mil-
lion over a three-year period, the Santa Bar-
baraCountyGeneralFundwouldn’treceive
around $8.1millionand otherpublicservic-
es would lose out on $6.3 million.
Santa Barbara County officials said they
plan to file a claim with Plains for lost prop-
erty tax revenue. But it could take years for
the county to be made whole.
While oil production can boost the
economy, a spill like the one that leaked an
estimated 143,000 gallons onto the Gavi-
otacoastcanalsocausesomedamage.The
region’s fishermen lost revenue while the
fisheries were closed for about six weeks,
touringcompanieslikeCaptainJack’sSanta
Barbara Tours allege they lost reservations,
andbeachfronthomeownersclaimthattheir
property values have decreased.
Santa Barbara law firm Keller Rohrback
filedaconsolidatedlawsuitonbehalfofdoz-
ensofresidentsandbusinessesimpactedby
the spill. The case is ongoing, the firm said.
“We know from previous offshore spills
that the impacts from the Plains spill could
lastformany,manyyears,”MatthewPreusch
of Keller Rohrback previously told the Busi-
ness Times.
Since the oil spill, public officials have
called for more vigilant pipeline regulation,
requiringtheuseofnewtechnologyandim-
proving oil spill response. Gov. Jerry Brown
signed three bills that require the California
Fire Marshall to review oil pipeline condi-
tionseveryyear,noteveryfiveyearsasman-
dated by more lax federal regulations; aim
to make oil spill response faster and more
effective; and force intrastate pipelines to
usethebest-knowntechnologysuchasauto-
matic shutoff valves.
The spill aside, oil companies through-
out the region are looking to cut costs as
oil prices remain low. Some of that could
come from layoffs. Santa Barbara County
oilcompaniesemployaround1,150workers
thatspendanestimated$120millionayear,
Schniepp said.
Freeport is weighing a potential public
offering of a minority interest in its oil and
gasbusiness,spinningitofftoitssharehold-
ers, arranging a joint venture deal and/or
furtherspendingreductions,accordingtoa
news release.
Texas-based energy company Cono-
coPhillips recently announced that it will
cutabout10percentofits18,000-pluswork-
force.Itisn’tconfirmedhowmanyjobshave
been cut at the ConocoPhillips refinery in
Nipomo.
Obispo County turned out for the annual
Central Coast Economic Forecast breakfast
on Nov. 6.
Spottings: Steve Harding, Ermina
Karim, Judy Mahan, Dawn Legg, Carl
Dudley, Maggie Cox, Rick Arredondo,
Erik Justesen, Tom Jones, Greg Bland,
Mike Manchak, Michael Morris and
Debbie Arnold.
The Nov. 9 inauguration ceremony for
Paul Leonardi as the founding director of
UC Santa Barbara’s Technology Manage-
mentprogrambroughtoutawho’swhoof
South Coast movers and shakers.
Spottings: Reece Duca, Tim Bliss,
Jeff Henley, Bob Johnson, Renee Roll-
ner, Dilling Yang, Henry Yang, Rod Al-
ferness, John Bowers, Jason Spivak and
Klaus Schauser.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS ON TV
Anewenvironmentalgrouphascropped
up on our radar. San Luis Obispo-based
Central Coast Wild Heritage group is get-
ting air time on “This American Land,” a
program airing on KCET. The group’s ef-
forts to safeguard the Los Padres National
ForestandCarrizoPlainandprotectscenic
rivers are featured. Farmers, ranchers and
Patagonia are among its backers.
GOOD WORKS
• Habitat for Humanity has won the
$6,000 Cox Cares social media giveaway
after getting more than 3,000 votes for its
effort to provide housing for low income
residents of Santa Barbara.
• The Harold J. Miossi Charitable Trust
has awarded $20,000 to Big Brothers Big
Sisters of SLO for school-based programs.
• SESLOC Federal Credit union has
awarded $1,000 to Arellanes Junior High
School teacher Rachel Itzstein in Santa
Maria to buy computers for students.
FINAL SCENES
• TIMELY EVENT: The St. Vin-
cent Fashion Show at Bishop Diego High
SchoolonNov.14benefitsfamiliesandse-
niors living on the campus.
• POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Atas-
cadero’s Debbie Arnold picks up SLO
CountyDADanDow’sendorsementinher
re-electioncampaignfortheFifthDistrict.
West Point grad and Santa Ynez resident
Bruce Porter is running in Santa Barbara
County’s Third District.
• WALKING TALLER: Goleta gets
$2.2 million in grants for sidewalk im-
provements in Old Town.
It’s about time.