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The Town Halls presented by the Museum and the Santa Barbara Foundation are intended to provide a safe, neutral place for community conversation in which diverse viewpoints of a topic can be heard and discussed in a respectful manner. The discussions aim to foster public discourse around issues that will affect our lives and well-being as well as that of our children and grandchildren. It is not designed to promote one opinion, but to give an airing to a spectrum of views in order to safely talk about contentious issues as a community.
In March 2006, the series premiered with “Sea Otters in the Santa Barbara Channel: Harmful Competitors or Rightful Residents?” Biologists, fishermen, city representatives, and community members (adults and children) gathered together to discuss sea otter management issues and the environmental, economic, and social implications of a management plan. This community dicussion has continued into 2011 as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers ending its 24-year-old sea otter translocation program, which was designed to establish a popluation of sea otters on San Nicolas Island by physically relocating otters that ventured south of Point Conception.
The Town Hall series has also included the following topics:
Homeless…Can You Spare a Dime?
Thursday, November 15
7:00-9:00 PM
Fleischmann Auditorium
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
.jpg) Homelessness does not just affect the homeless…
our whole community is impacted.
It is estimated that more than 4,000 people (including families, adults and children) are homeless in Santa Barbara County. Services, programs and associated costs for managing temporary and chronic homelessness could cost the region as much as $35–$40 million annually. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, the faith community, and the business sector each play a role in crafting and implementing solutions to the issue of homelessness; yet a solid solution to homelessness eludes us.
Join a conversation that matters with a group of leaders from these sectors of Santa Barbara as they have a candid discussion about the options before us. Come to listen and share your perspectives, not only on what the real-world challenges are, but how we can make progress as stewards of our own community.
Free.
jcanty@sbnature2.org or 805-682-4711 ext. 170
Presented by the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History,
and sponsored in part by the McCune Foundation.
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