Voting is an Act of Hope

Voting.  The election this year is November 5th, now just a week or so away.  If you have already voted. THANK YOU!  If you are planning to vote THANK YOU!  Below is some information about our local polling places and ballot drop boxes, you may find helpful.  If you are able to vote but not planning to, I ask you to reconsider.  

Voting is a privilege and a responsibility in a democratic country.   It is how our preferences and choices are communicated to our leaders.  It is a way for our individual voices to be heard amongst the noise of the world.  It is a way to make change in policy that we don’t agree with and keep policy that serves us. It is a way to help shape the world you live in to reflect how you want it to be.  It is a way to have power when we feel powerless because it is only in staying silent that we relinquish our rights.  

Ultimately, voting is an act of hope.  Hope that no matter how dire things may be or how grand we may think they are, we believe we can still make this a better world through our voices.  So join me as I keep hope alive, casting my ballot by making choices based on research and conversations with others that I believe will reflect the kind of world I wish to live in.  Let us all use our voices and vote as acts of hope.   

Options for voting in our community~

At Home With Ballot~

Complete your ballot.  Secure inside the return envelope sent with the ballot.

Sign and date.  Make sure the signature on your ballot envelope matches the one on your CA driver’s license/state ID or the one you provided when registering to vote.

Ballots may be returned by mail but must be postmarked by November 5th, 2024.  No stamp is needed.

Ballots may be dropped at a Secure Ballot Drop Box available 24 hours a day from October 5, 2024 until November 5th, 2024 at 8PM.  These are the following locations in our community-

Lompoc City Hall - 100 Civic Center Plaza

Lompoc Public Library - 501 East North Ave

SB County Dept. of Social Services - 1100 West Laurel Ave

Vandenberg Village Library - 3755 Constellation Rd

Ballots may also be dropped in person at a polling place 7AM to 8PM on November 5th.  For a complete list of Polling Place locations in Santa Barbara County, visit www.sbcvote.com.

Sign up and Track My Ballot at http://wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov/ or call the Elections Office at  805-568-2200 or 800-722-8683.

Voting at the Polls~

Your assigned Polling Place is printed on the back cover of your County Voter Information Guide, which was mailed to you or can be found by calling 800-722-8683 or visiting www.sbcvote.com. 

It is helpful to bring your own ballpoint pen to sign in and use while voting.  Polls are open 11/5, 7AM-8PM.  The Polling Places in Lompoc are-

- Dick DeWees Community Center-Banquet Room - 

1120 West Ocean Ave

- Events Mission Valley - 

138 North B Street

- First United Methodist Church-Fireside Room -

925 North F Street

- Grace Baptist Church - Large Fellowship Hall -

1009 East Pine Ave

- North Avenue Baptist Church-Fellowship Hall -

1523 West North Ave

- Providence Landing Clubhouse -

699 Mercury Ave

Wondering if you are registered to vote?  Visit 

https://covr.sos.ca.gov/ to check your status.  Not registered?  It’s not too late.  

You can register conditionally and vote a provisional ballot at any Polling Place or Elections Office in Santa Barbara County on election day.  The ballot is counted once eligibility is confirmed. 

Visit www.sbcvote.com or call 800-722-8683 for more information.  

Planet versus Plastic-Earth Day 2024

The first Earth Day was celebrated 54 years ago, on April 22, 1970, and has its roots in Santa Barbara. Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, founded it after witnessing the impact of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. At that time, it was the largest oil spill in US history and still ranks at number three, behind only the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez oil spills. Mr. Gaylord’s vision was to have a “national teach-in on the environment” and energize the public to protect the environment by addressing water and air pollution concerns. Over 20 million Americans participated in that first Earth Day celebration, uniting many in a common cause that had been previously fragmented over several specific environmental concerns.  

This year, Earth Day celebrations are scheduled several days through the month of April and focus on how we can reduce plastic use and demand a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040.  It is the 60x40 pledge that challenges us to educate ourselves on our choices and the consequences of plastic use, make lifestyle changes, find innovative solutions, and demand change not just as individuals but also from businesses and governments.  The celebrations scheduled provide opportunities to learn about climate change and how it impacts countless species of animals, the health risks plastics pose to us as individuals, how to phase out single-use plastics, the UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and other topics.  

Earth Day is also an opportunity to begin having discussions with our family, friends, and neighbors and come together in cooperation. To discuss ideas of how change might look for everyone and how it can happen, even if only one step at a time. Some of these discussions may be challenging, and some choices difficult, but it is necessary to make the time to have the conversations, become educated and make the choices. The reality is we have been blessed to live in a world we have been gifted with its many natural wonders and incredible resources. With that gift, we have also been given a responsibility. The responsibility to take care of it so that our grandchildren’s great-grandchildren will have a place to call home. No matter where you are, we ask you to join us in this effort because you can make a difference with your choices, and together, we can save our beautiful home we call Earth.

Here are a few of the local opportunities to celebrate and learn. On Wednesday, April 17, Cabrillo High School Aquarium will have activities from 6PM-8PM, showcasing how each of us can make our home a better place for all living things. On Saturday, April 20, from 9AM-12PM, join others and help beautify Lompoc’s Drought Tolerant Garden, no experience necessary, or celebrate with the SLO County Earth Day Fair at Laguna Lake Park from 11AM-4PM.  On Sunday, April 21, visit the Santa Barbara Zoo from 10AM-2PM to learn how climate change is impacting so many beloved wild animals.  Additionally, Santa Barbara’s Earth Day Festival returns to Alameda Park on April 27 and 28, honoring its 54-year commitment to engage the community and foster a deeper connection with nature and the environment.  Details for all these events may be found in the links below or visit www.earthday.org to see what is happening worldwide.  We invite you to attend at least one of these many opportunities to learn how you can make a difference for Mother Earth every day because together we can.  

Sources-

https://www.cabrillohighschoolaquarium.org/open-house-dates

https://allevents.in/lompoc/lompocs-drought-tolerant-garden-care-day/200026317979416

http://earthdayalliance.com/earth-day-slo/ 

https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-earth-day-festival-returns-to-alameda-park-on-april-27-28-2024/

https://www.sbzoo.org/event/earth-day-celebration/ 

https://sbearthday.org

https://www.earthday.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill

It's A Wrap!

With the reality of current environmental challenges, I have begun to make more mindful choices about purchases and how I do things, trying to mitigate my personal impact on our beloved planet as best I can. With gift-giving and all its embellishments now officially on the calendar, I began to wonder if there was a way I could diminish the pile of wrapping paper, gift boxes, and ribbon that annually make the trek from my house to the landfill. Here are some alternatives I have either used in the past or came across in my research and daydreaming.

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We Are Celebrating World Oceans Day!

World Oceans Day is this week and a chance to celebrate and bring awareness to a part of Mother Earth that covers 71% of our world and holds 97% of all the water on Earth. The oceans on our planet are the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Indian and Southern or Antarctic Oceans. These five large, interconnected bodies of water contribute at least 50% of the oxygen in our atmosphere and are home to approximately 80% of the Earth’s organisms. In addition, there are more than 5000 active undersea volcanoes and the longest continuous mountain chain. This chain is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, stretching more than 40,000 miles, most of it residing underwater, deep in the ocean floor. Despite the high salt content of ocean waters, without these beautiful, mysterious deep blue bodies of liquid, our world would not be habitable for humans, animals, or plants.

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