Author: Lea Boyd

Carpinteria dog owners! Please be aware of your responsibilities, respectful of others and mindful of our municipal code. Dogs are not allowed off-leash in public in the City of Carpinteria, except during specific days and hours at El Carro Park. Leashing protects dogs from traffic and other animals, and protects people, other pets and wildlife from potentially harmful interactions with dogs. Picking up after one’s dog is both a requirement, a courtesy to others and an important act toward a cleaner environment and pollution-free watersheds. To learn more about off-leash hours at El Carro Park, visit https://www.c-dog.org/.

The Carpinteria City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. In accordance with State guidance, the City will provide both in-person and virtual attendance and participation options for the meeting. Highlighted topics for the meeting: Local Roadway Safety Plan report, General Plan progress report and Code Compliance quarterly report. Details and numerous ways for the public to provide comments can be found in the meeting agenda through the link in our bio. Comments posted on social media will not be provided to council members.

The City is preparing for another summer with lots of visitors downtown shopping, eating and strolling. To ensure that visitors receive accurate information from friendly locals, we are looking for HOST volunteers to staff the Visitor Center at Seal Plaza in the 800 block of Linden Avenue from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Visitor Center hours are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Knowledgeable volunteers offer free maps, brochures and advice on local points of interest, as well as shopping, restaurants and places to stay. The HOST Committee will have its first in-person sign up event and training on Wednesday, May 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Carpinteria City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. Subsequent sign up dates will be June 8 at 6 p.m., July 13 at 6 p.m., and August 10 at 6 p.m.

The City of Carpinteria is requesting proposals from qualified firms to provide citywide street sweeping services including for emergencies and as needed by the City. Proposals are due to the Public Works Department by Thursday, May 5 at 4 p.m. The RFP is available at https://bit.ly/3NX9Ekg.

Effective Monday, April 25, Santa Barbara MTD will be temporarily lowering service levels in order to improve system reliability. Line 20, which provides transportation between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, will have reduced weekday frequency.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, transit operators nationwide and many other industries have experienced workforce shortages, and MTD is no different. While MTD continues to recruit aggressively for bus operators, the agency has experienced a confluence of retirements and normal attrition causing a drop in the number of available bus operators. This drop coupled with the Omicron surge has meant that various bus trips are occasionally cancelled, causing uncertainty for passengers.

“The reliability of our schedules is crucial and due to the current labor shortage the temporary reduction of service is a necessary step,” said MTD General Manager Jerry Estrada. “We hope that these temporary reductions will allow us the time to staff up appropriately and return to higher levels of service later this year.”

The new schedule is available at https://bit.ly/3rbyZNv and the public can get further details at sbmtd.gov/reduced.

Beware of heightened fire risk in coming days and take steps to prepare for high temperatures forecast through Friday, April 8. Learn more about how to protect yourself and your loved ones at https://www.ready.gov/heat#prepare.

Carpinteria Community Pool has expanded its recreational swim hours to three days a week. Hours are now Tuesday and Thursday from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Learn more at https://bit.ly/CarpinteriaPool.

At its March 28 meeting, the Carpinteria City Council proclaimed the month of April 2022 as Carpinteria Beautiful Month. The designation celebrates Carpinteria Beautiful’s decades of volunteer work to keep Carpinteria “clean, green and beautiful” through countless programs and projects. The group has helped to fund many of Carpinteria’s popular public art pieces, including the World’s Safest Beach mural on Wullbrandt Way and the fountain on the corner of Carpinteria and Maple avenues. Over the years, Carpinteria Beautiful volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours to graffiti and litter removal throughout the City. In honor of the group’s dedication to the community, April has been recognized as Carpinteria Beautiful Month since 1992. The City urges residents to share in the observance of this month by making a personal commitment to enhance the beauty of their own properties and neighborhoods for the benefit and enjoyment of all.

There has never been a better time to save on electric-powered transportation. With Central Coast Community Energy’s local Electrify Your Ride program, CCCE is providing customers up to $4,000 in rebates toward purchased or leased, new or pre-owned electric vehicles (EVs), motorcycles, and bicycles. Plus, up to $4,700 toward purchases and installation of chargers to power up EVs at homes including labor and related electric panel updates or replacement, as part of a CCCE Energy Program “readiness” measure designed to prepare customers for more all-electric conversions such as appliances and water heaters. Combined with other state and federal incentives, CCCE customers can save thousands more! Electrify Your Ride today and save at the gas pump tomorrow. Learn more and apply at bit.ly/ccce-electrify-your-ride-program.

The City of Carpinteria is looking forward to another summer teaching aquatics skills and fitness to kids ages 9-17 through our Junior Lifeguards program. We are also excited to announce the first ever Mini Junior Guard program for children ages 7-9. Try-out for JGs and Mini JGs will be held April 2, 9, 16 and 30 at the Carpinteria Community Pool, 5305 Carpinteria Ave., and first-time participants MUST try out. Try-outs for ages 9-17 will include a 100-yard swim in under 2:20 minutes, a 1-minute water tread and a 10-yard underwater swim. Mini JGs will be expected to complete a 50-yard swim in under 1:40 minutes, a 1-minute water tread and a 10-yard underwater swim. Two try-out time slots are available, 8:30-9 a.m. and 9-9:30 a.m. No drop-ins will be allowed. Sign up for a slot HERE.  For additional details, visit or webpage HERE.