City leaders get public input at affordable housing meeting

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The County of Santa Barbara and the cities of Goleta, Lompoc and Santa Maria are hosting community meetings throughout the week. 

The first meeting was on Wednesday.

City leaders listened to public input on how federal funds could be used for the community. 

President Steven Baird with the Band of Brothers, a veterans group, hopes there will be more affordable housing for veterans. 

“We have a house for homeless veterans. We house 12 veterans. But there are still 140 to 150 veterans that are still homeless in our community,” Baird said. 

The planning process enables a community-wide conversation to identify the most important housing and community development needs.

“Every year HUD provides grants to the county and Santa Maria. The community uses those funds to do things like this beautiful library,” said deputy director Dinah Lockhart with the Community Services Department of Santa Barbara County. 

Input from the community will be used to guide the use of funding from federal block grant programs.

The next community meeting will be on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Anderson Recreation Center in Lompoc.