CityofSantaBarbara
Source: City of Santa Barbara
Starting July 5, the doors to City Hall will be unlocked at 9 a.m. and locked at 3 p.m. City Hall is open daily, Monday through Friday, with the exception of closures every other Friday and federal holidays.
Doors will remain unlocked until 5:30 p.m. (or later) on days when City Council is meeting or a public meeting is being held in Council Chambers.
A Downtown Ambassador will be stationed in the lobby from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily, to assist visitors entering City Hall.
Signage, noting the updated operating hours, will be posted on the front doors.
After-hours deliveries should be made at the Human Resources door, by ringing the bell.
Thank you for your understanding. Answers to frequently asked questions and payment inquiries can be found on our website at www.santabarbaraca.gov.
What is the reason for needing an ambassador? Too many rowdy homeless people or city staff not wanting to engage with the public? Or both?
When YOUR government employees decide to limit their exposure instead of actually working for a living, we citizens have a big, festering problem. Government service is diminishing everyday, and costing more.
If it happens, though, they have to staff for it. I worked a public counter in a County department and it was always a struggle to get work done because the customer came first. I imagine the Ambassador solves that problem…
The ambassador program is a paid program, primarily for STate Street and the downtown businesses:
https://santabarbaraca.gov/downtown-ambassadors. Why should they be stationed inside City Hall when this is what they do:
Downtown Ambassadors
About Us
Since September 2017, City of Santa Barbara, Downtown Ambassadors have been enhancing the experience on State Street, by maintaining a consistent presence and working alongside local organizations, businesses, and citizens for wholesome solutions.
Having visited, pre-pandemic, City Hall many times, I’ve never seen a need for an “ambassador” inside the building. This sounds like a Rebecca Bjork, engineer, solution to a non-existent problem. Just as staff ceased watering the grass outside city hall, unlike at the fronts of public schools, for instance, and then said there needs to be hardscape instead of dirt, so stationing ambassadors where the claim will be that they have deterred problems inside Santa Barbarans’ building, City Hall.
That’s never happened, CG, that Council and staff would stand around City Hall lobby chatting; this is a make-work project or, rather, a make-excuse project to justify closing the City Hall early. Makes sense to have the “ambassadors” along State Street available to answer questions, but inside City Hall?@?