Each year during the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors budget workshops, department heads traditionally close their budget presentations with quotes that sum up their departments’ — or department heads’ — philosophy or goals or serves to inspire employees, the board or the public.
Here are the quotes from the 2023-24 budget workshops:
Behavioral Wellness
“In times of great change, it can be tempting to cling to what’s familiar and resist what’s new, but it’s in embracing the chaos that we find the courage to transform.”
— Karen Salmansohn
Behavioral change expert, designer, author, columnist
Public Health
“You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming … .”
— Pablo Neruda
Chilean poet, diplomat, politician, winner of Nobel Prize for Literature 1971, International Peace Prize 1950
Child Support Services
“Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than a parent.”
— Robert “Bob” Keeshan
Captain Kangaroo, children’s TV show host
First 5 Santa Barbara County
“School readiness is more than ABCs and 123s. It is also about the social/emotional factors that affect a child’s ability to learn and succeed. We must address aspects of the whole child.”
— First 5 Santa Barbara County Strategic Plan
Public Works
“Thank you.”
— Scott D. McGolpin, P.E.
Department director
Agriculture, Weights and Measures
“Agriculture is civilization.”
— Anonymous
Planning and Development
“Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”
— Ted Lasso
Sports comedy-drama TV series
Community Services
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Civil rights activist, Baptist minister
Auditor-Controller
“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”
— Reba McEntire
Country music singer, actress
Treasurer-Tax Collector
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.”
— Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor
“Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”
— William Butler Yeats
Irish poet, dramatist, writer, politician
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Human Resources
“If we want people to fully show up, to bring their whole selves including their unarmored whole hearts — so that we can innovate, solve problems, and serve people — we have to be vigilant about creating a culture in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected.”
— Brené Brown
Professor, lecturer, author, podcast host
General Services
“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”
— Roger Staubach
U.S. Navy officer, NFL quarterback
Information Technology
“Culture is not an initiative. Culture is the enabler of all initiatives.”
— Larry Senn
“Father of Corporate Culture”
District Attorney
“We won’t be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”
— Barack Obama
U.S. president
Probation
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
— Thomas S. Monson
Religious leader, author, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Public Defender
“Always do the right thing, even when the right thing is the hard thing.”
— Bryan Stevenson
Lawyer, social justice activist, law professor
Sheriff
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.”
— Hellen Keller
Author, disability rights advocate, political activist, lecturer
“Optimism doesn’t mean that you are blind to the reality of the situation. It means you remain motivated to seek solutions to whatever problems arise.”
— The Dalai Lama
Spiritual leader and head of Tibet
Fire
“Those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others.”
— Booker T. Washington
Educator, author, orator, adviser to presidents
County Counsel
“If you got a problem, I got a problem too.”
— Joy Oladokum
Singer-songwriter, from album “In Defense of My Own Happiness,” 2021
County Executive Office
“Unity is strength … when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can happen.”
— Mattie Stepanek
Author, poet
