Supporters ask Santa Barbara to extend Faro Center funding and lease for 120 days

Supporters of the Faro Center asked the Santa Barbara City Council on June 17, 2025, to extend the nonprofit's city funding and its lease for 120 days so the program can implement neighborhood, security and operational changes after the city canceled funding and the sublease in May 2025.

The request matters because Faro, operating with the nonprofit SB Act, serves people experiencing homelessness and, supporters said, helped more than 100 people move into permanent or semi-permanent housing in its first year. Public commenters told the council the extension would allow SB Act time to make neighborhood-facing changes and report back to the council with outcomes.

"Staff unfortunately unilaterally canceled critical funding for the Faro Center as well as its sublease as of May 2025," said Beth Collins, representing SB Act and the Faro Center, during the public-comment period. Collins said SB Act has since retained land-use, community-relations and security experts and has implemented initial changes. She told the council the organization has prepared a letter with 34 supporting letters attached and is requesting "a 120 day extension on both the funding and the sublease."

Collins said the city has asked SB Act to shift Faro from a drop-in center to an appointment-only model in response to neighbor concerns; she said service providers advising SB Act do not support an appointment-only model. Collins said the organization is exploring a membership model with strict neighborhood conduct requirements and shifting drop-in hours to reduce neighborhood impacts.

"We want to improve the neighborhood. We're making changes, real changes," said Mr. Sanders, a public commenter who identified himself alongside Collins. He asked the council to extend the funding and lease to Dec. 1, 2025, and said Faro has connected clients to mental-health care, case management and other services. "So please give us this a hundred and 20 days. Let us report back to you. Let us show you the outcomes, and let us finish what this council had the courage to start," he said.

Supporters also reminded the council that the body and the planning commission had voted unanimously in favor of the program a year earlier, characterizing the center as an effort the city had previously endorsed. Collins and Sanders said more community support letters were available and that many supporters had chosen not to speak to limit the meeting's length.

The council did not act on the extension during the public portion of the meeting. The agenda called for the council to adjourn to closed session under Government Code section 54956.8 (real property negotiations) and Government Code section 54956.9 (existing and anticipated litigation); the meeting record shows the council moved into closed session for those items. No public vote or formal council decision on the Faro Center extension was recorded in the portions of the meeting transcript provided.

City staff and council members were mentioned during public comment, but no city official provided a response on the record before the council recessed to closed session. The council indicated it would reconvene after closed session and, if possible, accept remaining public comments by remote participants if technical issues were resolved.