Santa Barbara County Homeless Czar Kimberlee Albers Moves South
Albers Takes New Position with County of Ventura
Kimberlee Albers, unofficial and de facto homeless czar for the County of Santa Barbara since 2018, has taken a job with the County of Ventura, where a new position was created giving her more direct and immediate authority. Albers, known for her vast, detailed, and encyclopedic knowledge about the many bureaucratic path points leading into and out of homeless care, took the position with Ventura County three weeks ago.
During her tenure with the county, the budget for Homeless Assistance programs grew from $3 million to $30 million. In part, this surge reflects the vast infusion of state and federal dollars made available during COVID to help deal with a flashpoint in a broader national health crisis. But it also reflected Albers’s keen understanding of the new funding sources then coming online and her ability to respond quickly.
Albers, who seemed animated by a quiet but definite sense of mission, expressed gratitude for the time she spent in Santa Barbara. To the extent that thousands of previously unhoused people found housing during her tenure, she was quick to credit her team.
In Ventura County, Albers will be reporting directly to the county administrator. In Santa Barbara, there were a couple of administrative rungs separating her from the chief executive. For those hoping to get things done, bureaucratic chain-of-command issues have real consequences.
Albers will be replaced on an interim basis by Emily Allen, who brings long and extensive experience with multiple organizations dealing with issues of homelessness.
Albers’s departure comes not just as state and federal funding for homeless-related projects winds dramatically down, but also as other key players in the county’s team have taken positions elsewhere. Lucille Boss — whose desktop computer provided a commanding view of every homeless encampment in the county — has recently transferred to another position within the county bureaucracy and will now focus on housing issues. Jett Black-Maertz, just elected to the City College Board of Trustees, also recently left the county to work as a private consultant specializing in homeless funding issues for local governments.
