Committee Formed To Run The Friends Of Bates Group

The SCNA Board of Directors approved a proposal by the Friends of Bates Beach to form a separate steering committee to oversee its future operations with the eventual goal of making legal the clothing-optional section of the beach at the Ventura-Sant Barbara County line.

The nine-person steering committee was put together at the group’s monthly meetup dinner in Ventura on October 8, 2021. The team will take over the tasks currently performed by the current director, Gary Mussell, who is planning to retire early in 2022.

Among the decisions of the steering committee approved by the SCNA Board is to establish new dues of $10 for membership in FOBB. This is separate from SCNA dues so that the organization can establish a source of income for FOBB independent of SCNA. The tentative date for starting the separate dues is proposed to be January 1, 2022.

The reason for the additional dues is that there are many expenses associated with running the Friends group’s organizational infrastructure, such as rental of a PO box, www.friendsofbatesbeach.org website maintenance, payment for the www.meetup.com website, printing of various brochures and handouts, and purchase of beach equipment such as a popup umbrella, carry-all wagon, volleyball set, etc. For the past fifteen years, SCNA has been paying for these, but they want to cut back. Plus, a major goal of FOBB is to become more independent.

There are no plans to separate into two different clubs at this time, as FOBB still needs the non-profit status and infrastructure benefits provided by SCNA.