County Social Services Chief Stepping Down

Kathy Gallagher, the longtime director of Santa Barbara County’s Social Services Department, is moving on to Contra Costa County. Gallagher’s department has perhaps gone through the roughest stretch of any during the recent recession — as more people needed help, her department was getting slashed. She told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday the decision was a bittersweet one, and came in part so she could care for her elderly mother.