“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then we elected them,” said Comedienne Lily Tomlin.<\/p>\n
Tomlin certainly wasn’t referring to this year’s crop of Santa Barbara City Council <\/a>candidates, who were nothing if not sincere about their affection for this community and their desire to make it “an even better place to live, work and play,” in Helene Schneider<\/a>‘s parlance.<\/p>\n To fill the three open slots, city voters have one incumbent (Babatunde Folayemi<\/a>), and nine additional candidates to consider, including Brian Barnwell, Scott Burns, Robert Cawley, Bob Hansen, Michael Magne<\/a>, Charles Quintero, Schneider, Das Williams and write-in candidate Bruce Rittenhouse.<\/p>\n Which of the contenders will best serve your neighborhood? Hopefully, The Beacon’s interviews help you decide.<\/p>\n Age: 57<\/p>\n Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser and Carpenter<\/p>\n Background: Vietnam Veteran; Community volunteer for Peabody Charter School, Santa Barbara Junior High, Pony League Baseball, Public Education Foundation, Elings Park, Community Youth Performing Arts Center, Rental Housing Mediation Task Force, Planning Commission.<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the city council?<\/p>\n BB: \u2026 I love the town very, very much. I have no desire for higher political office, which has freed me to a great degree from any of the ego that\u2019s associated with running for these offices. I just want to help the city and protect the city and save it and keep it, as I love it. And I think I can bring to that task my experience and do the kind of job that Santa Barbara really deserves. I don\u2019t have a steep learning curve. I know how things are working and I\u2019ve got some ideas about trying to continue to make it the great place it is. But it basically stems from a love of the town. I\u2019ve been in love with the town since I first came here as a teenager. \u2026 This is the time; if I want to do anything I should do it.<\/p>\n LD: What issues would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n BB: If you\u2019re running for city council and you don\u2019t want to keep the place clean and beautiful, then you shouldn\u2019t be running. \u2026 But having said that, I think the two largest issues facing us are housing and transportation. And I think they relate in the sense that housing is the issue and transportation is the key.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think either of those two issues can be handled anymore by the city of Santa Barbara alone, they need to be handled on a regional level<\/p>\n \u2026I have a couple of pet projects \u2013 I\u2019d like to see Pershing Park field turned into a legitimate ball field so that the Forrester\u2019s could play there and maybe we could have visiting professional teams play there.<\/p>\n Because of my experience with the schools, I\u2019d really like to establish some serious cooperation with the school district. The city has a huge planning staff with a lot of experience in land use and I know that the school district is pressed for funds \u2026 I would like to help them utilize their land better and maybe capitalize on some of the assets that they have that they don\u2019t realize they have.<\/p>\n \u2026 We\u2019ve got an outstanding Parks and Recreation Department \u2026 but I\u2019d like to see some more skateboard parks. … One of the hoteliers down at the beach has suggested we continue the lawn that\u2019s on the east beach side of Stearns Wharf \u2026 west between Stearns Wharf and the Marina; so there\u2019d be green grass in that section. \u2026 It\u2019s underused, and it would nice if we could just put in 30-40 feet with grass.<\/p>\n \u2026 I want to preserve neighborhoods and bring the focus back on Santa Barbara. I know that we owe our very existence to visitors and tourists and that\u2019s a given. But I want to bring the focus of the city back to the citizens who live and work here. And I want to restore some confidence in governance. I want people to feel as though they can depend upon consistency. And I think I can bring that, if anything else I can bring that because I have a long record of both familiarity with the city and as well as how the city government works.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n BB: I like the way Santa Barbara is a walking town. \u2026 We are blessed by our geography, steam, mountains and beach\u2026 Probably the heart and soul of my platform \u2026 is neighborhood preservation. Trying to hang onto that old-timey feeling, that walkability feeling, while at the same time recognizing we\u2019ve got to do something about housing. We\u2019ve got to build a little bit more.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change?<\/p>\n BB: I think regional cooperation is top on the list. And transportation, I\u2019d like to institute that light rail. I\u2019d like to get that bottleneck removed in the least offensive way.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n BB: We\u2019re going to have serious budget problems. \u2026 I am a big supporter of police and fire, and I believe that we\u2019ve cut that budget to the bone. I\u2019d have to be very much convinced that we need to cut it any further. Having said that I think probably water (is a priority). I see water as one of those enterprise funds that generates its own money through the rate payment on water, so water is kind of taken care of.<\/p>\n And then after that we get to the things that make life wonderful \u2026 Parks and Recreation and the planning department and the harbor and things like that. \u2026 They\u2019re all going to have to bear equally the burden of finding ways to trim even more.<\/p>\n LD: Where does preserving the environment factor in your values?<\/p>\n BB: Transportation is a huge issue. There is this growing \u2026 awareness in the environmental community that it\u2019s a big picture deal. Not just globally with the weather and the oceans and the air, but it\u2019s also globally and regionally with jobs and housing. And it doesn\u2019t work to fight one individual housing project or one individual construction, without recognizing that growth will occur, that people will continue to move here, and they need to get back and forth from their house to their work. And that means that if you want to preserve the environment, you\u2019ve got to get control, again, of transportation issues, and housing issues, and how is the land used most effectively to house the people.<\/p>\n And then how are transportation systems created to be most efficient in moving people.<\/p>\n LD: Which current or former city council member do you admire the most?<\/p>\n BB: Harriet Miller. She was a no BS woman. She was a practical idealist. I\u2019ve never met anyone at any level of government that could run a meeting the way Harriet ran a meeting. She is efficient, a keen manager of time. She\u2019s not hidebound by party politics or the way things have always been done. Plus she\u2019s a really, really sweet lady.<\/p>\n Age: 50<\/p>\n Occupation: Retired, former owner of Murphy Electric<\/p>\n Background: Community volunteer for Old Spanish Days El Presidente, Sunrise Rotary Club, Santa Barbara Children\u2019s Commission, UCSB, Goleta Chamber of Commerce, Roosevelt School<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the city council?<\/p>\n SB: The main reason I\u2019m running is my father. It\u2019s a legacy\u2026Back in spring; I got a little upset not with the city but with the state. If the state is getting so fiscally mismanaged, they\u2019re going to start negatively impacting the city. There\u2019s no one on the council with a long-term small business background, who is able to prioritize what they\u2019re doing with the limited resources. Fiscal accountability slowly kept getting dropped off the list. Not that I think that professional staff is doing anything wrong. They\u2019re doing an OK job, but not doing as good as a job as they could if they had someone looking over their shoulder saying OK, that\u2019s good, but how come you don\u2019t do this?<\/p>\n LD: What would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n SB: To maintain our quality of life in short term, we need to make sure our budget is balanced. We need to prioritize fiscal responsibility\u2026 at least running the city with the same regiment \u2026 a small business would. Audit the bed tax. From (City Finance Manager) Rob Peirson, I found out that he did not know what the accounts receivable aging was for the city \u2026 the finance department is doing a great job, but I think they\u2019re just not paying as much attention as I would like them to on certain items.<\/p>\n \u2026 We can\u2019t do every thing; let\u2019s try to do as much as we can. If you were to look back at the last 10 elections: housing, traffic, have always been issues, and there\u2019s not a whole lot the city can do. One of the unintended consequences of us being such a great city and making it so nice for the people that live here is other people want to live here.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change?<\/p>\n SB: Get it so people feel more accessible to the council. \u2026 As I\u2019m walking neighborhoods, I\u2019ve heard that issue probably as much as any one.<\/p>\n \u2026 I\u2019d love to get a greater turnout. I would love to be able to say that Santa Barbara has the highest percent of voters per capita. With that being said, if you run the city smoothly, generally people don\u2019t vote if they\u2019re happy. So that\u2019s a hard issue. If you want everyone to vote but you want to run the city so well that people are happy.<\/p>\n LD: How would you attack the problem of the jobs\/housing balance in our town?<\/p>\n SB: \u2026 I\u2019ve talked with a couple of different nonprofits about having homeowners pledge that when they sell their home a small percent of the selling price would go to a nonprofit that would help promote or fund or build workforce housing. \u2026This is way they can give back to the community.<\/p>\n We\u2019re working on \u2026 the details \u2026 because it\u2019s an outside of the box proposal, a realistic proposal that will work. It\u2019s not the only solution to the housing issue but it is one solution that these other groups have all gotten excited about.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n SB: The small town feel we\u2019ve got. You can see people on the street, sit and talk with them; you\u2019re able to communicate with them. We\u2019ve got a diverse city, with a lot of different people and a lot of different interests and we\u2019ve melted or melded together to a point where everyone cares about the city. It\u2019s small enough where you feel you can do something.<\/p>\n And there are so many things the city has here, the arts, the natural beauty, the beaches, and honestly the safety. I mean realistically if there\u2019s a shooting in Santa Barbara you hear that there\u2019s a shooting and the person was apprehended.<\/p>\n \u2026 Fiesta makes the entire community go on vacation without leaving town and that helps makes this town very special. People can just relax, see their friends, have a party. The nonprofits, they make money from Fiesta. That\u2019s something that makes this a special town. And it helps bring the historical significance of Santa Barbara and early California, which a lot of California doesn\u2019t really have.<\/p>\n LD: How would you describe your political views?<\/p>\n SB: I would call myself a radical moderate. I\u2019m more liberal than most of my Republican friends, and I\u2019m more conservative than my Democratic friends. I would say I am a fiscally responsible person with a liberal or a tolerant social agenda or that I don\u2019t have a social agenda.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n SB: It\u2019s not just making money, but it\u2019s living within your means. Because of that I\u2019m able to retire. I\u2019m one of six children and the other five will work until they\u2019re 65. What did I do different? What was I thinking? \u2026. I\u2019ve always looked at things in a way that makes sense, and I\u2019ve always tried to live within my means. I\u2019ve told people this and my wife is embarrassed, but the TV that we watch is a TV that we got as a wedding present in 1985. It still works. Why do we need a new TV? One of these years we\u2019ll probably buy a new TV, but we\u2019ll probably put that one in one of the other bedrooms. It\u2019s \u2026 living within your means and I think that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to bring to the city.<\/p>\n LD: Which current or former city council member do you admire the most?<\/p>\n SB: Probably Rusty Fairly<\/a>. He has given 12 years for the city. He\u2019s also made (the point), \u201cthe more you learn, longer you\u2019re on you, the more you realize you\u2019re there to do the long term planning.\u201d<\/p>\n Age: 58<\/p>\n Occupation: Owner, The Yoga Studio<\/p>\n Background: UCSB, Environmental Studies Degree; Peace Corp.<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the city council?<\/p>\n RC: It goes way back to 9\/11 \u2026 I heard Ralph Nader out at UCSB and he said if you want to make a change, if you want to make a difference, you have to get involved. \u2026 The more I look into our city, the more I see why I am running. \u2026 I\u2019m really running as a private citizen. I\u2019ve met with the mayor, every department head, except for airports \u2026 I\u2019ve been probably putting 40 to 50 hours a week into meetings and research and talking to people.<\/p>\n \u2026 The city spent about $40 million for a homeless shelter at Cacique Street, Transition House, Salvation Army and Rescue Mission \u2026 and then they turn around and they only give the homeless shelter about $60,000 a year. \u2026 The money that comes into the city is for everybody, not just for the Downtown Organization or the people like that.<\/p>\n LD: So what would your plan be to help the homeless?<\/p>\n RC: My plan would be to give this Bob Hansen (council candidate and homeless advocate) a little job. He knows what they need or what they want.<\/p>\n LD: How would you pay for these programs?<\/p>\n RC: Freeze all salaries and benefits for a year. What I would trade for that is if you have a guaranteed raise given to you in time off. \u2026 Say you had a 5 percent raise coming; you\u2019d get 5 percent off (1 day per month). The result would be less traffic, time for family, alternative transportation. The city has been using its reserves, so there is no money. The tourists are pretty much maxed out; so there\u2019s not going to be a whole lot more money coming from that.<\/p>\n LD: What would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n RC: I\u2019d take care of the homeless folks. That\u2019s just such bad karma. \u2026 I think if they had $600,000 a year they could really make strides.<\/p>\n Second on my list would be this Granada parking garage. \u2026 I would like to put that on hold, that\u2019s redevelopment money intertwining all that is that part of Granada Performing Arts Center. \u2026 They want to build this garage that will destroy more of our views. It\u2019s fine to have all these things, performing arts and this and that, but not when you have citizens living on the street. I just want it that everybody gets a fair shake.<\/p>\n LD: What do you think about the arguments that a project like this would actually help revitalize that part of downtown and bring more money into the city to help with social programs?<\/p>\n RC: You know they\u2019ve been shoving that down our throats for so many years, patting themselves on the back for making State Street so nice. State Street\u2019s a wonderful thing, but I don\u2019t want to walk down lower State Street at night. There are 36 bars down there and it\u2019s alcohol-driven. \u2026 The cost to society from this money that they say they bring in. \u2026 They do not have the overall concern for the city. \u2026 On the one hand, it\u2019s what are you going to do about Highway 101 and all that traffic, and no one will step up and say here\u2019s what we have to do, we have to scale back the special events that the city promotes every year.<\/p>\n During Fiesta, police officers put 147 people in jail, issued 509 misdemeanor tickets, 311 citations to errant drivers and pedestrians, and 278 parking tickets. What do you think that costs in police time?<\/p>\n \u2026 All of these things were wonderful in their inception; they were designed for people in the community to have a good time. Because the city so heavily promotes it with advertising money, they say 80,000 people attended the Summer Solstice Parade. That\u2019s a lot of traffic, that\u2019s a lot of pollution, that\u2019s a lot of garbage. It all costs money. Those things are about maxed out. They have to start going backwards a little bit. \u2026You just don\u2019t advertise them as heavily. \u2026 (Police) Chief Sanchez \u2026 did say 80 percent of these are alcohol related. \u2026 We\u2019re subsidizing the liquor industry.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n RC: The view of the ocean. You\u2019ve got ocean, mountains, anything you want to do here. We\u2019ve got art, artists, great food, you can get all of the schooling you want here, there are six colleges. \u2026 All of these problems, everybody has to pitch in. People that have this community time, give them a job. They\u2019re just trying to find something to do. Work on the \u201cGreen Team\u201d as a way to work into a job with the city street cleanup \u2013 stir up more toxins than they pick up sometimes. \u2026 No drive days \u2013 that\u2019d be nice. A day without electricity, you find other things to do.<\/p>\n LD: How would you attack the problem of the jobs\/housing balance in our town?<\/p>\n RC: There\u2019s obviously an imbalance, a schoolteacher starts at $38,000 a year and an affordable apartment is $1,600 a month, so that\u2019s 2\/3 of your pay right there just to live in this town. I say you\u2019ve got to free up some money, some redevelopment money, there\u2019s a lot of money there to start with, and put those people that know what they\u2019re doing to work with it. We have incredible amount of resources in this town, there\u2019s every kind of expertise that we do need, it\u2019s a matter of channeling it in the right direction. Start with condensing your nonprofits. I think that\u2019s something I could get involved in.<\/p>\n Age: 63<\/p>\n Occupation: City Councilman<\/p>\n Background: Small business owner; community volunteer with the Housing Authority, the Human Service Commission, Pro-Youth Coalition and several other nonprofits.<\/p>\n LD: What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishments on the City Council?<\/p>\n BF: There are a number of things that I\u2019m happy about. \u2026 The inclusionary (housing) ordinance, \u2026 the living wage ordinance, the forward movement of the Granada Theatre. \u2026 I\u2019m happy about the fact that we started the street sweeping on Eastside \u2026 and the Westside. Those were really two important things that the people have been calling for awhile now. \u2026The position on the Patriot Act actually, that we took a stand as a community.<\/p>\n LD: What issues are your priorities?<\/p>\n BF: Equity, and some people may think that\u2019s vague, but it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s the essence all of my decision-making is based on. The fact that Santa Barbara is not a monolithic community. It\u2019s a very diverse community, and yet all segments of the community not only don\u2019t have representation but don\u2019t have an equitable part of the pie. My priority is trying to make sure that that happens. \u2026 Especially now as we plan the next 10 to15 years of Santa Barbara\u2019s future. If that plan doesn\u2019t include that large segment of the community, then what kind of a city is it going to be?<\/p>\n \u2026 Santa Barbara\u2019s relationship to its neighbors \u2026 the problems that Santa Barbara is facing are regional problems. \u2026 Un-addressed they will become Goleta and Carpinteria\u2019s problems tomorrow.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like the RV situation \u2026 in the beginning, Goleta and the county took the position that well, \u201cthat\u2019s Santa Barbara\u2019s problem because most of them were here.\u201d But once the ordinances were passed and they started moving into Goleta and the county, then they realized \u201coh wow, that\u2019s what happens, if you make a law that only affects this place, people will go out here.\u201d As we plan the future, that coordinated vision has to happen because the solutions lie within that coordination.<\/p>\n When I was working with the gangs, it was one thing to address the gangs here in Santa Barbara, if we didn\u2019t also address to the north and south then all that would do is actually make them more vulnerable. \u2026 The 101 is like an artery, it connects all of these communities, you have to find a solution that benefits everyone who feeds into that artery \u2026 You hear that all the time, we need to take a regional approach, well the reason you hear it is because it\u2019s true. Now what we need to do is take it out of the state of being a mantra and put it into actual practice.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n BF: I\u2019ve lived in communities all over the world, literally, and the unique thing about Santa Barbara is its combination of its size and diversity. It\u2019s diverse enough, in all ways, I don\u2019t mean just diverse in terms of race or ethnicity or anything like that, I mean it\u2019s diverse in terms of its economic strata, it runs the gamut and there\u2019s enough here that Santa Barbara can really accomplish anything it wants to accomplish and it puts its mind to. I\u2019ve seen Santa Barbara rally around nonprofits that were financially in trouble, and in a matter of a couple of days, raise a half a million dollars to save a nonprofit. \u2026 They have a heart that\u2019s very compassionate and they\u2019re very involved in every aspect of their city\u2019s development and group.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change?<\/p>\n BF: It may sound simple, but again it\u2019s not, what I would like to see is institutional and government bodies that are representative of the community they represent. Meaning, our school system in some instances at some schools is 82 percent to 90 percent Latino and yet we have no Latinos on the school board. Our city is a very diverse population, and yet there\u2019s very little diversity on the council. Our principals and our teaching staff needs to be much more diverse because it\u2019s important for young people in school to see teachers that look like them. \u2026 And that\u2019s not a little thing, that\u2019s a major thing because that\u2019s what creates hope and imagination and creativity, that\u2019s what unleashes it in a young generation.<\/p>\n LD: How would you describe your political views?<\/p>\n BF: Progressive and socially focused. Socially progressive, if you\u2019ve got to put a label on it.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n BF: I think it revolves around the priority being people. For example, I would be more inclined to spend money that ensured a certain security or stability for people or a group of people than I would to put designer tile on lower State Street or than I would be inclined to create another luxury condo or time-share. My emphasis would always go toward putting the people at the heart of our spending. \u2026 It\u2019s about priorities. Spending is always about priorities. Sometimes expenditures now on the front end are more like investments on the long end.<\/p>\n LD: How would you attack the problem of the jobs\/housing balance in our town?<\/p>\n BF: I see them holistically and I see them as related \u2013 jobs, housing, transportation, all of those they\u2019re related and they have to be addressed in a holistic, related, fashion. For example, in terms of housing, I was at a forum out at Valle Verde senior complex and it hit me, why couldn\u2019t we have similar types of housing developments for teachers, or for police, or for firemen or for nurses. Cooperatives if you will, where people could pay into owning these homes.<\/p>\n One of the things that\u2019s important is a situation like that then would have to also have to transportation component that would allow people to get from that community to their work areas.<\/p>\n In terms of jobs, I really think we need to begin to retrain some of our workforce and to begin to encourage some other types of industry to come to this area. The high tech industry, for example, is particularly suited for that kind of thing, communications, industries that are clean environmentally and pay well. That calls for us to begin to develop a workforce that\u2019s capable of fitting into that kind of a market. I think we need to begin to look at that. Because if we continue to just be a service driven economy, then we\u2019ll never close that gap between what workers earn and the cost of living here. It\u2019s just going to get wider.<\/p>\n LD: What about neighborhood compatibility?<\/p>\n BF: One of the reasons that Santa Barbara is so desirable to live in is because it is a planned community. Things don\u2019t just happen haphazardly \u2026 You have the historic preservation side, you have a number of watchdog groups that make sure that the various kind of the unique little communities that exist here and unique types of architecture aren\u2019t just bulldozed down and cookie box houses put in. I think that has to overlay all our decisions for future planning.<\/p>\n And the neighborhoods themselves should have input in that.<\/p>\n LD: What are your feelings about growth in the community?<\/p>\n BF: The cat\u2019s out of the box now, you can\u2019t put it back in. \u2026 Growth is inevitable but how we deal with this growth, the only way we can deal with it equitably<\/p>\n Age: 56<\/p>\n Occupation: Unemployed<\/p>\n Background: Homeless advocate, teacher<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?<\/p>\n BH: I would like to be a voice for the people that are unhoused in Santa Barbara. Help people that have been badmouthed by the people in the press. It\u2019s disgrace what\u2019s happening in our country. \u2026 Let\u2019s try to help these people.<\/p>\n Some examples, the work wall on Yananoli Street, we should have like they have in Malibu, an office when a person comes back after they\u2019ve had someone work.<\/p>\n \u2026 Most shelters turn out to be minimum-security programs. Basically why I would like to be on City Council is to represent those people \u2026 really try to be an example in the nation.<\/p>\n LD: How many homeless do you think there are in Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n BH: Way over what we really think. My guess would probably be 5,000 around. The visible ones would probably be about 1,000.<\/p>\n Now that rents are going up, people can\u2019t even afford, making $8 an hour, either doubling up and barely making it that way. Some people are living out of a car. What\u2019s going to be the end result? \u2026 There are so many big houses in Santa Barbara that could house more people. We should try to come up with other ideas. Shared housing. Having places where people can stay. The shelter is only open Dec. 1 \u2013 April 1. It doesn\u2019t have lockers \u2026just the size you would see when you were going to high school. They don\u2019t have washers and dryers to wash your clothes \u2026 we really need to get the homeless involved. They should be helping at the shelter but they don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n Over at the Fellowship Club there are a lot of people helping each other. Still this whole thing we need to do it nationally. Like Earth Day started here in Santa Barbara. We need to be an example like Earth Day.<\/p>\n \u2026 Things have gotten better but things have gotten worse too. \u2026 Really homeless people don\u2019t have any rights. (When) you step into a shelter; your rights are really gone.<\/p>\n LD: Other than the homeless, what issues would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n BH: \u2026 The restrooms downtown. In San Francisco they have coin-operated restrooms, self-washing restrooms, looks nice right on the street. Why can\u2019t we have those?<\/p>\n Another thing is if you don\u2019t have a restroom people have to go into a restaurant. In the night scene on lower State Street there are lines, people urinating in parking lots in stairwells, around the corners. The courts make a big joke about it. They do bring in some Porta-potties on Friday and Saturday nights but there are no signs like there are in other communities.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n BH: I think right now our tourist trade is booming. There should be more for the people here\u2026We need to think out of the box and come up with ideas. They talk about having the Internet, people could check in with each other to do car pools. Do rideshare. Anything and everything. The city has money to do that. That could be toward the community, not toward the tourist industry. It\u2019s going to flourish forever. But you have people complaining because of taking in $9 million instead of $10 million.<\/p>\n I think the whole thing is crazy, basically money rules the world and Santa Barbara and the people down at the bottom get the shaft. \u2026People really don\u2019t care as long as they\u2019re making money.<\/p>\n We\u2019re spending $87 billion over in Iraq. We should be flying international distress signals \u2026 we need healthcare, we need education; let\u2019s get something going over here. \u2026 There isn\u2019t a national agenda of kind of really helping people. \u2026 Sometimes it takes a while. Like quitting smoking. It\u2019s hard to get into housing and pay the rent. We got to show that we care. If something\u2019s broken we don\u2019t throw it away we do the best we can.<\/p>\n LD: What about neighborhood compatibility?<\/p>\n BH: The community really needs to decide what we all want to do. Is it going to be just another Beverly Hills? \u2026 I would like to see the community get involved in the whole debate of is this what we want instead of 50 years from now when it\u2019s all done.<\/p>\n LD: What are your feelings about growth in the community?<\/p>\n BH: I think it needs to be balanced. There are some people in this town that are rich and some are poor. \u2026 Like the bigger houses that are already here, maybe try to get some zoning so that we can share them.<\/p>\n LD: Which current or former city council member do you admire the most?<\/p>\n BH: Gerry DeWitt, I loved him and wish he had run for mayor last time. I think he had a conscience and stood up for a lot of different things. He was a great city council person and would be a good mayor. Babatunde is kind of like that now.<\/p>\n Age: 44<\/p>\n Occupation: Owner, Jensen Audio Visual<\/p>\n Background: Community volunteer for Park and Recreation Commission, Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, SPARKLE, Santa Barbara Young Professionals; Citizens Police Academy Graduate<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?<\/p>\n MM: One of the main reasons why I\u2019m running is the financial crisis that we\u2019re facing. The city itself has done a great job. I\u2019ve had the fortune over the last year to attend all of the council hearings and budget hearings over the 2004 budget. The city is doing very good financially because of previous councils that have set up really prudent policies. And one of them is to make sure that we don\u2019t spend one-time monies on ongoing expenses. It sounds simple, that people would say yes this makes sense, but that\u2019s one of the problems that they didn\u2019t get. Some people can view it as well, we got this money, let\u2019s go ahead and spend it on this. Where\u2019s it coming from?<\/p>\n LD: What issues would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n MM: Youth in the community has always been a priority and that\u2019s one of my big involvements with the Parks and Recreation commission. I think it\u2019s really important that kids get taken care of. Especially in these economic times when schools are making budget cuts, more and more pressure\u2019s going to come upon the city to help.<\/p>\n \u2026 If you don\u2019t give kids something to do, they\u2019re going to do something. To me it makes more sense to give them more positive alternatives.<\/p>\n The third issue is the environment. I\u2019m very much concerned about the environment with creeks advisory committee being under the parks and recreation and watching what they do with their budget and how spending is going.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n MM: I really have to say the people \u2026 when I was 25 I moved to Santa Barbara, and when I moved here it really became my home. And a lot of it had to do with the people. They\u2019re very warm and welcoming.<\/p>\n This community gives back so much. You figure there are all the nonprofits in this community, how generous they are. \u2026 Even though Santa Barbara is big and growing it still has a lot of small town character to it. The city\u2019s done a really good job of managing it. Of being able to continue to prosper and yet maintain its charm. And you know there are always people that are going to be complaining and (say) \u2018I remember back when\u2019 \u2026 but I think it\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n MM: That it not change. I don\u2019t want to change it.<\/p>\n LD: How would you describe your political views?<\/p>\n MM: Very moderate. I think before you can do anything socially you need to have a sound financial background and funding. I think it\u2019s extremely important that financially that we\u2019re very prudent with our funding.<\/p>\n LD: How would you attack the problem of the jobs\/housing balance?<\/p>\n MM: The city\u2019s done an amazing job of helping to provide affordable housing. The city controls four percent of the housing units, which are affordable. If you look back through the history of Santa Barbara, there\u2019s always been a housing crisis. And I truly believe it\u2019s always going to be. It\u2019s a regional issue that the city will never be able to undo the problem. It can help, but it has to have the cooperation of the county, the cities of Carpinteria and Goleta.<\/p>\n It really needs to be a regional approach that we sit down together and work out how we can come to jobs\/housing balance. There\u2019s going to be a lot of give and take on many different issues, and so as a community we need to come to those balances. Whether it\u2019s going to be traffic on the freeway or increased density or other forms of mass transportation.<\/p>\n LD: Do you feel like the different jurisdictions can work together effectively on this issue?<\/p>\n MM: They haven\u2019t. Currently from what I\u2019ve seen, the city of Goleta and Santa Barbara don\u2019t even talk to each other. The city of Goleta is suing Santa Barbara over the airport because they don\u2019t want these safety improvements to be done to the runway when it\u2019s a regional airport. \u2026 It\u2019s sad when a city\u2019s going to court with another city over a safety issue. That to me is a complete waste of both cities\u2019 tax dollars and a very poor use of our legal system.<\/p>\n LD: Would you try, if you were on the council, to reach out to Goleta?<\/p>\n MM: Oh, absolutely. I have even attended many of the Goleta City Council meetings. I think it\u2019s important that there is a dialogue between them. To just sit down and say we need to sit down and work on these regional issues. Guess what. We\u2019re not going to agree about everything. I don\u2019t agree with my wife about everything but we work through it. The issues don\u2019t stop at the city or county lines. The issue of water quality doesn\u2019t stop at the county boundary or the city boundary. Traffic doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re in the county or in the city; traffic is traffic. The jobs\/housing imbalance, it\u2019s all one. The city of Santa Barbara is in a bind because we\u2019re landlocked, we don\u2019t have much space, we have those types of geographical limitations.<\/p>\n LD: What about neighborhood compatibility? Appeals of planning commission decisions?<\/p>\n MM: There have been problems with neighborhood compatibilities. The city is working on the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance, to help solidify it and make it streamlined and more understanding. \u2026I think the process has worked fairly well, but there are some examples where it has to be adjusted. You drive through different neighborhoods, and go \u201cthis doesn\u2019t fit.\u201d But then you have Bungalow Haven, it\u2019s great. The passion that those folks have for their area is just great. It really is a great sense of community over there.<\/p>\n LD: Which current or former city council member do you admire the most?<\/p>\n MM: Current, Rusty Fairly. What he has done for our community has just been astounding. Here\u2019s a man who was a teacher and a coach and he still brings that to the council. He\u2019s been a great teacher and supporter and I still sit down and talk with him quite frequently. It\u2019s really been rewarding to have his support.<\/p>\n Ex-mayor Hal Conklin. He\u2019s been a good friend. I felt the city lost a great mayor when he was ruled ineligible to continue because of the laws with the term limits. I was very supportive of him. I thought he was a great mayor \u2026 he\u2019s been a great supporter of our community, he\u2019s done a tremendous amount with the arts, and he\u2019s been a good friend and advisor over the years.<\/p>\n Age: 54<\/p>\n Occupation: Barber, real estate investor, actor<\/p>\n Background: Marine Corps. Veteran; Community volunteer for arbitration\/mediation (State and Santa Barbara Bar Associations), Civil Service Commission, Latinos for Better Government, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Fire and Police Pension Commission, Mexican Museum of Art, Latino Peace Officer Association, Latino Advisory Crime Committee, Oakland Private Industries Council, Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, Merchants Association, Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, Carriage and Western Art Museum, Marine League<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?<\/p>\n CQ: I think with all the years of experience I have under my belt, my life experiences, I am a son of elder parents, I\u2019m a brother, I\u2019m a dad, I\u2019m a grandfather. I know what it is to return a salute. I know what it is to be compassionate about our former heroes and current heroes. I understand what it is to deal with kids and issues, where they feel they\u2019re separate or disjoined from this community; I want to make sure they don\u2019t feel that way.<\/p>\n LD: What issues would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n CQ: I want people to see things happen. We keep blowing smoke about cleaning up creeks, cleaning up the waterways, etc. … Firefighters, and police officers, those are very special people. You\u2019ve got to look out for them and make sure they have all the equipment they need. I know we don\u2019t have EMTs that are going to protect lives in this community. I know the firefighters need more equipment to help them do their jobs. I want to make sure they get that equipment. I\u2019m not worried about $1 million dollars; $1 million is pits compared to lives.<\/p>\n I want to take people out of county jail and go in creeks and the riverbeds, I want to go to the judges here in town, the probation department and I want to take these guys \u2026 We\u2019re going to make them (guys from public works) now supervisors and assign them 25 people under them \u2026 clean up (and) separate the rubbish from the recycling, get the trucks and get them to where they need to go, and we\u2019re going to make that happen. We\u2019re going to clean up this community. And I want to see people feel good about doing their time rather than sitting behind bars because that\u2019s very degrading.<\/p>\n \u2026 You\u2019re going to teach kids to read, write, and keep up with their peers. Children in grammar school, in kindergarten, they don\u2019t see color differences. If you live in a house with one or two families or more, there\u2019s no place to study, there\u2019s no place to get the help and attention, especially if your parents don\u2019t speak the language. I understand that, I lived it. \u2026 I know what that feels like and I know where that stems from.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n CQ: Its environment, the feel, the look, the smell, this is chocolate cake, but you\u2019ve got to take care of it too. You don\u2019t leave it out, you don\u2019t let it spoil.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change?<\/p>\n CQ: I\u2019d like to get rid of some of the squalor. I see people living in these horrible houses, terrible; landlords are pulling big rents out of these dumps. I want to make sure that our building inspectors, they see a code violation you better clean those things up, fix \u2018em up, if you don\u2019t we\u2019re going to come and find and shut you down. \u2026 Going to help with low cost housing and that\u2019s going to have people have a little dignity around here. \u2026 I don\u2019t want anybody to walk on a broken or a missing sidewalk.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s a matter of issues and dollars, we fight landlords about not enough open space. Compromise, the money that would have gone to that open space or landscaping \u2026 it doesn\u2019t have to go to that property, it can go to public improvements. There are all kinds of ways to solve issues; you\u2019ve got to think outside the box for the better good of the public, for the better good of the city. \u2026 I want I want every gateway to Santa Barbara to look like its just greeting people saying, \u201cwelcome to Santa Barbara pal, this is our community, and say we\u2019re proud.\u201d<\/p>\n LD: How would you describe your political views?<\/p>\n CQ: I think I\u2019m a moderate. I\u2019m more interested in what\u2019s happening in my community and my neighborhood.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n CQ: I think the city\u2019s pretty much in good stead. \u2026 If I think it\u2019s an outlandish expense I\u2019m going to question it. I\u2019m going to say if we\u2019re going to do that, why can\u2019t we do that. What are the tradeoffs, where are we putting that dollar? Are we addressing the neighborhoods? Are we just getting a little bit out of our realm here? I won\u2019t go over the top with anything. I\u2019m going to be very responsible for the dollars that we spend. I want to drag people out of incarceration because I can give you an army of manpower, \u2026 to get into those creeks and stuff.<\/p>\n LD: Where does the environment factor in your values?<\/p>\n CQ: Any new construction in this community would have to go through the green programs where we look at double-paned windows, we have to look at solar, we have to look at the northwest setting of homes and apartments. We have to look at vegetation on planting of strategic landscape. We have codes in the books that have a requirement for two-car garages, we going to eliminate that. If it\u2019s one bedroom, one car, if it\u2019s two bedrooms, two cars. We\u2019ve got to stop accommodating the car. \u2028\u2028And if we do new buildings, I want them to be classy buildings where the parking is underneath the structure. … Giving less priority to the parking, therefore we can improve public transportation. If you have to make them use it, then you have to make them use it.<\/p>\n Age: 32<\/p>\n Occupation: Human Resources Director, Planned Parenthood<\/p>\n Background: Has worked with Assemblyman Jack O\u2019Connell, the Housing Authority, Santa Barbara Human Resources Association, Santa Barbara Woman\u2019s Political Committee, Santa Barbara County Action Network, Building Bridges, California National Organization for Women PAC.<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?<\/p>\n HS: \u2026 I want to bring my perspective of the 30-something working person to the council on issues ranging from environmental protection and places where we can play and love where we are and try to have opportunities for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and family-size and what not to be able to enjoy living here too. \u2026 I don\u2019t want it to become a place for students and poor people living 20 people in a house and then retired and rich people over here and nothing in the middle.<\/p>\n LD: What are the priority issues for you?<\/p>\n HS: The biggest overarching one I think is how we deal with budget. I think the city\u2019s done a good job in preparing for the rainy day, and the storm is a coming. It\u2019s already gotten cloudy, it\u2019s already rained a little bit but we don\u2019t know what\u2019s on the horizon. We still don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen to state, we still don\u2019t know how the state is going to try to resolve its deficit on the backs of cities and counties and what is that going to mean to us. The city\u2019s a service organization \u2026 all that takes money. So that\u2019s the big picture.<\/p>\n LD: How do you address that?<\/p>\n HS: I think we obviously we need to be very careful about it, we need to be very smart, we need to be balanced, we need to fair in terms of what we do with money. I\u2019m not someone to say absolutely no in terms of what comes across my desk. I want to ask, \u201cOK, what\u2019s the cost if we don\u2019t do this?\u201d In terms of staffing \u2026 the cost of training and turnover and what not, if we don\u2019t do it. We can\u2019t just freeze it and say we\u2019re in a budget crisis because you\u2019re going to spend money anyway.<\/p>\n And then it comes to safety issues and that to me is both public safety and environmental safety. I\u2019m a housing authority commissioner, I talk about workforce housing, it\u2019s extremely important, it is a priority, but you know what, if we don\u2019t have a safe place to live and if our creeks are polluted and we don\u2019t feel comfortable walking from point A to point B, nothing else really matters. That\u2019s a huge part of what the city needs to accomplish. So it\u2019s more broad-based.<\/p>\n And then the underneath it all, it\u2019s all about how to be a good employer. The city\u2019s a huge employer and that\u2019s what makes the city run \u2014 the people who work for us. How do you approach so that you can recruit and retain talented, creative, motivated, hard-working staff to do all the things we want so we can make sure our creeks are clean, so we can make sure that we have people who can move the planning process forward and people aren\u2019t gridlocked so that we can have a vibrant community of arts and festivals and you know things that bring people in to make this a vibrant community, so we can house people, all the things, so the potholes are filled, so the trees are trimmed.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n HS: I think we need to balance the budget any chance we get. When times are good we need to put money away into reserves because times won\u2019t always be good, and when times are bad it\u2019s okay to dip into reserves in order to soften the blow. And I think the city\u2019s approach they\u2019re taking to the budget is a smart one in that they\u2019re not doing a lot of layoffs, they are reducing the size and scope of the number of employees through attrition.<\/p>\n At some point I\u2019d be careful and concerned about how many employees leave. \u2026 Firefighters are a great example. I met with them \u2026 and one of the men explained how he had just finished a 23-day stint … I know I wouldn\u2019t want my house on fire on his 22nd day and part of that is because of the staffing issues.<\/p>\n \u2026 I think we need to ask just because something was done or has been structured a certain way in the past and it\u2019s always been done that way doesn\u2019t mean that it has to be done that way from now forward. Times have changed and there\u2019re more people here and technology is different, and what are things we can do that can help people who work here and reduce costs at the same time.<\/p>\n LD: How would you attack the problem of jobs\/housing balance in our town?<\/p>\n HS: Well, again that deals with the gap of workforce housing opportunities here. So in planning in a way to still protect our open space, keep our creeks and oceans clean and all that and look at mixed use projects along the downtown core, along transportation corridors, along with working with larger employers and trying to partner with them. \u2026 It\u2019s still essential to have good paying jobs here. There are things that we can do to ensure those good paying jobs.<\/p>\n We still want, everything from our own city staffing, public safety and public works, cleaning our creeks, they\u2019re all essential things. I\u2019d like to see if the housing authority or other organizations are going to do workforce housing projects, to look at our critical workforce here. It\u2019s crazy that our healthcare professionals and our teachers and fire, police \u2026 I mean they make good money and aren\u2019t able to live where they work. I think the community loses. And administrative staff, they\u2019re the ones that keep things going.<\/p>\n LD: What about neighborhood compatibility?<\/p>\n HS: That\u2019s essential, absolutely. First I think there needs to be a lot of education about what it is we\u2019re talking about when we talk about density or when we talk about mixed use or when we talk about larger units \u2026 so that if there are disagreements, we\u2019re disagreeing over the same thing\u2026 I think the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance is essential because that\u2019s a great collaborative process and we\u2019re going to hear from people who live in these neighborhoods and look at what does it mean to be a neighborhood. \u2026 So that\u2019s a big piece.<\/p>\n LD: Where does the environment factor in your values?<\/p>\n HS: You can have anything you want in the city, but if you don\u2019t have both environmental and public safety, nothing else matters. People love Santa Barbara because of where it is on the planet and its environmental beauty and that\u2019s something that we absolutely have to protect and preserve.<\/p>\n Age: 29<\/p>\n Occupation: Master\u2019s Degree Candidate and Teaching Assistant, UCSB, Environmental Studies; Legislative Aide (on leave) for Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson<\/p>\n Background: Grew up in Santa Barbara; worked with Nelson Mandela\u2019s African National Congress, California Democratic Party, County Supervisor Gail Marshall, Community Environmental Council, Environmental Defense Center, Vote the Coast P.A.C, Santa Barbara County Action Network, Living Wage Coalition<\/p>\n LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?<\/p>\n DW: This is my home. \u2026 To me the most important jobs in the community are city and county level, and the coastal commission.<\/p>\n \u2026 And I believe the people in Santa Barbara want or believe in the same things that I stand for, which are clean water, good transportation and good planning, and empowerment of the neighborhoods. Those are issues that transcend ideology. They\u2019re not about left or right; they\u2019re about Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n LD: What would you most like to see change?<\/p>\n DW: I would like to have the city respect and pay attention to its neighborhoods. I think when people come to city hall, they want to know that their council members haven\u2019t already made up their mind before they\u2019ve been heard and that their opinion matters as much as anybody else in the city no matter how powerful they are. I will be that kind of council member that listens to the neighborhoods. That not only listens to them when they come to city hall but go out to the neighborhoods and listens to them. \u2026 I think whether it is true or it is only perception, the neighborhoods \u2014 whether they\u2019re working class, middle class or affluent in this community \u2014 don\u2019t feel like their opinion matters as much as it should. Now I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s true or not, but I think it\u2019s a problem that they feel that way. And I want to make sure that they don\u2019t feel that way by effectively engaging the neighborhoods and representing the neighborhoods.<\/p>\n LD: What about your views on spending?<\/p>\n DW: \u2026 I think being fiscally responsible goes beyond being fiscally conservative. You can\u2019t address basic infrastructure and economic needs of a community by just shutting down and hoping the problems go away. \u2026 I think investing in basic infrastructure, like clean water, like a good transportation system, is one of the best ways we can do that. \u2026 In the short term it would create more jobs, because sewer replacement and rail authority create jobs. And in the long run it would also create more jobs because it would be easier for business to operate here in Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n LD: What issues would be your priorities if elected?<\/p>\n DW: One of those is clean water. I\u2019ve done a lot of environmental work for Hannah-Beth, including this oil bill that was just signed into law by the governor \u2026 I wrote that for Hannah-Beth \u2026 I\u2019ve also helped on creek and ocean water quality issues with Hannah-Beth. And I\u2019d like to take my policy experience to city hall to tackle the issue of water quality. I think it\u2019s important to Santa Barbara, not just from an environmental perspective, but it\u2019s part of our identity to have clean water. It\u2019s a public health danger if people don\u2019t know when it\u2019s safe to take their kids out into the ocean. But it also poses an economic threat to us. Every time there\u2019s a beach closure it means less business in town, fewer jobs and less revenue for the city.<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s one of the best examples of why sometimes it\u2019s the most fiscally responsible thing to do something rather than not do something. People say fiscally conservative but that implies that you don\u2019t do anything about the economy or that you shut down operations in the city and you cut departments. My viewpoint is that there is a cost to doing something but there is also sometimes a cost to not doing something. Water quality is one of the best examples of that. If we don\u2019t spend money to clean up our creeks and oceans we\u2019ll have less money in the future.<\/p>\n LD: What do you appreciate most about Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n DW: The natural beauty of our coast, and the inner beauty of Santa Barbara\u2019s people. We\u2019re a different kind of place; we\u2019re a place where the prosperity of Santa Barbara\u2019s business and the health of the environment go hand in hand. I believe the interests of working families in Santa Barbara are also in the best interest of the economy in Santa Barbara. And our best example of that is transportation, which is the second most important issue. \u2026 We need to take a large step, which is to begin our regional rail authority with Ventura County and North County governments and split the cost of a commuter rail. I think nothing would be more beneficial for the working families here, I think nothing would be more beneficial for the environment. And nothing would be more beneficial for business.<\/p>\n LD: What are your feelings about growth in the community?<\/p>\n DW: I am a firm believer in protection of open space, protection of the coast and I have always supported slow growth candidates and helped elect those folks. But I do think that we need to provide enough affordable and workforce housing that we do not lose the middle and working class of Santa Barbara, which we are in danger of doing. \u2026 I also wouldn\u2019t want to see inaction on our part in the city be a cause of the development and the destruction of adjacent coastlines which are a part of our identity and a part of our city. The Gaviota Coast may not be in the city boundaries but it\u2019s a part of who we are. The Ellwood Bluffs and More Mesa, these are places that are part of Santa Barbara and part of who we are.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t write off write-in candidate Bruce Rittenhouse. In his multiple runs for City Council, the 63-year-old retired insurance investigator, Michigan police officer and U.S. Army veteran has become well-known as a Westside activist and City Hall agitator.<\/p>\n Rittenhouse said the council lacks leadership, and that the other candidates will make little difference to the city.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need any more nice people in office,\u201d said Rittenhouse, who is campaigning on a platform that includes a referendum on district elections, medical marijuana implementation, ending the city\u2019s use of consultants, replacement of sewer lines and sewer treatment upgrades, keeping the homeless shelters open 24\/7 and full time pay for City Council members. \u201cIt\u2019s time we recognize who we\u2019re here for. I would bring a difference in tone and attitude in city government from day one. Somebody\u2019s got to wake up,\u201d said Rittenhouse.<\/p>\nSnapshot: Brian Barnwell<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Scott Burns<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Robert Cawley<\/b><\/h4>\n
Name: Babatunde Folayemi<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Bob Hansen<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Michael Magne<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Charles \u201cCarlos\u201d Quintero<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Helene Schneider<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Das Williams<\/b><\/h4>\n
Snapshot: Bruce Rittenhouse<\/b><\/h4>\n
Originally published in South Coast Beacon on October 23, 2003.<\/a><\/h4>\n
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