Election Endorsements 2009

We should just return Santa Barbara to Mexico and be done with it. Calderon's government would address the gang problem far more effectively than these four apologists for violent and dysfunctional behavior.

The feel good keywords are all in this editorial. Progressive (Statist) establishment, neighborhood compatibility, homelessness, alternative transit, ecological sustainability, intervention, and prevention, not just tougher enforcement, and constructive (in bed with) relationships with the public employee unions. If you want Sacramento in Santa Barbara just vote for these four.

I agree with your appraisal and appreciate your work.What about Das Williams? Or is he not in running?

This is quite a interesting statement:

"Pritchett has been known to step on toes of both friend and foe, enough to give us pause. But we’ve witnessed a sincere effort to rein this in. If Pritchett continues to do so, we’re confident he can make an invaluable contribution to city government."

so the question is what if he does not continue his "sincere effort" to rein it in once he gains office, if he does?

Pritchett is not "in bed with" the public employees union, SEIU. Craig Smith had a round-up of major endorsements. Take a look. White and House are backed by that labor union. I personally don't have a problem with that as my grandpa was in a union. I still like David, however, as he seems independent of all groups seeking favor with City Hall. He's also advocated for better bus service, something very important to me.

BusRider, one item does NOT invalidate the overall point. Santa Barbara needs to completely change its political class. Just placing "light" versions of the current model does not forbode well.

The wrong people for our city's needs.

You should hear my neighbor go off about the public employees unions. They are overpaid! They have too much power! Well, I'm not an insider there, I don't know how much influence they have. My point is that David does NOT owe them anything because the unions are not giving him money or having volunteers help his campaign. I do know he's a working person himself from the Westside so he understands what it's like to depend on a modest paycheck.

I am voting yes on B.

The argument that it is not the whole solution is spurious.
If your house is on fire does that mean you would not use a garden hose when authorities say only a fire hose will do?

The argument that it is not sophisticated enough is too sophisticated. The purpose of the measure is to address height, not everything about building.

I think this measure is about people being angry about city hall not doing their job and it is time for the people to spank city hall for allowing monster buildings that have already changed the character of this town. I refer especially to The Pimple next to the Alano Club and, gasp, right across from the planning department at the city annex. Oy veh.

These too tall buildings are a chain saw cutting away our sky. Already we are starting to look like a mini Los Angeles, concrete canyons and too busy streets.

Progress is not our most important product, peach of mind is.

Forget Calderon--but while we are on the subject revisionist: (do you know what revisionism even means?), maybe Santa Barbara should take a page out of Calderon's book and host fraudulent elections--let's just go back to days of Santa Ana! Yeah. How about that guys? No traffic congestion, no buildings over 12 ft., no "rowdy" homeless people or under privileged Latino youth ruining our small town vibe? Throw in land grants for those descended from white Europeans and it sounds like utopia! Get real people, the Santa Barbara of your well-to-do grand daddies is done and dusted. It's time to roll with the times and find constructive solutions for the future, not nay say because your candidates back "solutions" that ignore the roots of our problems. I'd rather have a candidate work to find a multi-faceted solution to ending gang violence, rather than just throwing more bull-headed cops on the streets and then turning the debate to what us Santa Barbarans love most; the semantics of building aesthetics? Common.

I am voting NO on Measure B because I don't see Old Town Goleta as the vision for our city's future. We have a city charter in place, and Pearl Chase was part of making it. If 60 feet is good enough for her, it's good enough for me. Meanwhile, a bunch of noisy gray-haired retirees are hoping to squash our city flat? News flash: cities are vibrant, living things. OR they are mausoleums to (some people's) fear. It's your choice. Do you want a future with flexibility?
Or do you want a crypt?

VOTE NO ON MEASURE B if you want a city that lives and breathes.

As usual the Independant has endorsed the best candidates for our city government. Schneider would be an excellent mayor. White, House and Pritchett are excellent choices for city council. They all have my vote and I will be voting no on B.

Hey maximum,

I didn't know a city couldn't be vibrant or live and breath without buildings over 40ft. Gosh, I guess Santa Barbara's never been alive then.

I guess the majority of us locals want a "grateful dead" city.

The Indy has made a strategic mistake that may result in one of their least favorite candidates winning a seat due to vote splitting. If they were rational, they would have joined with these organizations and individuals in endorsing Dianne Channing:

Sierra Club, Los Padres Chapter
Santa Barbara City Firefighters Association
Santa Barbara Police Officers Association
Democratic Party of Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee
Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara Deputy Sheriffs Association
Santa Barbara County Young Democrats
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Tri-Counties Central Labor Council
1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal
Former 1st District Supervisor Naomi Schwartz
Former 2nd District Supervisor Susan Rose
Former Santa Barbara County District Attorney Stan Roden
Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum
Former Santa Barbara Mayor Harriet Miller
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Das Williams
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Roger Horton
Former Santa Barbara Councilmember Gerry DeWitt
Goleta Mayor Roger Aceves
Goleta City Councilmember Margaret Connell
Goleta City Councilmember Ed Easton
Former Goleta City Councilmember Cynthia Brock
Santa Barbara School Board Member Kate Parker
Santa Barbara School Board Member Susan Deacon
Goleta School Board Member Susan Epstein
Goleta Water Board Member Lauren Hanson
Goleta Water Board Member Bill Rosen
Former School Board Member Nancy Harter
Santa Barbara City College Trustee Joe Dobbs
Santa Barbara Harbor Commissioner Betsy Cramer
Single Family Design Board Member Bill Mahan
Parks & Recreation Commissioner Daraka Larimore-Hall
Historic Landmarks Commissioner Donald Sharpe
Campus Democrats at UCSB

et. al. (http://diannechanning.com/endorsements/)

Diane is a lovely person, but the Indy was right to back the candidates they respected the most. If you have watched any of the forums, many other candidates present themselves and their ideas in a much more powerful way than Dianne.

Perhaps some voters will be swayed by this list of endorsements. I'm thinking I want something much fresher than the same kind of politician that comes out of the endorsement-political machine that has given us Marty Blum, Brian Barnwell, and the other cast of characters CONTAINED within this list!

Right on, Independent. Except for the Measure B recommendation (I generally want less development in my city) I like your picks. David and Bendy helped stop luxury homes being built along Las Positas. Grant's wife is a great lady. I think they are strong enough to beat the developer-backed candidates: HotChicks and Michael (is that a woman?) Self. People will be able to see through all that super-funded propaganda from Texas developer Van Wolfswinkel, purse strings for HotChicks and Selfish. Apologies to the Dianne fan above. She doesn't have the oomph to be an effective leader.

"less development" is a misnomer. development is a fact of every city in existence - you can't not have it, you can only guide it. measure B sounds like a nice idea, but the reality is it's just far too rigid to be of any use - and there ALREADY is a limit on building height. Approving B only means it will have to be voted down further down the road after more headaches.

Its too bad the predicted turnout for this election is so low. We have 92K people in the city with 44K registered to vote, and the prediction is for less than a 16K turnout.

If that 16K represented a statistical sampling of all socio-political-economic classes, that might be OK. But that isn't likely. Without a Presidential election to draw out the voters, its gonna be the <insert group here> who call the shots in this election.