Where was Wendy Santamaria during a crucial City Council meeting on October 1, 2024? Wendy has made it an issue that she would be present. She makes claims that District 1 Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez has not been present, even after hearing Gutierrez had medical issues. Is it acceptable to weaponize a councilmember’s health against her? I guess she does not consider Alejandra Gutierrez being present at a crucial council meeting to support the residents of District 1 important.
Where was Wendy’s voice on October 1 to speak out for all the residents? Where was she to fight for the neighborhood? Is this an indication of how she will perform if elected to city council? It appears that she has quickly fallen into classic projection, projecting her shortfall onto others. Wendy apparently filled out a speaker card. Mayor Rowse called out for her, but she was nowhere to be found! Did she go into hiding when it became apparent that her stance against more hotels (as she claimed on Santa Barbara Talks) was in opposition to many of the trade unions present in favor of the hotel project.
Where was Wendy during the California Voting Primary on March 5? Voting records do not show that she voted. Once again where was she? Absent as always! Ironically the person claiming to be there, is the person nowhere to be found! What can be more important than voting in the district you proclaim to represent?
Where was Wendy when the mom-and-pop landlords were meeting in District 1? Wendy claims that the Spanish-speaking landlords did not understand what was being said and they held up posters not understanding what was printed! Obviously, she was not present during the multitude of meetings where 95 percent of the District 1 landlords spoke both English and Spanish. Where was Wendy?
One of her opponents has called her a “carpetbagger” who just moved into her district to run for office. We don’t know if that statement is true, but it is becoming painfully obvious that she has not been in the district with residents or she would not have made such outrageous claims against mom-and-pop landlords.
Where was Wendy after a Rental Housing Mediation Program resolution to ask a landlord if they were happy with the results of a mediation? The mark of a successful mediation is when both parties leave not being pleased with the end results, yet she measures success based on only the tenants leaving satisfied and says she will renovate the program to reflect fairness for tenants. Where is Wendy’s unbiased assessment of a successful city program?
She calls Councilmember Gutierrez and people who work in District 1 sellouts for working with business and people in that district, all the while moving here and there, and getting paid to do so, representing groups when it serves her narrative. Where was and where is Wendy? What we do know is that Wendy has been a paid radical activist who works for the highest bidder, and she will be wherever that might take her to serve her own best interests!