Watch: Josh Stirs the Simmering Pot at City Hall as Gwyn Scores Talk with Famed Legal Scholar Who Sheds Bright Light on Race

On a new episode of Newsmakers TV, the editors-in-chief of the Montecito Journal and the News-Press drop by to break down the latest consequential stories in Santa Barbara -- and beyond.

Wendy Santamaria’s demagogic rant about funding for the Santa Barbara Police Department fanned the flames of discord over the city budget this week, a heated dispute already simmering from the campaign politics of the mayor’s race.

Just two weeks before the legal deadline for adopting a budget, the City Council failed for a second time to pass an annual spending plan, amid accusations and finger-pointing between mayoral rivals Kristen Sneddon and Eric Friedman that seemed tame compared to rookie member Santamaria’s over-the-top incivility and personal attacks on colleagues.

Josh Molina breaks down the policy and political play-by-play on this week’s edition of Newsmakers TV, as an election-season scramble to explain how City Hall burned through tens of millions in emergency budget reserves begins to shape the campaigns for three open council seats, as well as the at-large mayor’s contest.

Gwyn Lurie, editor of the Montecito Journal, also joins the genial host, spotlighting her company’s new “Giving List Women Trailblazer Series” of public forums with a recap of her illuminating conversation with pioneering legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw this week, as pro-democracy Americans marked the Juneteenth holiday celebrating the official end of slavery after the Civil War.

One of the most influential thinkers and practitioners in the field of critical race theory — a framework for excavating the racism in American society — Crenshaw also founded the theory of “intersectionality” for understanding how multiple forms of inequality and inequity converge in law, culture, and society.

The gang also breaks down the just-adopted deal to redevelop the Paseo Nuevo mall, including the giveaway of a hugely valuable chunk of city land, and its potential impact on the relative levels of commerce downtown and on Coast Village Road.

Plus: the Solstice Parade still isn’t on State Street — seriously?

All this and more right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.

Check out Episode 573 via YouTube below or by clicking this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or SoundCloud. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on weekends.

Image: CSUN University Library.