Watch: Kristen Just Handed Eric an Issue that Re-Shapes SB Mayor's Race; Budget, STRs, Music Academy
As city finances suddenly dominate the agenda, the campaigns of moderate candidates for Santa Barbara city council seats may get an animating boost in challenging liberal rivals.
The shocking news this week that the city has burned through its budget reserve not only reshapes debate on major policy decisions in Santa Barbara, but also instantly transforms the race for mayor between council members Kristen Sneddon and Eric Friedman.
On a new episode of Newsmakers TV, Josh Molina and Sofia Wallace join the genial host to break down a big week of City Hall stories — including the advance of long-stalled legislation to regulate vacation rentals in the city, and suspension of the once-sacrosanct 45-foot building height limit on behalf of a Music Academy project viewed as critical to revitalizing downtown.
As a political matter, acrimony and finger-pointing over the startling disclosure that the city has blown through its contingency reserve — about 15 percent of the budget — suddenly places financial stability at the center of debate in the Nov. 3 election campaign for mayor and three soon-to-be-vacant council seats.
Sneddon, a liberal once seen as a formidable front-runner for mayor because of her enthusiastic embrace of rent control in a city where two-thirds of residents are tenants, for the first time finds herself in a defensive posture. The more moderate Friedman has suddenly found an opportunity to gain traction for his candidacy amid a political free-for-all over who is to blame for this week’s grim budget developments.
Not since Claude Rains expressed “shock — shock!” that gambling was going on in Rick’s casino in Casablanca has there been a less persuasive display of surprise than the one Sneddon evinced over this week’s disclosure that the city has exhausted its reserves — after she’s supported a raft of much-debated new spending on housing, immigration services, and a costly new rent board, among other initiatives.
“What do you think we voted against the budget for?” Friedman fired back. “For this very reason…It was very clear to me that we were going to be spending into reserves. And if we didn’t address the problem, this is exactly where we would be — in emergency reserves right now.”
Until now, liberal-leaning issues like rent control and the sovereignty of bicycles on State Street have dominated debate in the nascent council campaigns. The budget has now pushed onto center stage, animating the candidacies of more moderate contenders.
Check out our discussion of these and all the other big stories out of City Hall on this week’s episode, right here on Newsmakers TV.
Watch (or listen to) Episode 572 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.