Tag archives: Randy Rowse

Bravery takes on many forms, some literal and some a bit more theoretical. But nuance aside, there is bravery in challenging the status quo, the “machine.” And believe you me, our local Democratic Central Committee (DCC) is a machine. Allow me to explain: Local party endorsements spring from the DCC, yet, because Santa Barbara is […]

“People are sick of party politics,” says Mayor-Elect Randy Rowse. And Santa Barbara’s District 4 is a prime example of it. A glance at the details of 2021 Election results for both mayor and city council make one thing quite clear — Santa Barbara’s District 4, portions of which lie in Montecito, is a definite […]

On Rinaldo Brutoco’s essay this week on the idea of red states and blue states: I like how he analyzed the question. The only problem with whole states going red or blue: every state has a ratio of each. Would such a divide then require that all “blue” persons living in a “red” state move […]

A familiar face will likely be returning to City Hall, as former Santa Barbara City Council member Randy Rowse has unofficially won the six-candidate mayoral race, with final and confirmed results expected late Thursday. Rowse would be the city’s first male mayor in almost 30 years, while also taking office as a no-party candidate, moving […]

MIT’s earth, atmospheric sciences department just cancelled a lecturer on climate because the speaker, at another venue and on a different subject, expressed an opinion arguing that universities are too obsessed with “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or DEI “which threatens to derail their primary mission: the production and dissemination of knowledge.” That cancellation actually proved […]

Santa Barbara’s incumbent mayor Cathy Murillo has gone on the attack just four days ahead of the 2021 mayoral election, with a mailer paid for by her campaign tying non-partisan candidate Randy Rowse to “Trump Loyalists and Republican Donors” — something Rowse told the Montecito Journal on Saturday that he outright rejects. The ad says “Rowse says he is a ‘non-partisan,’ […]

I found myself truly saddened by the article in the Montecito Journal regarding the Montecito Motor Classic — which is an emotional response that I’m sure few, if any, also experienced. And I have a question for the owners of these cars, to which I honestly and sincerely crave an answer. What is the professed […]

It’s become a useful axiom in national politics to ask voters: Are you better off than you were four years ago? Applied to the City of Santa Barbara, I don’t know anyone who would answer that question in the affirmative.  I don’t even believe the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party (known to insiders as the […]

With more than a decade served on Santa Barbara’s Planning Commission, Deborah Schwartz has navigated plenty of tough decisions, aiding in projects such as affordable housing and local economy relief. It’s all been good practice for her latest venture: running for mayor. It’s here that she will be faced with not only affordable housing and […]

A native of Iowa, Mark Whitehurst has made his impact on the Santa Barbara community through the use of his VOICE – the newspaper publication, that is. Whitehurst is a man of the world, having taught in Australia, while also working in Oregon at his brother’s newspaper before relocating to Santa Barbara some 27 years […]

If you’ve driven around town over the past six weeks, it’s been hard to miss the posters calling to elect “Boat Rat Matt” as Santa Barbara’s next mayor. It’s a moniker that Matt Kilrain embraces, and one that will take him to the November 2 ballot as he takes on incumbent Cathy Murillo, as well […]

Randy Rowse admits he had left it all behind – the politics, the late nights watching City Council meetings, the rigors of owning a business. The former Santa Barbara City Council representative was retired, and his wife loved it. But, over the past 18 months or so, monitoring City Council meetings became commonplace. He questioned […]

With numerous issues facing the city, the race for Santa Barbara’s mayor seat features a plethora of different backgrounds, with five challengers taking on incumbent Cathy Murillo. Murillo will take on James Joyce, Matt Kilrain, Randy Rowse, Deborah Schwartz, and Mark Whitehurst in an election that begins in early October as mail-in ballots arrive. For […]

James Joyce has been the ultimate guy behind the scenes, working with a California State Senator on a daily basis, guiding Hannah Beth Jackson’s attention toward what was needed. A key contributor to a beloved senator. And now it’s his time to step out front, although many in the community already know him from Coffee […]

Did you miss the The Great Mayoral Debate hosted by the Montecito Journal Media Group and Sonos? Don’t fret, we recorded it all, as we believe it is critical to arm voters with as much information as possible this election season. The debate featured incumbent Cathy Murillo and five challengers — James Joyce, Matt Kilrain, […]

In November, Santa Barbara residents will vote to elect their next mayor. Over the past weeks MJ writer Nick Schou has profiled in these pages the four candidates who have thrown their hats into the mayoral ring to lead Santa Barbara into its next chapter: Incumbent Mayor Cathy Murillo; James Joyce III, founder of Coffee […]

Readers of this column may have noticed that the Montecito Journal has in the past few months published a series of stories highlighting three candidates running for the office of Mayor of Santa Barbara: James Joyce, Deborah Schwartz, and last week, Randy Rowse. Noticeably absent on that list is the mayor herself, Cathy Murillo, who […]

As a 66-year-old downtown businessman Randy Rowse is no stranger to Santa Barbara city politics. In 1983, Rowse opened the Paradise Café across the street from the Santa Barbara News-Press; last year he sold the joint, which has now been re-christened La Paloma Café. A longtime Democrat, Rowse dropped his party affiliation in the 1990s, […]

Santa Barbara mayor Cathy Murillo was able to take a well-deserved bow last week as she and Josh Haggmark, City Water Resources manager; Cathy Taylor, Water Systems manager; Randy Rowse and other civic leaders celebrated the one-year anniversary of the reopening of the City’s Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant. All hailed the addition of desalinated […]