Santa Barbara: Where Ethics Is Again Front and Center
By Jeff Giordano   |   August 1, 2023

As most know, our County’s complete lack of ethical standards is something I have raged against. While other counties have a Code of Ethics (something that our Grand Jury recommended in 2020), our County blissfully dances in the darkness without pesky little rules relating to the timing of campaign contributions, acceptance of gifts, hiring of […]

Endorsements: It’s All About the Money
By Jeff Giordano   |   November 16, 2021

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 […]

 

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The Race for District 4: Why Kristen Sneddon is Our Choice
By Nick Masuda   |   October 19, 2021

The showdown for Santa Barbara City Council’s District 4 seat has been an unexpected, no-holds-barred battle between challenger Barrett Reed and incumbent Kristen Sneddon, who, in the face of Reed’s intense criticism, has chosen to focus on her own strong record as a councilmember, and turning up the heat on her current councilmates. Sneddon, a […]

Telecom Power Grab
By Lesley Weinstock   |   August 16, 2021

There are several bills pending in the California legislature, including Senate Bill 556 and Assembly Bill 537, that will severely limit our right to determine where new wireless antennas for 5G service will be placed in Santa Barbara County. Corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Verizon wrote these wireless broadband bills. ALEC rewrites state […]

Census 2020 Explained: Why Americans Moving South and West Matters
By Lou Cannon   |   June 10, 2021

“Go West, young man, and grow up with the country,” a newspaper editor proclaimed as the United States expanded westward in the 19th century. That advice could be amended now to “South and West,” according to the latest findings of the U.S. Census Bureau, which in April issued its pandemic-delayed count of the nation’s population […]

Let’s Have Another Party! Many voices make better democracies
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   May 20, 2021

Yeah! Sounds like a great way to celebrate California achieving the status two weeks ago of the state with the lowest background infection rate of all 50 (still true as of this writing). How about a party to celebrate how much fun it is to meet friends and neighbors on Coast Village Road and State […]

A Revolutionary Plan for Santa Barbara’s Children
By Laura Capps   |   March 20, 2021

There’s a lot that has me optimistic these days: the declining case rates of COVID, millions of people getting vaccinated, kids safely returning to the classroom and a return to competency from the White House. One of many positive developments that will have massive ramifications is the inclusion of the child benefit in the COVID […]

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  • Escaping Minority Rule: Ending Gerrymandering Gaining Control Over Self-Perpetuating Politicians
    By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   January 28, 2021

    One hundred and thirty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted, after the insurrection (which sacked the Capitol building and took five lives), to support the mob’s demands to overturn the results of the recent presidential election. An election found, after sixty meritless legal challenges, to have been a free and fair exercise in […]

    Better than Democracy?
    By Robert Bernstein   |   December 3, 2020

    Winston Churchill famously said, “…democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…” I write this as Joe Biden has been declared “president-elect” in the news and while Donald Trump still sends out repeated appeals for money. Record numbers voted for each side. […]

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    Santa Barbara’s Next Mayor?
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   November 25, 2020

    The 2020 political season is over. Mostly. But like California’s fire season, once reserved to only certain months of the year, election cycles now seem to be with us 24/7-52-365. I guess there’s no rest for the weary. So let me be the first to welcome you to the early days of the next important […]

    The French Have it Right
    By James Buckley   |   November 19, 2020

    My wife was born in France, came to the U.S. in the early 1960s with her family, and remained strictly a French citizen with a green card until the mid-1980s, when U.S. law requiring that U.S. citizens have only one loyalty was altered to allow for dual citizenship. She is now a proud nationalized U.S. […]

    Advocacy Journalism in Full Flower
    By James Buckley   |   November 12, 2020

    The year 1968 was an eventful one: On April 3 of that year, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was gunned down at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee;  two months later (June 8), Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, just hours after having won the California Democratic […]

    The Popular Vote
    By James Buckley   |   November 5, 2020

    It’s no secret that Democrats nationwide (and particularly those congregating along both coasts) rail against the Constitution’s Electoral College, which mandates that each state be awarded an equivalent number of votes in a presidential election as the number of senators and representatives it has.  For example, California has 55 electoral college votes in this election […]

    Letters to the Editor
    By Montecito Journal   |   October 29, 2020

    Cold Spring School: Just the Facts, Ma’am I first learned about Measure L2020 a little over a month ago from the front page of this very publication. Little did I know that when I posted about it on NextDoor, I would spark a debate that has both divided and united various members of our community. I […]

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