Q:What Makes you Qualified to Be a City Council Member
Justin Tevis
I bring a lot of unique experiences to the table in my run for City Council that many people may not know. I grew up in the Santa Barbara County, wrestling and playing football from a very early age. Coming from a divorced family, sports and academics were how I was able to stay on the right path. It taught me many life lessons and values that I still carry along with me today, such as work ethic, personal responsibility, loyalty, character, competitive drive, and a relentless desire to succeed.
To me, diversity doesn’t just come in the form of ethnicity, although it is one of many components. Everyone has a distinct story that makes them the person they are. Growing up, I had many friends whose families were first- or second-generation immigrants. This gave me a different perspective, as I always had a Spanish nickname, whether it was “Chito,” “Justo,” “Justino” or “Nuestro Gringo.” I always embraced being around different cultures, and was warmly accepted as an honorary member in many Latino households.
My time spent at Claremont McKenna College taught me how to be a strong leader and prepare against some of the country’s most competitive college students. It helped me learn the balance between hard work and play, as football practice consumed four hours a day on minimum, yet I was still expected to perform in the classroom. It gave me a high level of confidence upon graduation, as I was able to succeed in a very prestigious, competitive environment.
Studying abroad in Chile also gives me a unique perspective, as I lived with a Chilean family throughout the entire experience. I was able to learn a new culture, speak my second language, spend a few weeks with an indigenous family in the Andes, and also witness the lasting effects that a dictatorship has on a country.
Last, my professional experience brings a very well-rounded, business-oriented background to this race. My first job was for a homebuilder in Nevada, where I did a management trainee program, learning how to run the business side of the industry. My next job was for an upstart company, where I delivered in all areas such as financial analysis, budgeting, general ledger, business development and management, sales, customer service, IT and finally as operations manager of a 64,000-square-foot distribution center, with around 30 employees working under me. With my acquired experience, I knew I could make the trip back to Santa Barbara and find a suitable job in the town that I love. Now, I bring my experience as a buyer for The Territory Ahead to the council race. I love my job and the people I work with! With my strong roots in business and economics, I know good business decisions and will apply those if elected to the City Council.
John Thyne
Leadership experience is essential for effective service on the City Council. My life has afforded me many opportunities to gain such important experience, including my current service as CEO of three corporations – Goodwin & Thyne Properties Inc., In House Insurance Services Inc. and GTWWM Inc. (Goodwin, Thyne, Weaver Wealth Managers) – as well as being the sole practitioner of a growing law firm. In each role I am called upon to manage budgets, recruit and retain high-quality personnel, make important organizational decisions and manage day-to-day operations.
In addition to my business experience, I have a great deal of community service experience, including currently serving as president of the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation, currently serving as a trustees of the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, volunteering for Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, serving as past president of the California Applicant Attorneys’ Association, past president of Leadership Santa Barbara County, creating and founding programs such as GAAP (Greater Access to Assistance for People) that secured affordable legal representation for those who did not qualify for legal aid and SOAR (Students Organized Against Racism), as well as working as a volunteer for victims of domestic violence and serving as a former rape counselor.
Perhaps the most important experience of my life that makes me uniquely qualified to serve on the City Council is the one that began when I was 13 months old and continues today: that of Oldest Brother. I am the oldest of six well-adjusted, very close brothers and sisters and, throughout my life, I have dedicated myself to the best interests of my younger siblings. That is the way in which I would approach my job as a council member.
Bonnie Raisin
My interest in city politics was piqued when I became an active residential real estate broker in 1980 and served on the Board of Realtors Political Action Committee, which was made up of Realtors and interested parties from the community. I carried its message to the elected officials of the city and Santa Barbara County and to various groups throughout the community. Santa Barbara is my place of birth and I come from a family of lawyers and judges, so to stand for principals has been a large part of my heritage. My grandfather, W.P. Butcher, was the city attorney who wrote the first Book of Ordinances in 1916. I also volunteered in many nonprofit organizations and was in Leadership Santa Barbara County when it started in 1990. I have also worked in the nonprofit sector at Casa Esperanza Homeless Center and the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, and understand the impact of substance abuse and homelessness on Santa Barbara.
Lane Anderson
I have worked as a professional labor negotiator, as shop steward and president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 290. As its public relations officer, I promoted the union’s policies with the public. As a career letter carrier, I came to know Santa Barbara and its people.
Working within the recovery community I have learned the value of volunteerism and real democracy. I was a multifamily co-facilitator with Dr. Stan Rowett at Pinecrest Hospital and was the alcoholism counselor at the Santa Barbara Veterans Center. From this experience I have learned how to facilitate long-term change in the homeless community.
As an organic grower, naturalist and guide, I have learned the importance of providing our community with a wholesome environment and long-term solution to pollution. This is why my campaign produces no litter and cuts down no trees. It is also why enforcement of the leaf-blower ban is a high priority for me.
Working with the U.S. Forest Service as a fire prevention technician and firefighter gave me the capacity to work with our firefighters to recover resources and prevent future fires. The fire prevention tech work also included law enforcement, making me the only candidate with real law-enforcement experience. My experience in the Navy as a weapons specialist in Vietnam allows me to understand the true cost of war.
Frank Hotchkiss
I have been an actor, journalist, public relations executive and writer.
John Gibbs
I am beholden to no one who does business with the city. I learned while a member of the Santa Barbara County civil Grand Jury to ask probing questions regarding the economics of city government. I can say NO without fear of retribution. I’m not afraid of confrontation, yet I am willing to listen to both sides of an argument. I’m currently retired and thus can fulfill my duties as a council member without worrying about that “day job.” I can take my suggested 20 percent pay cut and still make ends meet. In fact, if the council doesn’t approve a reduction I promise to contribute 20 percent to a local charity.
Cathie McCammon
I have been active in the community for 37 years. During this time I have engaged in volunteer work for organizations such as the League of Women Voters, Citizens Planning Association and Allied Neighborhoods Association. I have served on diverse boards and commissions, most notably the city Harbor Commission and the Santa Barbara County Human Services Commission and Process Improvement Committee. Professionally, I have been a business and bankruptcy attorney so I am familiar with fiscal matters. I believe that my professional, volunteer leadership and personal experience all contribute to my being uniquely qualified to be a City Council member.
Dianne Channing
I have been an involved community activist with a track record of accomplishments working with people to get things done. I chaired the View Ordinance Task Force to get an ordinance adopted by the city to help neighbors settle their conflict over views and vegetation. The ordinance was adopted in 2002. I also chaired the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance revision steering committee over a two-year period and 30 public meetings working with the staff and the public. The result was the new Single-Family Design Guidelines adopted in 2007. These guidelines prevent piecemeal development, prevent over-large homes from being built on small lots, prevent excessive grading of hillsides, and provide early noticing to neighbors of projects that impact them. I have worked for transportation funding with a coalition of community leaders and I continue to serve on the Rental Housing Roundtable to preserve rental housing and protect renters’ rights. I am a member of the Save El Pueblo Viejo steering committee and worked to get Measure B on the ballot to prevent the canyonization of our downtown. I’m a doer, not a talker and will continue to work for the betterment of our city. In addition, I have managed my own business for more than 23 years. I can bring my business experience to City Hall.
David Pritchett
I can bring to the City Council many years of public service, volunteering for city committees and participating in other collaborative projects. But I have an outsider’s desire to make improvements and changes where necessary. Indeed, my civic involvement has given me direct knowledge of how city operations could be made better.
My formal education and more than 20 years experience as an environmental scientist give me a unique ability to think analytically and solve problems. This is vital as the city responds to the budget crisis and other challenges that residents want resolved, such as street violence, environmental and neighborhood protection, and the creation of housing opportunities. Additionally, as a self-employed consultant and project manager, I understand the discipline needed in the realm of business and finance.
As all my modest campaign funding has come from individuals, I am not beholden to the usual interests that influence the City Council. I will be fiercely independent to represent only the residents of Santa Barbara, and make policy decisions that are best for the whole and long-term benefit of the city. I owe nothing to corporate interests or public-employee unions. I do support and respect the city’s fine workforce, and I would be able to make decisions impacting them without the burden of obligation to political campaign contributors.
Of the seven leading City Council candidates, I am the only one who is not receiving funding from any of the public employee labor unions, any political party, or from the Van Wolfswinkel PAC (Political Action Committee). To the voter: I will be nobody’s council member but yours.
I am just a middle-income home renter from the Westside neighborhood. In this economy, my family struggles to pay our rent and our bills, so I understand first-hand how many people are stressed right now.
Here are a few highlights of my civic engagement and local government experience:
• Education. BA in environmental studies from UCSB, and MS in land resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Professional Career. Worked as an environmental consultant, wetland scientist and a federal agency biologist, mostly working to help local groups and agencies secure funding for habitat conservation projects on the Central Coast.
• Personal. A California native and a resident of the middle Westside neighborhood of Santa Barbara, I am a home renter and regular bus rider. My other car is the crosstown shuttle. Pets include a dog adopted from a local shelter and two rescued cats.
• Local Government Positions. More than eight years of service on two important city advisory committees: Creeks Advisory Committee and Transportation and Circulation Committee (with stints as vice chairman and chairman of each). Also serve as a Santa Barbara County Fish and Game commissioner appointed by 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf and earlier by her predecessor, Susan Rose. Also serve as the Santa Barbara city representative and current board chairman of the Mosquito and Vector Management District, a special district local agency with trustee duties for all aspects of local agency governance, such as budgeting, executive staff recruitment, and policy formulation that has reduced pesticides applied in the environment.
• Environmental Protection. Collaborating with others on the Mission Possible Vision, an outline of actions for restoring Mission Creek as a multipurpose community asset for flood control, neighborhood beautification, and fish and wildlife habitat. Active also in housing policies integrated with land-use planning, such as advocating against the failed Veronica Meadows project encroaching upon lower Arroyo Burro.
• Sustainable Transportation. Advocating with partners for MTD to establish fair bus fares and bus service routes, and participating in the public coalition for a fair Measure A-2008 and on the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments stakeholder committee to develop the scope and funding allocations for regional transportation projects paid by the countywide sales tax.
• Nonprofit Organizations. Serve on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SB CAN) and UCSB Environmental Studies Associates, where I have been chairmanof the Tom Rogers Scholarship Committee for undergraduate students. Also, formerly on the advisory board for Shape of Voice youth newspaper.
• Public Affairs. Organized public events to challenge the journalistically unethical and anti-labor practices of the Santa Barbara News-Press, including a rally of more than 1,000 participants held in July 2006. Write news and commentary for local Web sites and produce video about local news, events and politics of Santa Barbara via my show Off-Leash Public Affairs.
Bendy White
I am a native, third-generation resident of Santa Barbara. I have a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from the University of Hawaii in geography, specializing in resource management. I have run my own land-use planning business for 28 years. As a land-use consultant, I manage a range of projects, from small subdivisions to institutional development plans such as Heritage House Senior Community, Ojai Valley School and the Valley Club of Montecito.
I have served on local boards and commissions for 31 years and am currently in my 14th year on the city Planning Commission. Previously, I served 12 years on the city Water Commission, where I helped manage one of the city’s largest budgets. I co-initiated the city’s Master Water Plan, which placed the system’s infrastructure on long-term sustainable footing. I served four years on the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, contributing to the countywide effort to save agricultural lands and match zoning with available resources. I worked three-plus years as the county’s fire protection planner, developing the county’s first and, to my knowledge, only comprehensive Fire Protection Master Plan.
I also served on the boards of Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara County; Environmental Defense Center; Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties; and the Carpinteria Valley Association. I launched a successful drive to preserve the Carpinteria Slough and Zaca Lake. I am active in the efforts to preserve open space in the Las Positas Valley.
Grant House
Santa Barbara City Council candidate Grant House did not respond to Noozhawk’s Q&A request.
Michael Self
Santa Barbara City Council candidate Michael Self did not respond to Noozhawk’s Q&A request.
Cruzito Cruz
I am born and raised in Santa Barbara. My educational background – at SBCC an AA in business administration, at UCSB a BA in political science (emphasis in public administration) and a BA in Chicana and Chicano Studies and some Santa Barbara College of Law jurisprudence education – has allowed me to positively contribute to the fabric and strengthening of our community. My education has allowed me to be of service in the local nonprofit organizations (La Casa de La Raza, Family Service Agency, Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (CADA)-Fighting Back Mentor program, Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County’s Los Compadres program and La Comunidad) and has given me the insight and working experience to be of service toward many families and youth.
My five years of work at H&R Block has given me the financial perspectives and insight of the local economy and how many families and individual taxpayers need a public representative like me. This overall work-education experience has prepared me to apply the two decades of social service work in Santa Barbara with the analytical, intellectual and financial skills to be a public servant and public steward of the city’s resources and to work diligently for the public good. My understanding of legalities and my pre-election victory on Sept. 2 before county Superior Court Judge J. William McLafferty is a direct example of the tenacity and work ethic to be a public servant that is a bridge to the Latino-Mexicano community of Santa Barbara. However, since our city has at-large public office representation, this would mean I would represent the wishes and concerns of all Santa Barbarans as your next council member. My politics and beliefs rest with “equalitarianism.” This is what is unique about Cruzito Herrera Cruz as your next council member.