[Noozhawk’s note: One in a series of profiles of the 10 candidates running for three Santa Barbara City Council seats in the Nov. 8 election.]
| 2011 Election Coverage | Complete Series Index |
For Milpas Community Association co-founder Sharon Byrne, running for a seat on the Santa Barbara City Council was always five years in the future. But last December, she began to think that five years was too far.
“Sometimes life feels like a movie in which you don’t have possession of the script,” Byrne said. It was “that dry run that made me think it’s time. The time was now, and I decided to answer.”
Now, she’s one of 10 candidates vying for three open council seats in the Nov. 8 election.
Byrne had long been involved in activities that gave her experience she could apply toward a political career. She said she gained a lot of knowledge that she could direct toward her main political focus — safe neighborhoods.
She had witnessed violence in her own neighborhood, prompting her to want to take action years ago.
“I want to restore our quality of life,” she said, adding that businesses should be able to work unimpeded and harassed, and families should be able to walk free of violence.
If elected, Byrne said she will work to empower neighborhoods — with the help of the city — to overcome violence. In her West Downtown neighborhood, she led groups against crime and violence, held neighborhood cleanups and implemented neighborhood watch programs.
One such program involved the Police Department, ensuring that officers would make 15-minute patrols around the neighborhood and respond within two minutes to emergency calls.
Additionally, Byrne learned about effective solutions to homelessness as well as how to minimize gang violence. She said that through different organizations and activities she learned how specific changes in a city affect neighborhoods, about fair and transparent government, and how to provide for a neighborhood.
With that knowledge, Byrne says felt she “had something to offer.”
In addition to neighborhood safety, she plans to focus on open, participative government, including advertising for meetings in “a language that citizens can understand” so residents will be more motivated to participate as well as making it easier for those who can’t attend meetings to provide input through online sources.
Byrne said she is a nonpartisan independent; something she believes is working to her benefit with those who don’t vote according to party line. She has had volunteers and workers spanning the political spectrum, including Democrats, independents and Republicans.
“I’m very lucky,” Byrne said. “I have a lot of bipartisan support, which is good. I’m really happy about that.”
She said also has received a lot of support elsewhere — from Santa Barbara Realtors, firefighter and police officer associations, even retired Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who has endorsed Byrne’s campaign.
She said the support she has received shows that “there’s something in the approach that is working.”
| 2011 Election Coverage | Complete Series Index |
Additional Resources
» Click here for Sharon Byrne’s campaign Web site, or call 805.491.4074.
» Click here for more information on the city of Santa Barbara’s Nov. 8 election.
— Noozhawk intern Alexa Shapiro can be reached at ashapiro@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Larry Nimmer’s “Touring with the Candidates” video (www.nimmer.net)
