[Noozhawk’s note: One in a series of questionnaires with the 10 candidates running for three Santa Barbara City Council seats in the Nov. 8 election, published in the order in which the Q&As were returned.]
| 2011 Election Coverage | Complete Series Index |
NOOZHAWK: What experiences from your professional or personal life make you uniquely qualified to be a Santa Barbara City Council member?
DEBORAH SCHWARTZ: Santa Barbara is at a crossroads. Our city faces historic challenges that will shape the future of our city for generations to come — chronic budget deficits, homelessness, threats to the quality of life in our neighborhoods, continued environmental challenges and public safety challenges.
Now more than ever, we need knowledgeable, common sense leaders with a proven ability to build coalitions that get results on vital issues that matter to residents of this city.
As a city planning commissioner, I have been a champion for neighborhoods, balanced and sensible growth policy, and protecting the environment. Before joining the Planning Commission, I served as a community relations director for a local nonprofit, where I advocated on behalf of children and families and worked to reduce youth violence. My extensive background in business, both as a small-business owner and as a director for AT&T, has given me the real-world experience it takes to balance budgets, cut waste and create jobs. I have deep roots in the community and share the values of the residents of this city.
I will bring a real-world perspective, experience and the new ideas that City Hall so desperately needs.
NOOZHAWK: Most of Santa Barbara’s labor concession agreements expire in 2012 and 2013, and CalPERS costs are expected to increase by millions of dollars. Would you support restructuring the city’s retirement or benefit plans?
DS: Getting the city’s fiscal house in order is a top priority for me. My decades of experience in the private sector have given me the experience and know-how it will take to cut waste, balance our city budget and ensure that the city continues to deliver the vital services we all rely on.
During these tough economic times, I feel that it is important to have city leaders who can effectively work with labor unions and the city employees they represent to build consensus to find fair and equitable solutions to our city budget. That means working together, with the best interests of the city in mind, to find solutions that are good for hardworking city employees, maintain a high level of city services and are good for the city’s bottom line.
NOOZHAWK: There have been several violent attacks on Santa Barbara’s Eastside and in the Milpas area within the last three years, and residents have called for more police protection. With the limited budget, how would you realistically address that community’s concerns?
DS: Keeping our neighborhoods safe is one of the core responsibilities of our City Council. I will make public safety a priority on the City Council and tirelessly work to find ways to keep public safety at adequate levels. I also believe that in addition to finding funding for public safety, we can look at ways to maximize the resources and programs we have available to the community to help prevent crime.
A proactive approach to public safety that makes neighbors partners in the effort to keep our streets safe can be an effective strategy not only to fight but prevent crime from ever happening.
NOOZHAWK: What do you think of the General Plan’s direction?
DS: The failure to quickly move forward on key pieces of the General Plan, which was carefully crafted with over five years input from the community, is a stark example of where the City Council majority has lost touch with the values of city residents. Instead, this council majority has worked to replace environmentally progressive policies with ones that will set us back years.
Santa Barbara has a tradition of environmental stewardship that not only includes preservation but creating policies that increase transit options, promote sustainability and foster the growth of a livable city with improved quality of life for all. We need to restore that commitment to the environment and creating a Santa Barbara where every family can live, work and flourish.
NOOZHAWK: If elected, what is the one issue on which you would focus to improve Santa Barbara’s quality of life?
DS: Without sufficient revenue, we cannot deliver critical services that are the primary responsibility of the city and act as leaders to positively influence economic stimulation. I will work aggressively with all stakeholders to craft a balanced and equitable budget that minimizes the negative impact of cuts and includes creative cost savings as well as revenue increases. My office will champion a public/private partnership effort to include outreach to the private sector (beyond the tourism sector) in order to support attracting and retaining good-paying jobs.
NOOZHAWK: What is Santa Barbara’s most neglected neighborhood?
DS: Santa Barbara’s most neglected neighborhood is the Eastside. If our City Council had been proactively engaged with this neighborhood over the past four years, effectively partnering with nonprofits, supporting neighborhood groups and collaborating with the education community, we would have lower truancy and higher graduation rates, decreasing gang violence and a stronger sense of respect and care by City Hall.
NOOZHAWK: What would you do to make city government more accessible to the Spanish-speaking community?
DS: Accessibility and responsiveness of city government to everyone is the community is very important to me. On the City Council, I will work with my colleagues and the community to find new ways to make government more accessible and accountable to the Spanish-speaking community by exploring ideas such as periodically holding meetings off site to make them more accessible, providing more bilingual resources, and holding community meetings and workshops in Spanish.
NOOZHAWK: What is your position on funding a new Santa Barbara police station in the current fiscal environment?
DS: Ensuring that our Police Department can effectively serve the city means providing them with the tools and resources they need to get the job done. Most can agree that the current police station is antiquated. Even during tough financial times, city leaders have an obligation and residents expect our city streets to be safe.
NOOZHAWK: Do you support the city’s attempt to get a gang injunction, limiting the activities of identified Eastside and Westside gang members? What are some other anti-gang efforts you would pursue?
DS: Research shows that youth violence is a high-visibility, high-priority concern in every sector of U.S. society today more than a decade ago. No community, whether affluent or poor, urban, suburban or rural, is immune from its devastating effects. Our underserved youth population is particularly at risk of being lured into an unproductive life of gang affiliation. This cycle of violence can only be averted through a three-pronged regionally coordinated effort of prevention, intervention and suppression.
NOOZHAWK: Many community policing resources have dried up, including the full-time DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and beat coordinator positions at the Santa Barbara Police Department, the Santa Barbara County truancy program and school resource officers. What low-cost solutions would you pursue to provide prevention and intervention services to the community’s young people?
DS: Teaching children the important skills to say no to alcohol and drugs is critical to our youth staying focused on productive activities that result in constructive behaviors. I have already begun discussions with education leaders and nonprofits about how we might leverage foundation grant-making and other government funding to continue support for this project.
Police resources: In the 2011-12 budget approval process, I would advocate adding sworn officer resources specifically for restorative policing and beat coordinators, which provide direct support a) in assisting homeless transition off the streets and into independence and b) on neighborhood-specific issues. Truancy: The County Civil Grand Jury recently issued a report requiring a reinstatement of high school truancy programs, so I am optimistic with this restoration that families and schools will once be brought into a formal process of accountability for and support of our youth consistently attending school. Prevention and intervention: Through city Community Development Block Grant fund allocations, I would advocate to financially support local nonprofits that have demonstrated effective work with at-risk youths.
NOOZHAWK: Noozhawk’s Prescription for Abuse series has been exploring the misuse and abuse of prescription medications in our community. What Santa Barbara issue do you think Noozhawk should tackle next?
DS: I believe an investigative series on elder financial abuse is warranted, as all the data shows this to be on the rise, resulting in financial devastation and overall quality of life deterioration due to insufficient funds for much-needed health care.
| 2011 Election Coverage | Complete Series Index |
Additional Resources
» Click here for Deborah Schwartz’s campaign Web site, or call 805.618.2950. Connect with Deborah Schwartz on Facebook. Follow Deborah Schwartz on Twitter: @voteschwartz.
» Click here for more information on the city of Santa Barbara’s Nov. 8 election.
Larry Nimmer’s “Touring with the Candidates” video (www.nimmer.net)
