The future of State Street is in the hands of 15 people and a few alternates.
The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday night approved the final list of people who will serve on the State Street Advisory Committee.
The committee has no voting power, but will advise and participate in the development of the Downtown State Street Area Master Plan and make recommendations to the City Council, and other decision-making bodies such as the Planning Commission.
There were three spots available for council members, and each interested member had to nominate themselves to be considered for the spot.
Councilmembers Meagan Harmon, Alejandra Gutierrez, Oscar Gutierrez, Mike Jordan and Kristen Sneddon applied for the three spots.
Harmon, Alejandra Gutierrez and Jordan got enough votes from their council colleagues to serve on the committee.
The other members of the committee include: Hillary Blackerby, Dave Davis, Roger Durling, Ken Saxon, Nadra Ehrman, Dianne Black, Susanne Tejada, Peter Lewis, Kristen Miller, Robin Elander, Roxanne Bonderson, and Ed Lenvik. The alternates are Mike Becker and Marge Cafarelli.
Many of the members are involved in local community organizations, the business community, or the planning community.
The City Council interviewed candidates before making the appointments. Bonderson was appointed by the Planning Commission, as its representative, and the Historic Landmark Commission appointed Lenvik as its representative.
Notably, Sneddon did not receive a spot on the panel, even though she had served on the State Street subcommittee. Oscar Gutierrez also nominated himself, but did not get a spot on the panel.
Sneddon told Noozhawk she was disappointed, but optimistic about the work ahead.
“I am excited to see the initiative I brought forward in 2018 for a Downtown Master Plan to be coming to fruition,” Sneddon said. “A lot of people have been very engaged for years in building support and enthusiasm for this process to this point, and I am looking forward to seeing what this next phase will bring with this dynamic group of community members.”
Harmon won unanimous support from her colleagues to serve on the committee.
“I live downtown, I am on State Street everyday, Maura and I are always there and I do think it is important that we get some younger folks on this committee, some folks with young families to bring that perspective,” Harmon said. “It is a constituency in this community that I think sometimes gets overlooked. I am so excited, possibly, about bringing that voice to this group.”
Jordan, who received four votes, said, “I will work my butt off” on the panel.
“I would not be there just to sit there and listen, I would be someone who actually gets out and does the work,” Jordan said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.