In a year with an unpredictable race for governor, political turmoil and rising costs of living, political columnist Dan Walters is coming to Santa Barbara to discuss California’s past, present and future.
Walters, a CalMatters columnist who has been covering California politics since 1975, will be speaking at the Lobero Theater on Feb. 5 as the first speaker in the new Spotlight Santa Barbara speaker series.
Brian Goebel, managing member at Spotlight SB, and Bill Macfadyen, Noozhawk’s publisher, will be hosting the event. Noozhawk is also an event sponsor.
When Goebel and Jeff Giordano started Spotlight Santa Barbara, Goebel said they knew they wanted Walters to be the first speaker.
“We knew there was no one better to talk about what’s going on in Sacramento and how it impacts Santa Barbara than Dan,” Goebel said. “He is the leading political journalist in California, and for those who haven’t seen him, I can assure them, he is a highly entertaining speaker, and he’s going to really get people thinking about what we’ll call the good, the bad and the ugly of California politics and policy.”
Goebel said the goal of Spotlight Santa Barbara is to create a space where community members can listen to insightful speakers, talk about what they’ve heard, and have an opportunity to ask questions.
“I would hope there’s still a willingness for people to get together and talk to each other in a civil manner about issues that matter, rather than talk past each other or yell at each other, which, unfortunately, seems to be a lot of what’s happening in our public discourse today,” Goebel said.
Walters said people can expect the message to examine where the state is right now and where it’s going.
“We have been losing population lately, so the image of California, this place that’s always growing, now that that’s gone away,” Walters said.
In the past 50 years, Walters said California has become one of the most diverse places in the country, undergone massive industry changes, and went from a historically Republican state to a state run by Democrats.
This year’s race for governor, and Gavin Newsom’s potential 2028 run for president, stirs up questions about California’s future.
“This governor’s campaign that’s coming up is the weirdest one I have ever seen in history,” Walters said. “You have people running, they’re gonna run, they’re not gonna run, they are gonna run, here we are basically only 10 months away from the election, and we don’t even know who’s all running yet.”
Whoever does get elected in November, Walters said they will have to face the same issues that have been plaguing California for the past several years, such as homelessness, water supply, education and housing.
“All the things that have gone into California in the last half-century or so, all the changes we have seen, the economic changes, the cultural changes, the ethnic changes, all the physical changes even have spawned all of these very tricky issues,” Walters said. “And who wants to volunteer to take them on?”
Walters said he hopes the event encourages people to think about the severity of California’s unique issues and how to resolve them.
“It’s necessary that these issues be resolved,” Walters said. “If we let things fester, California will fail in the long run. We cannot continue to prosper, both economically and culturally, if we let these issues continue to fester and not be addressed.”
Walters’ talk on Feb. 5 at the Lobero Theater is set to begin at 7 p.m. Click here to learn more and buy tickets.
Goebel and Giordano founded Spotlight last fall with the goal to encourage civic engagement and lifelong learning. Goebel said three more events are planned for later this year with speakers to be announced at a later date.