The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara hosted a Santa Barbara mayoral debate Thursday at the venerable Santa Barbara Club.
Candidates Eric Friedman, Wendy Sims-Moten and Kristen Sneddon were presented with questions about key issues by moderator Jim Armstrong, who served as the city administrator from 2001 to 2014.
The debate focused on critical issues, including the State Street Master Plan, affordable housing, rent “stabilization,” homelessness and the city’s budget.
Like public opinion on these hot topics, candidate views varied, too.
Under the debate rules, responses were limited to 30 or 60 seconds, so you can imagine answers were quite short.
Because my columns focus on financial issues, and these issues all have budget impacts, I thought it reasonable to try to capture the candidates’ financial comments.
Friedman — who, like Sneddon, currently serves on the City Council — spoke about working with the city’s experienced finance director to look for efficiencies, ways to reduce administrative expenses, and most important, look for opportunities to grow the economy with new revenue sources beyond tourism rather than tax increases.
He also noted working with UC Santa Barbara and our commercial fisheries to help grow revenue.
Several times, Friedman commented on the need for downtown housing to support downtown business. He mentioned talking with officials in Boulder, Colorado, and Burlington, Vermont, two cities that have had modest success with car-free downtown zones. Their advice? Limit them to four blocks.
Friedman reinforced his no vote on rent stabilization, saying it ultimately drives up rents, favors large out-of-town developers, and hurts small local property owners who are forced out of the rental market as costs don’t keep up with rent limitations.
Sims-Moten, executive director of First 5 Santa Barbara County and a former Santa Barbara Unified School District trustee, spoke often about getting broader involvement from the community in dealing with problems.
She noted the need for economic opportunities for local businesses to avoid having tax revenue wind up in Ventura or Oxnard as shoppers head south.
Sims-Moten also talked about maintaining basic needs and asking each city department to identify cost-cutting options without having to raise taxes.
She noted the need for balance in looking at short-term rentals and tourism.
Sims-Moten said she would support the recently passed rent stabilization plan, creating a committee to work out the details. She also commented that the city needs to look beyond State Street and include plans for other streets like Chapala and Milpas.
Sneddon touted her support for the State Street Master Plan, highlighting its flexibility.
She was the only one of the three candidates who said she supported capping growth and had voted for rent-stabilization (with a preference toward modestly higher caps and easier expense passthroughs) to help deal with housing affordability.
Sneddon supported banning short-term rentals and helping first-time buyers. She mentioned the need to replenish the city’s reserves, support for a vacancy tax on second or third homes, and the need for new “red, blue and green” revenue sources.
Sneddon commented that the city’s cash flow problems were in large part due to the under-bonded police station project, which would last for the next 1½ years.
One of Armstrong’s questions addressed how the $90 million cost for the State Street Master Plan would be paid for. To be fair, I did not come away feeling that any of the candidates had a solid answer to that question, but it sure seems important.
As Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Illinois, once quipped, “a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”
Here in Santa Barbara, we are talking about millions of dollars, not billions, but heck, we’re just a small town.
All these issues are tough, and having to answer in 30 or 60 seconds was even more difficult. All three candidates were respectful of each other, something that Washington, D.C., could learn from.
The debate provided a peek into each candidate’s thinking. Voters should learn as much as they can in choosing the next mayor of our town.
So, do your own research and be sure to cast your votes. Click here for Noozhawk’s 2026 Voter Guide.
