The Santa Barbara City Council contest between incumbent Alejandra Gutierrez and challenger Wendy Santamaria is the talk of the town.

Who is best to represent Santa Barbara’s Eastside?

Gutierrez is seeking a second term, against Santamaria, a union organizer.

You can watch Santa Barbara Talks podcast conversations with Gutierrez here and Santamaria here.

But in the Youtube video below, journalist Joshua Molina explains what’s at stake in the contest and how we got here. Check out this analysis, including a deep dive into recent endorsements, allegations of sign theft, and the state of play in the contest.

Gutierrez is heavily backed by property owners and landlords, while Santamaria supports tenant protections and a form of rent control.

In this podcast, Molina talks about Gutierrez’s missed meetings, allegations of sign theft, rent stabilization and the politics behind some recent endorsements.

Joshua Molina is journalist who currently writes for Noozhawk and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. He formerly covered politics and land use for the San Jose Mercury News. Santa Barbara Talks is an independently owned podcast where Molina looks to bring together voices from all perspectives to discuss and provide solutions to the challenges related to housing, education, transportation and other community issues. Subscribe to his podcast here and consider a contribution here.