Katy Perry‘s mother Mary Hudson is on a slate of candidates looking to seize power and bring transparency to the Santa Barbara County Republican Party Central Committee.

The group is looking rebrand the local Republican Party and transform it into a relevant political organization.

“A lot of people I talk to here don’t even know there is a (Republican) Central Committee,” Hudson said on the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. “It’s a really important committee, but it’s sort of hidden. It needs to be exposed. People need to know there’s an opportunity.”

Three candidates running for seats who are members of the slate, Hudson, Cheryl Trosky and Colleen Estrada, appeared on latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks.

“If you want change in this community, you can’t sit back and complain,” Hudson said.

Watch the full conversation and hear their platform by clicking on the YouTube link below.

The Republican Central Committee makes decisions about the local direction of the Republican Party, including recruiting candidates, fundraising and creating community conversation around conservative topics.

Some candidates for the committee have been disappointed in the leadership of chair Bobbi McGinnis. Trosky, Salazar and Hudson want more organization, transparency and pro-active efforts to win elections.

“I’d like to see greater transparency,” Trosky said. “The way decisions are made, the way the budget is handled, that it’s more transparent and open. I’d like to see a strategic plan enacted.”

They want to establish goals and use metrics to measure them, and create tactics use strategy to build power. Trosky said she wants to “elevate the professionalism” of the Republican Party.

Estrada and Trosky are both incumbents seeking re-election. Estrada said she wants to increase the visibility of the organization. Estrada said the Party should be finding “great candidates,” for all the election races, “from school board to supervisor,” but it just has not happened.

The effort comes amid discussion about the candidacy of Frank Troise, who is challenging Joan Hartmann and Jenelle Osborne for the Third District Supervisor’s seat. Troise’s low fundraising amounts have raised questions about whether he was the best choice for the GOP to endorse for the swing seat.

“There were two high-name recognition potentials for supervisor in addition to Frank Troise and they were strongly discouraged very early in the process from getting involved,” Estrada said. “I had a front row seat to that.”

Estrada said Troise has a lot of interesting experience, but the process to select him was not transparent.

“We think we will be more successful with greater transparency, an exposed, measured strategic plan, and unity,” Estrada said.

Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina is an independently owned podcast produced by journalist Josh Molina. Molina creates dynamic conversation around housing, education, business, culture, transportation and politics. Consider a financial contribution by visiting www.santabarbaratalks.com or subscribe to his YouTube channel.