For nearly 40 years, Tony Ruggieri has served as the mastermind behind Santa Barbara City TV.

He oversaw the city’s television production portfolio growing from three meetings in the 1980s to more than 450 meetings annually.

“We do quite a bit,” Ruggieri said. “It’s really driven by the council and the city administrator’s desire for transparency.”

Ruggieri, born in New York, said he too is committed to good government, and has enjoyed being able to provide access to City Council, Planning Commission, Architectural Board of Review, and other meetings.

In this podcast, he recalls some of the highlights from meetings over the years, like the time homeless advocate Bob Hansen showed up with only an American flag draped around his waist to speak during public comment.

As much as anyone, Ruggieri is familiar with the council’s changes, from the ordinance passed more than a decade ago that provided salaries to council members, to the creation of district elections.

Ruggieri mentions stories about former council members Brian Barnwell, Helene Schneider, Gregg Hart, Bendy White.

“I just admire and respect anybody who puts their name in the ring, people just slinging arrows at you, you put yourself out there, you do a lot of good, but it doesn’t matter what you do, you could do everything perfect, but there’s always going to be someone out there with some negative comment,” Ruggieri said.

He recalled a story involving Schneider, who did a voiceover for a public service announcement water conservation video, changing the words to the Disney hit, “Let it Go.”

“Helene had a little bit of a theater bug in her,” Ruggieri said. “I think she changed it to “Let it Grow.”

Ruggieri also speaks fondly of Inside Santa Barbara, a show produced by City TV.

Toward the end, Ruggieri explains how the city pivoted to provide access remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s here, and I think it is going to stay,” Ruggieri said. “As far as public participation, it’s great. People don’t have to sit in the room for three or four hours waiting for their item to come up.

“They can sit at home on their couch and kind of monitor it and then raise their hand in Zoom when it is time to speak.”

Joshua Molina is journalist who currently writes for Noozhawk and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College and Cal State University, Northridge. 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.