As part of Noozhawk’s Nov. 2 Santa Barbara City Council election coverage, we are publishing Q&As with candidates running for mayor and City Council seats. Candidate answers may be lightly edited for spelling and formatting, but are otherwise presented as they were submitted.
For mayor, candidates include James Joyce III, Matt Kilrain, Cathy Murillo, Randy Rowse, Deborah Schwartz, and Mark Whitehurst.
Two candidates are running for the District 4 seat: Barrett Reed and Kristen Sneddon. District 5 incumbent Eric Friedman is running unopposed.
There are four candidates on the ballot for the District 6 seat, including Jason Carlton, Meagan Harmon, Nina Johnson and Zachary Pike.
City Council District 6 Candidate Nina Johnson
Noozhawk: Many residents responding to a Noozhawk survey said current City Council members have not been visible during the pandemic and are not always responsive to citizen concerns. If elected, how will you make yourself accessible to your constituents? Will you hold in-person office hours? Personally respond to emails and calls? Attend public community events?
Nina Johnson: Being an active participant in the community has always been important to me. I will continue to regularly attend community events and shop and dine at local businesses to hear ideas and concerns from people and stay connected to Santa Barbara. I will start a regular schedule of outdoor office hours and weekly drop-in coffee meetings to ensure people are able to discuss an issue they care about.
While I plan to respond to emails, I find email inefficient and I prefer talking with people in person, over the phone, or virtually whenever possible. I also welcome invitations to join small discussion groups or board meetings, whenever appropriate, so I can help groups be more effective in understanding issues of concern and developing solutions.
Noozhawk: What is your long-term vision for downtown State Street and live/work options in the downtown core? What is your plan for reducing the number of vacant storefronts in that area?
Nina Johnson: After helping lead the community design charrette last year with 160 architects and designers, I envision a wide range of housing options, outdoor dining, public art, and enhancements for public spaces. We have an opportunity to reimagine the downtown area and become a model for other cities in all aspects of design, including housing, landscaping, stormwater management, public art, plazas, paseos, and courtyards. The current promenade should resemble a park-like atmosphere instead of a corridor of traffic signage and barricades. State Street should transition from an outdoor shopping and dining area to a larger village of residents and a blend of uses. The design of future plazas and open spaces should be uniquely Santa Barbara and connect us with our rich history and with one another. These amenities will support the development of housing. The next iteration of downtown should complement our historic areas with more contemporary elements, more creative expression, and the use of color.
Vacant storefronts present us with opportunities to reshape the mix of businesses to appeal to residents and reposition space for housing and other creative uses. As a result of a pop-up program I launched to help fill vacant spaces, entrepreneurs can get their start and test their business model with lower cost, short-term leases. At last count, there are now 13 pop-up businesses on State Street that would otherwise be vacant storefronts. I look forward to unique live/work spaces that provide functional homes to local artists and science and technology entrepreneurs.
Santa Barbara is known for its architecture and we should be similarly known for creativity in transforming vacant buildings into living spaces, meeting that challenge with care and sensitivity to protect the character of the city.
Noozhawk: Can you please define equity, and what your approach would be to make city government more diverse and more representative of the community it represents?
Nina Johnson: I define equity in terms of access to resources, funding, and opportunities. In the area of local government, we must ensure transparency and broad participation in decisions that shape neighborhoods and the community. This involves proactively engaging key stakeholders early and throughout decisions and listening and being responsive to all voices. As a Councilmember, I will work toward broader participation in local policies, the design of parks and open spaces, and an open process to apply and compete for funding opportunities.
City government should value diversity at all levels of the organization and more steps can be taken to help eliminate conscious or unconscious bias that put some at a disadvantage.
Noozhawk: How will you reduce the number of homeless encampments, unhoused people, and homeless-related nuisance crimes in Santa Barbara?
Nina Johnson: This is a very difficult issue that could be better managed, but is not likely to be solved. It requires creative approaches among local service providers and accessing state and federal funding to leverage limited local funds. I would improve oversight of all city contracted social service providers to ensure data sharing among agencies, clear deliverables, and better coordination. I’m also interested in a partnership with Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to use our combined funding and resources to give people the care they need at different stages. A stronger partnership with Caltrans is important to prevent homeless encampments that are a fire hazard.
Santa Barbara lacks mental health outreach workers and that is a shortcoming I will address, as well as reviewing the entire system of street outreach and enforcement where certain skills and approaches are needed. I would like to see a better case management strategy to give encouragement and coaching to prevent people from returning to the streets. We all need friends and mentors in our lives as we go through difficult times.
While we should take a compassionate approach to move unhoused individuals off the streets, we should enforce sitting and lying on the sidewalk to ensure the downtown and other commercial corridors are safe and inviting for outdoor dining and shopping. We must rely on a combination of tools and strategies to provide health care and social services to help unhoused individuals off the street and appropriate enforcement so local merchants and their customers feel safe.
Noozhawk: How should Santa Barbara respond to Senate Bill 9, which allows for duplex development (up to four units) in single-family-zoned neighborhoods?
Nina Johnson: Helping property owners convert a garage or build a unit behind their home can create more housing units that are affordably priced below-market, while providing income to many homeowners to help them afford to stay in their homes. Not all single-family areas can handle this level of density and, fortunately state legislation requires properties to be owner-occupied and exempts properties located in historic districts, high fire hazard areas, and flood zones. This should lessen the potential impacts of the legislation. We need to firm up and clarify these restricted areas to make clear where additional housing units can and cannot be built.
Noozhawk: What can Santa Barbara do, that it’s not already doing, to reduce climate-change-related hazards for its residents and move toward a more sustainable future in terms of energy and water resources?
Nina Johnson: Santa Barbara took a major step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the recently implemented Community Choice Energy program that increases our portfolio of renewable energy, putting Santa Barbara on track to reach a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030. I’m interested in seeing broader installations of solar photovoltaic panels and electric vehicle charging stations in parking lots, public and private. The city has taken some steps but we should install super-charging stations in convenient locations that charge electric vehicles quickly to serve residents and visitors that travel along the 101 Freeway. Beyond these measures, I support continued planning for sea level rise as current projections will put businesses, homes, and critical infrastructure facilities at risk in the future.
The city has long been a leader in water conservation and using diverse water sources efficiently to stretch our water supply during drought conditions. We should continue these efforts with drought-tolerant landscaping that uses less water and expanded use of recycled water infrastructure for irrigation needs.
Noozhawk: What is the most important issue specifically in your district that you plan to address if elected?
Nina Johnson: My top priority is restoring economic vibrancy Downtown through innovative urban design of the pedestrian promenade, a wide range of housing options for affordable and moderate incomes, a safe, welcoming environment to shop and dine, streamlined permitting to encourage business startup and investment, and public art that inspires and connects us.
I led the demonstration of a promenade pre-pandemic to advance the community dialogue on whether to have vehicles on State Street, providing a framework to create the current promenade. I’ll collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure the next iteration of State Street will adapt vacant space to housing and other creative uses, while protecting our historic character and unique charm.
Read all of the Noozhawk questionnaires with Santa Barbara City Council and mayoral candidates here.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
(Noozhawk illustration )
