Former Santa Barbara City Councilman Dale Francisco breaks down the election with his views, punditry and and analysis of all the key school board races, in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.
Francisco talks about how no matter the results of the school board contests that the issue of parents demanding to know public school curriculum won’t go away.
“There’s a lot about the issue nationwide about parents’ rights, and that is essentially what conservative school board candidates are running on,” Francisco said. “We had during the COVID shutdowns a lot of parents for the very first time seeing what their children are actually being taught at school.” Click on the video below to watch the podcast.
The former councilman and head of the local Republican party also talked about the 24th Congressional race, and how Republican Brad Allen is facing nearly insurmountable odds against incumbent Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, because of a 12-point party registration disadvantage.
Francisco also pretty much calls the race for Gregg Hart over Mike Stoker for the 37th Assembly District, also because of party registration numbers.
In addition, Francisco offers his expertise on the candidates, and offers predictions on how he thinks some of the contests will turn out.
Francisco dishes on Carbajal, Hart, and Stoker, and school board candidates Christy Lozano, Brad Allen, Dan La Berge, Phebe Mansure, Gabe Escobedo, and others.
He also offers his views on Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, and what that means for “viewpoint diversity.”
Francisco was elected to the Santa Barbara City Council in 2007, ousting an incumbent. He was re-elected in 2011. A retired software engineer, Francisco has been influential in local politics, both as a candidates and a strategist.
He was elected the first time by calling out the city over its traffic calming devices in the upper Eastside and San Roque areas.
Consider a contribution to this podcast by clicking here. Subscribe to this podcast by clicking here. Josh Molina has been a journalist in Santa Barbara for 20 years. He also covered City Hall for the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to working as a reporter at Noozhawk, he teaches journalism at Cal State University, Northridge and Santa Barbara City College. Please subscribe to his You Tube channel for more content.