The festering political fight between Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo and Councilman Jason Dominguez exploded Tuesday afternoon during a vote on the city’s $401.6 million budget.
It was supposed to be a routine budget approval after a month of meetings focused on each department.
Instead, it escalated into a bizarre and emotional argument between the two Democrats.
In a rare move, Murillo called an abrupt recess to block Dominguez from commenting twice during the budget discussion.
“Mr. Dominguez, you’ve had your say and I am not going to allow you to rebut,” Murillo told him.
“What do you mean you are not going to allow me, you don’t have the choice,” Dominguez responded. “I represent this city and I am allowed to speak when I want to.”
Murillo retorted: “You made a long statement . . . this meeting is in recess,” as she banged the gavel.
Dominguez smiled and rocked back in his chair, and several council members stood up and walked out of the room.
How did we get here?
Dominguez, during the first time he spoke, indicated hat he was going to vote against the spending plan because he didn’t agree with its direction.
“I cannot vote for today’s budget,” Dominguez said. “I don’t think we are aiming to fix the major problems of the day in Santa Barbara. We’re not doing enough for homelessness. We’re not doing enough to fix community development and the red tape. We are not doing enough for park safety, and we’re not doing enough to prevent cost overruns.”
He continued: “What we have seen is a lot of Band-Aids and not cures. We’re spending approximately $5 million on enforcement and cleaning up after the homeless, but less than a $1 million on actually curing the problem and restoring them to lives that they and we can be proud of.”
Dominguez showed a slide from the city of Ventura, which has a campaign to discourage people from giving money to panhandlers, with a telephone number where people can call to help.
“We’re kicking these cans down the road; these problems are only going to get worse,” Dominguez said.
The comment about Ventura prompted Councilman Randy Rowse to chime in to say that Santa Barbara has already tried programs to discourage panhandlers, but none gained traction.
“I am not sure what Ventura is doing, but the reason why they were taken up and abandoned was because they did not promote the kind of traction that they were intended to,” Rowse said. “I just wanted to put that out there. We’ve been there.”
When Dominguez tried to rebut Rowse, Murillo cut him off.
After the meeting, Murillo told Noozhawk it was not personal.
“I was trying to run a focused meeting, where we all got our say,” Murillo said. “This was about adopting our budget. Everyone had said their piece. My goal was to conduct a good meeting.”
Earlier, during the budget discussion, Murillo said, “We’re an incredible city that is well-run. Our budget is balanced. I will be voting for the project with pride.”
Dominguez doesn’t buy Murillo’s explanation for cutting him off.
“I ask everyone to rewatch today’s council meeting,” Dominguez said. “The video shows a further escalation of Murillo’s pattern of stifling dissent and censorship. I was elected to stand up for the residents of Santa Barbara, and I am beholden to voters, not to City Hall special interests. I am pushing for policies that support everyday residents. We will not be silenced.”
Although both are Democrats, Murillo is backed and supported by the formal Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, which as been at odds with Dominguez for years.
Dominguez won a seat on the council four years ago — without the backing of the Democratic Party — defeating the group’s choice in the election.
Dominguez sought the endorsement of the party earlier this month, and was rejected, as he vies for another term.
During Murillo’s first term as mayor, Dominguez has been a steady thorn in her side, attempting to position himself as a more pragmatic official.
Dominguez is perceived by critics as self-serving and a grandstander, while Murillo is criticized for towing the party line.
She actively campaigns for party-endorsed Democrats, such as Councilman Oscar Gutierrez and Santa Barbara Unified School District board member Rose Munoz. She is also planning to campaign on behalf of Dominguez’s opponent in his City Council re-election bid, Alejandra Gutierrez.
Dominguez did not help his own political reputation among local party leaders after he showed up at the state’s Democratic Party Convention, feeling out a possible bid for the state Assembly, while also locally campaigning for his District 1 seat.
On the council, Murillo and Dominguez frequently snipe back-and-forth on issues, which is why Murillo’s sudden recess on Tuesday came as a surprise.
Dominguez has a reputation for talking long and tediously about issues, without interruption. The mayor often allows council members to speak multiple times on issues without calling for a recess.
Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said she could see both sides of the coin.
“I always think it is a good idea to allow public comment and allow council members to speak, but it also important to follow protocol of meetings,” Sneddon said.
After a roughly 10-minute recess, the council reconvened and took the vote.
Dominguez again tried to respond to Rowse and the panhandling issue, and Murillo said: “Mr. Dominguez, I will allow you to speak, go ahead.”
“This is the type of problem that is susceptible to a bunch of small solutions, there’s not just one major solution,” Dominguez said.
He suggested government, private sector individuals and nonprofits work together to address homelessness.
“There’s a whole slew of things that we’re leaving on the table, like creating a committee,” he said.
Murillo then responded to him: “You can get more involved with what the city of Santa Barbara is doing. I will let you know when the Home For Good meetings are.”
The vote to approve the budget was 6-1, with Dominguez opposed.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
