Mayoral Candidates Split on State Street Closure and Rent Stabilization at Rotary Forum
Eric Friedman, Wendy Sims-Moten and Kristen Sneddon faced 45 minutes of rapid-fire questions from former City Administrator Jim Armstrong at the Santa Barbara Club on Thursday, in one of the last forums before the Nov. 3 election.
The three top candidates for Santa Barbara mayor, Eric Friedman, Wendy Sims-Moten and Kristen Sneddon, gathered at the Santa Barbara Club on Thursday for the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara's mayoral forum, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported. The Rotary Club's president, Dan Aldrich, wrote in his Oct. 17 letter to members that the club had a fantastic mayoral forum, that Jim Armstrong did a great job organizing and preparing for the event, and that Marlee King coordinated the site at the Santa Barbara Club after the University Club could not accommodate the club.
The forum lasted 45 minutes and was filled with quick, rapid-fire questions and answers, the News-Press reported. Former Santa Barbara City Administrator Jim Armstrong asked the questions and follow-ups. About 50 people attended, including former City Administrator Paul Casey and Marcelo Lopez, who served as the event's timekeeper, according to the News-Press report and its photo captions.
Armstrong opened by asking the candidates to raise their hands if State Street should remain permanently closed to vehicular traffic from Haley to Victoria streets, the News-Press reported. Only Sneddon raised her hand. “People are asking for a pedestrian-focused and the State Street Master Plan is flexible for the next 50 to 100 years for the change in need,” Sneddon said, in the News-Press report. “So it could be pedestrians, it could for vehicles, and I believe that’s the direction we put.”
Asked where the money would come from for a State Street Master Plan that Armstrong put at $96 million, Sneddon said, “Over half the cost of the plan is critical infrastructure, the storm water system under there is broken,” and she pointed to grant funding, the News-Press reported. Friedman said he had spoken with officials in Burlington, Vermont, and Boulder, Colorado, who said property owners could pay for part of the funding. “They don’t feel invested right now, but if they did, and you had a council that made them feel invested, that is where you are going to get a majority, or at least a lot of the funding,” Friedman said, in the report. He said the city should also look at state and federal grants.
On the budget, Armstrong said police and fire personnel make up about 60% of the general fund budget and asked how the candidates would solve the city's budget problems without compromising public safety or parks and recreation, the News-Press reported. “There’s a lot of fuzzy stuff out there, but the budget is a real thing,” Armstrong said. “It’s dollars and cents.” Friedman said the city needs to “grow the economy” and added, “We can’t raise taxes anymore,” in the report. Sims-Moten said experts and community members are important in solving city budget problems and that Santa Barbara should encourage people to shop in Santa Barbara, the report said. Sneddon said the city underbonded with the construction of the new police station and that about $7 million of Measure C sales tax funds will be needed to pay for it, but that “The money is there,” and “It’s a cash flow problem for the next year-and-a-half,” in the report.
Armstrong also pressed the candidates on the city's rent stabilization ordinance, asking, “Do you really believe it will result in more affordable rental housing in the community?” in the News-Press report. “I have consistently opposed the ordinance that has been proposed,” Friedman said. “It ultimately drives up rents and it takes local property owners out of the equation and favors out-of-town corporate landlords.” Sneddon, one of the early supporters of rent stabilization, said she now has problems with the ordinance but wanted the current council to approve it so a new council would not have to start over in January, the report said. “The ordinance is not perfect,” Sneddon said. “It has a lot of flaws.” Sims-Moten said she supports the ordinance. “It gives time to pause and have a conversation,” she said, in the report.
The election is Nov. 3, the News-Press reported, and the Rotary forum was one of the last forums of the election season. The club had announced the Oct. 15 mayoral debate at the Santa Barbara Club in its Oct. 8 and Sept. 19 president's letters, with Armstrong coordinating the event and acting as its moderator.
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