‘Santa Barbara Talks’ podcast: James Zurlinden rages against the machine in Santa Barbara City Council District 5 bid

James Zurlinden feels left out. In his mind, he’s a smart guy, a good Democrat who cares about what happens in the city of Santa Barbara.

But when it came time to get an endorsement from the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, Zurlinden said he didn’t get a fair shake.

“They also wanted me to step aside during the interview,” Zurlinden says in the latest episode of the podcast “Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.” He said: “They asked me if I would, you know, consider, suspending my campaign and stepping down. I said no because I believe in what I’m doing.”

With eight days to go before Election Day, Zurlinden is hopeful that his low-budget, high-spirit campaign can push him to the top, in a contest against two other Democrats, including frontrunner Ian Baucke, who is backed by the Democratic Party (Party officials, contend they did not ask Zurlinden not to “step aside.”) Zurlinden has raised about $3,100. Baucke has raised about $33,000.

Zurlinden, a chef and media buyer for a local television company, talks about his platform in this episode, including his views on rent stabilization, affordable housing, State Street, the city budget and ICE deportations.

“We can’t allow masked agents to come in and just start picking people off the street because of the color of their skin or the way that they talk,” Zurlinden said. “They talk about these people like they’re not human beings. These are real people. These are humans.”

Zurlinden said the public should have access to body cams worn by police officers.

“If we have legal recordings, because they always try and fight anything that’s been done by cell phone video, but if we have our police department recording these interactions, we can start holding these people accountable for the atrocities that they are taking against our citizens,” Zurlinden said. “We can’t interfere, but we need to start documenting, making sure everything is recorded.” Click on the YouTube link below to watch the full hour-long conversation.

Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast owned by journalist Joshua Molina. He is the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press and worked as a reporter and editor at Noozhawk and the San Jose Mercury News. He also teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. Watch Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina on YouTube for hundreds of podcast interviews and commentary.

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