With about two weeks to go, candidates make final arguments for mayor at Rotary Club of Santa Barbara forum

It’s almost over.

Will the one-time frontrunner Kristen Sneddon recapture any momentum?

Will Eric Friedman be able to maintain his surge of popularity through election day?

Can Wendy Sims-Moten pull off an upset and rewrite the script to overcome the political powerbrokers?

The public will find out in 17 days.

The top candidates for Santa Barbara Mayor, Eric Friedman, Wendy Sims-Moten and Kristen Sneddon, gathered at the Santa Barbara Club for the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara’s mayoral forum.

The event was one of the last forums of the election season. Friedman, fresh off the surprise endorsement from the Santa Barbara Independent the day prior, beamed with confidence in answering an array of questions.

Unlike other mayoral forums, the Rotary Club event was only 45 minutes long, filled with quick, rapid-fire questions and answers. Former Santa Barbara City Administrator Jim Armstrong asked the questions—and follow-ups—and pulled no punches.

About 50 people attended, including former City Administrator Paul Casey and Assistant City Administrator Marcelo Lopez.

Right out of the gate, Armstrong asked the three candidates to raise their hands if “State Street should remain permanently closed to vehicular traffic from Haley to Victoria streets.”

Only Sneddon raised her hand.

Armstrong then gave Sneddon 20 seconds to explain her position.

“People are asking for pedestrian-focused and the State Street Master Plan is flexible for the next 50 to 100 years for the change in need,” Sneddon said. “So it could be pedestrians, it could for vehicles, and I believe that’s the direction we put.”

Later Armstrong asked the candidates: “My understanding is the Master Plan is going to cost $96 million to build. Where’s the money going to come from to do that?”

He asked Sneddon first.

“Over half the cost of the plan is critical infrastructure, the storm water system under there is broken,” Sneddon said. “It is disconnected in places. Utilities also need to be upgraded for any kind of housing that we’re gonna put down there. So, over half the cost of the plan is, you know, what I call the cake underneath, and the frosting on top is streets and pavings and things for bicycles and other things. So, through grant funding.”

Friedman said he had conversations with officials in Burlington, Vermont and Boulder, Colorado who said property owners could be 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.

He said the city should also look at state and federal grants to help fund it.

“Otherwise we don’t have the funding in the City of Santa Barbara because it would compete against fire stations and other funding that was already promised,” he said.

Armstrong then went beyond just asking the candidates their thoughts on the city’s budget and the depletion of the reserves. He said that police and fire personnel make up about 60% of the general fund budget and how were the candidates going to solve the budget problems without compromising public safety or parks and recreation.

“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.”

“We can’t raise taxes anymore,” Friedman said.

Sims-Moten, the former chair of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Trustees, said experts and community members are important when it comes to solving city budget problems.

“The average person in Santa Barbara should be included in budget decisions, Sims-Moten said.

She said Santa Barbara should encourage people to shop in Santa Barbara.

“We don’t have stores or retail for every level of income in Santa Barbara,” Sims-Moten said. “A lot of our sales tax goes to Ventura or Santa Maria.

Sneddon said the city of Santa Barbara “underbonded” with the construction of the new police station.

“We don’t talk about it,” Sneddon said. “We all know it happened.”

Sneddon said about $7 million of Measure C sales tax funds will be needed to pay for the police station, but that it will be “taken care of.”

“The money is there,” Sneddon said. “It’s a cash flow problem for the next year-and-a-half.”

Armstrong also drilled down on the city’s rent stabilization ordinance.

He asked: “Do you really believe it will result in more affordable rental housing in the community?”

“I have consistently opposed the ordinance that has been proposed,” said Friedman. “It ultimately drives up rents and it takes local property owners out of the equation and favors out-of-town corporate landlords.”

Friedman said rent stabilization helps people who currently live in units, but not new individuals in the community.

Sneddon, who was one of the early supporters of rent stabilization, said she now has problems with the ordinance, but that she wanted the current council to approve it so a new majority City Council wouldn’t have to start all over again January.

“The ordinance is not perfect,” Sneddon said. “It has a lot of flaws. “We were under time pressures.”

Sims-Moten said she supports the rent stabilization ordinance.

“It gives time to pause and have a conversation,” Sims-Moten said.

During this period, the city can find time to talk to “truly hear from both sides.”

The election is Nov. 3

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