Santa.Barbara City Council member Mike Jordan shattered all known land speed records for the Grumpy Old White Guy Politician class this week, as he moved swiftly to help threatened tenants in yet another episode of "renovictions."
In the latest example of a growing national trend, rich investors recently bought a 52-unit apartment building near City College and began delivering eviction notices to tenants, keen on getting them out in order to spruce the place up, the better to raise rents and shoehorn student renters back in, packed to the rafters.
When Jordan got wind of the scheme from a whistleblower, he immediately mobilized the City Attorney's office to help him produce leaflets for distribution to tenants in the "Little I.V." neighborhood building, informing them of their rights under the city's Just Eviction law.
While Jordan acted with great alacrity, at least one knowledgeable source -- former City Attorney Ariel Callone -- thought he acted with a little too much alacrity, viewing his actions as an over-the-line political flex.
Nick Welsh returns to Newsmakers TV this week to hash it all out with Josh Molina and the genial host, as the intrepid trio also assess the latest performance of political ju-jitsu by council member Meagan Harmon, who made a determined, if failed, bid to raid the city's emergency reserve fund on behalf of her no-doubt-appreciative patrons in the SEIU and other public employee unions.
Plus: Planning Commissioner Sheila Lodge stuns the Central Coast by calling for a height increase on a building project; the Board of Supervisors confronts a scandal over mental health services at the county jail; and paeans to legendary sportswriter John Zant, upon his well-earned induction into the Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable's Hall of Fame.
And don't miss Jerry's head exploding as Nick once again peddles electric bike lunacy.
All this and more, right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.
JR
You can watch the latest episode via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here., TVSB, Cox Cable Channel 17, airs the show at 8 p.m. on weeknights, and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. KCSB, 91-9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
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CARTOON OF THE WEEK: Call for Edward Hopper...
New Yorker cartoon by Bob Mankoff.