Old friends of the program Laura Capps and Dale Francisco, who last joined the Newsmakers TV panel in long-ago pre-pandemic days, dropped in for a Reunion Tour Remote Coffee Klatch episode on Friday, joining Josh Molina and Jerry to dissect the latest Santa Barbara local news.
Two big leadership stories -- one key departure and one important arrival -- were in the headlines this week, as George Buell resigned as head of the city's embattled Community Development Department, and Hilda Maldonado, the newly-hired Superintendent of SB's Unified School District, came to town to meet the school board that selected her -- for the first time in person.
As local government continues to focus on policy issues raised by Black Lives Matters, former council member Francisco criticized city council members for pulling back $2 million in the budget for construction of a new police station -- a key promise by the 2017 campaign in favor of the Measure C sales tax increase, which voters approved overwhelmingly -- while school board president Capps revealed that student leaders allied with BLM have decided to to amend their demand to bar sworn law enforcement officers from high school campuses.
And as Covid-19 infections spike in Santa Barbara County, we hear the latest about plans for reopening public schools and the impact of a sudden curb in the reopening of business, even as the pandemic economy remains weak.
It's all here, right now, right below on the Newsmakers TV YouTube channel. And the podcast version is here.
JR
Image: Henry Thompsom Klatch (improbable com).
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