It's a plain fact that most campaign endorsements are of dubious value, but one that truly matters in local politics is the imprimatur of the Santa Barbara Independent: election after election, thousands of the paper's readers look to it for guidance in filling out their ballots.
On a new edition of Newsmakers TV, one day after the Indy published its choices for local school board races that have attracted high-profile local interest in advance of the Nov. 8 election, Executive Editor Nick Welsh talks about the how and why of the paper's decisions, in competitive contests for the Santa Barbara Unified and Goleta Union school districts.
Josh Molina, who's been interviewing leading candidates on his "Santa Barbara Talks" podcast and covering the campaign for Noozhawk, weighs in with political analysis and commentary, while also reprising the big blow-up at the SB City Council over a universally panned staff proposal for legalizing and regulating vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods.
And Jun Starkey, Assistant Editor of the Coastal View News, returns to the show with updates on the candidates, stakes and issues of election contests in Carpinteria, and triggers a lively gabfest about the increasingly bitter fight over the county's effort to situate a retail cannabis shop in a disputed location on Santa Claus Lane.
Plus: a big step forward for the city's historic SBPD civilian review board, a big payout in a class action suit over the Refugio oil spill and Mr. Cranky Pants rants about City Hall's war on capitalism, Kristen for Mayor '26 and the ongoing spoliation of Santa Barbara by the cannabis industry and its obedient politicians.
Check out the latest episode of Newsmakers TV via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here.
JR
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