Congratulations to Cathy Murillo on her election victory. She will become the next mayor of Santa Barbara, and I support her efforts to make improvements. She will focus on helping to make housing more affordable, on securing a more dependable water supply, and on revitalizing the lower State Street corridor.
I just want to point out one thing. Murillo will become our next mayor because she got the most votes — true, but she only got 28 percent of the total. The rest of the vote was split between four other candidates.
Murillo, with her 28 percent, does not have a mandate. The voters have not given her a green light to forge ahead with her agenda.