Thirteen candidates have already taken out papers to run in this November’s Santa Barbara City Council election, in which candidates — for the first time in 50 years — will be elected by districts rather than at large. The extent to which conventional political coalitions hold sway under the new manner of elections remains very much an open question. Likewise for how much district elections will open the door of political opportunity to Latino candidates and other candidates pushing more narrowly tailored neighborhood-centric agendas. But with the filing deadline for council candidates still a few days away, the lineup of so many first-time candidates — nine — and the large number of Latino-named candidates — seven — suggests this year’s election will deviate considerably from the political same old, same old.
In this year’s race, three of the six newly created districts are up for grabs, two of which have a majority-minority population of Latino voters. Of those, the Eastside district — also known as District 1 — appears to be the most wide open. That’s in part because there’s no incumbent seeking to hold onto his or her seat. It’s also the area of town from which the fewest number of successful council candidates have come over time. Currently, five candidates are vying for this spot, and only one — Cruzito Cruz — has run before. Although Cruz has run many times, he’s never sought to raise campaign cash and has been seen more as a protest vote. Cruz was also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against City Hall that led to the adoption of district elections. He ultimately experienced a severe falling out with his fellow plaintiffs and their attorney, and he was effectively “fired” from the litigation.
Another plaintiff suing for district elections in that same case, Jacqueline Inda, is also running for the council. Although this is Inda’s first bid for public office, she achieved prominence fighting the gang injunction proposed by the City of Santa Barbara and subsequently defeated in court. Inda is also involved in a bitter fight among Milpas Street business owners over rival business improvement district proposals. Of the two, hers is by far the smaller and cheaper, and it appears to be backed by a much larger number of Latino shop owners. The rival improvement district is backed by the Milpas Community Association, which is headed by Sharon Byrne, who, not coincidentally, is running for the council’s Westside district. Inda reports having raised $8,400. Of that, at least $2,500 comes from key supporters of the district elections lawsuit.