So who exactly is Bruce Porter, and what does he really stand
for?
Porter claims to be a proud independent — but campaign
filings show that he received more than $20,000 from the Santa Barbara
Republican Party.
His campaign websites — he has two, apparently so he can
present different faces to different people — pretend to champion green energy
and environmental stewardship, and promise to end commercial oil shipping. But
the local Republican Party relies heavily on contributions from oil and gas
developers. It’s not a stretch connect oil and gas interests on the one end and
Bruce Porter on the other.
Porter’s trademark seems to be a loose relationship to the
truth. He first denied a connection with an Isla Vista Rock the Vote group,
which was disavowed by the national Rock the Vote organization and then exposed
for engaging in voter suppression … until his involvement was proven. Then he bragged
about reducing the number of student voters.
Porter created a “nonprofit” organization, supposedly to
help students transition to college life, using a third website. But despite
claiming its mission as “work[ing] to help UCSB and SBCC students transition
into college,” the website is nothing more than a travel guide of local tourist
attractions. These are hardly the “resources” that new undergrads need as they
transition to college life!
Porter’s campaign websites effectively plagiarize the
positions that Joan Hartmann, our current county supervisor, has been working
on so successfully.
Does he have anything real to offer?