There was a palpable abundance of celebratory goodwill expressed at the start of this week’s City Council meeting. Cathy Murillo, the onetime newspaper reporter turned progressive councilmember, was sworn in as the city’s 50th mayor and the first Latina ever to hold that post. “I’m standing ready to lead Santa Barbara into an ever-brighter future,” Murillo declared.
Kind words were lavished upon Murillo’s predecessor, Helene Schneider, as she passed the gavel and stepped down off the dais after 14 years of service, along with councilmembers Frank Hotchkiss and Bendy White. “You’ll always be the mayor of Santa Barbara,” Murillo said to Schneider. Both White and Hotchkiss were termed out of office after running against Murillo for mayor this past November and coming up short. Murillo asked Hotchkiss — with whom she frequently sparred — to inscribe something personal in a copy of his novel, a steamy romance, that she had bought at Chaucer’s.
Kind words were heaped in turn on Murillo, as well as newly elected councilmembers Eric Friedman and Kristen Sneddon, who replace Hotchkiss and White. “You’ll be a great mayor,” Hotchkiss said to Murillo as she pulled out his book. Incumbent Councilmember Gregg Hart came in for some laudatory talk, too, getting sworn in after winning his fourth term on council.
