The future of State Street has been the focus of much collective soul-searching and hand-wringing, and this Tuesday, the Santa Barbara City Council voted to appoint 15 movers and shakers to the State Street Advisory Committee to chart the future course for the city’s defining main drag and mainstay of its cultural and economic identity.
More than 95 applicants initially applied. Getting the three council seats on the committee were councilmembers Michael Jordan, Meagan Harmon, and Alejandra Gutierrez. Filling the three slots set aside for the business community will be developer and property owner Peter Lewis, Chamber of Commerce head Kristen Miller, and Downtown Santa Barbara executive Robin Elander.
For the seven at-large positions, the top two vote-getters were Roger Durling, best known as executive director of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, and Dave Davis, former head of the city’s Community Development Department and now on the board of Metropolitan Transit District and the city’s Water Commission. In addition, Davis has been long active with the Community Environmental Council.