I’m frustrated by the lack of deep scrutiny of the candidates running in the current city election. We no longer have a daily print paper in town, and the worthy news sources that are covering the city lack enough resources to do the best job, I think. Personally, I’ve been among those trying, since the News-Press mess a decade ago, to encourage more investigative and in-depth reporting of the local scene. Results have been mixed.
Jerry Roberts, former editor in chief at the Santa Barbara News-Press (whose journalistic integrity was violated by owner Wendy McCaw, thereby precipitating the Mess) has admirably been working to create some online coverage — video interviews and panels, occasional personal mini-essays on the mechanics of the campaign — and most importantly, a just released poll of city voters on their mayoral preferences.
The results indicate that Frank Hotchkiss and Cathy Murillo are in a statistical tie for the lead — the other candidates lag in single digits, and 40 percent said they were undecided. Hotchkiss’s slight numerical lead has provoked a surge of worry for a lot of people. The worry is justified — we can’t have a climate denying representative of the most complacent property class as mayor of Santa Barbara!