If you live in Santa Barbara’s second City Council District – the Mesa, West Beach, part of the Westside – you probably already know who Mike Jordan is. He’s been our City Council member for five years, and before then served for a decade on the city’s Planning Commission. He’s a Santa Barbara native who has been involved in local issues for many decades, trying to make things better for the 2nd District and for the city as a whole. He’s up for reelection this November, and I urge you to vote to keep him in office for four more years.
Even if you know Mike’s name, you may not know all he’s done since he was elected in 2019. Mike has been a staunch advocate for proactive policy to help homeless people off the streets, both because they deserve and need roofs over their heads and support services, and because homeless encampments pose a fire risk to us all. After the Loma Fire, Mike went immediately to the City Administrator and argued successfully that the City needed to act, ASAP, to get people into housing. Because he understands from his years on the Planning Commission that we desperately need more housing, now, he has been a powerful advocate for housing as the City Council looks at both La Cumbre Plaza and Paseo Nuevo.
Back in the day, no one worried about fire on this side of the freeway. The Loma Fire changed that too, and Mike has been steadily pushing for more attention and resources to address the risk of what are now High Fire Zones stretching from Campanil Hill to Honda Valley Park. His commitment to fire safety has won him the endorsement of local firefighters.