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Facing imminent legal threat from noted trial attorney Barry Cappello, the Santa Barbara City Council came within inches of putting district elections on the ballot this November for city voters to decide, but it came up just one vote shy and deadlocked 3-3. Had Councilmember Dale Francisco been present — he was campaigning for Congress — he said he would have voted to let city residents decide the matter, while at the same time dismissing district elections as “silly” and “a bad idea.” Although none of the current councilmembers supports district elections, it’s almost inevitable that the matter will either go before the voters, before a judge, and very likely both. Based on a host of recent court decisions throughout California, the conviction around City Hall is that if Cappello sues on behalf of the emerging coalition of district election supporters, he will almost certainly win. Since 1968, only five Latinos, one African American, and one Asian-Pacific Islander have been elected to the council. To prevail, Cappello must demonstrate Santa Barbara voters are polarized along racial lines, meaning that minority voters in general vote differently than their Anglo counterparts. City Attorney Ariel Calonne said with Latinos making up 38 percent of the city’s population, there was a very strong likelihood such polarization exists. That, he added, would have to be demonstrated by an expert demographer. The council voted to hire such a demographer right away to determine the facts. It also voted to form an ad hoc subcommittee to meet with proponents of district elections to see if any meetings of the mind could be achieved without resorting to legal bloodshed. District-election advocate Frank Bañales, who ran for the council in the 1980s and lost narrowly, said his group — the District Election Committee of the Community Neighborhood Alliance — intends to sue City Hall for violating the California Voting Rights Act in the next few weeks. Bañales said district elections have little to do with ethnicity and everything to do with neighborhood representation. If the city is found in violation of the state Voting Rights Act, Calonne said, the only acceptable remedy is the adoption of district elections. Because Santa Barbara is a charter city, this can only be done by city voters. And if voters rejected it, Calonne said, a judge would have to intervene. The latest the council could act to get the matter before voters this Novem— Nick Welsh ber is June 24.
problems at already congested intersections, such as Highway 101 and Las Positas. Spurring the change is a council majority interested in removing roadblocks of affordable housing development coupled with the recognition that there are 13 major intersections so thoroughly impacted they could stop projects with even marginal impact. PAU L WE LL M A N
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Disgruntled taxi drivers (pictured) gathered outside City Hall on 5/30 to argue that companies like Uber and Lyft get an unfair advantage because their drivers don’t have to go through the rigors of a taxicab business license, hold commercial insurance, obey safety codes, or have law enforcement background checks as do the drivers for the 68 taxi companies here. They claim their revenue has dropped by 60 percent since the online taxicalling services came to town. Uber spokesperson Eva Behrend maintained all drivers operate under a permit granted by the Public Utilities Commission and have background checks, a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol, and $1 million per incident insurance coverage. Approximately 500 cab drivers work the streets in Santa Barbara.
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County’s longtime leader Michael Feeney was forced to resign in February amid undisclosed circumstances. Feeney has been a major presence in environmental and conservation circles for decades. The trust appointed Carolyn Chandler acting executive director, and a search for a permanent replacement is in its final stages. The Land Trust declined to comment on its personnel matters, and Feeney has not returned calls. Earlier this month, Feeney was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct at the home of a Land Trust employee in what authorities stated was “a domestic situation.” A state grant of more than $2.6 million will enable the county’s Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services (ADMHS) to purchase or fix up a South County building to serve as a crisis stabilization unit and residential treatment facility, as well as mostly cover the costs for one year of a mobile crisis-response team in Lompoc. The main goals of the grant, titled SB 82, are to decrease unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency room admissions, and recidivism overall. The funding is good through July 2015. Despite giving away about $5 million per year to the County of Santa Barbara via a deal hatched a decade ago that’s set to last forever, the City of Goleta remains in good financial standing, with notable successes including the San Jose Creek restoration/flood project and excitedly awaited projects-to-be including the Target superstore and Ice in Paradise skating rink. Those latter three items received loud applause during cont’d page 12 the seventh annual State
Morua Sentenced to 20 Years to Life Fatal DUI Hit-and-Run Hearing Offers Apologies and Accusations
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District Elections: Placebo or Panacea?
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BY T Y L E R H AY D E N he pain of two families filled the courtroom where Raymond Morua was sentenced on May 28 to 20 years to life in prison for driving drunk and fatally hitting Mallory Rae Dies in downtown Santa Barbara last December. Morua will be eligible for parole after 10 years and admitted to felony charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of an accident. The late-night incident and its aftermath deeply affected the Santa Barbara community as both victim and perpetrator were well-liked in their respective circles. Dies, 27, was a UCSB graduate and a downtown bartender remembered for her warmth and wit. Morua, 32, is an Iraq war veteran who worked as a district representative for Congressmember Lois Capps and was a supporter of local veterans. Before Judge James Voysey handed down the sentence, Dies’s parents addressed the court, showing photos of their daughter’s life and speaking of the things she loved and also of how their emotions range from numbness to unimaginable pain. Ryan Todey, one of Dies’s close friends, spoke about crossing Anacapa Street that fatal night. He recalled hearing the sound of a revving engine and, before anyone could move, how Morua’s SUV had slammed into his friend. The Dies family has since formed an anti-drunk-driving campaign called VowMal, Todey continued: “I just want to say that even though Mallory passed … the miracles I have witnessed over the last five months have shown me that Mallory Rae lives.” Morua’s fiancée, Teresa Montoya, then spoke to Judge Voysey and the court, describing how Morua had struggled to reintegrate into civilian life after the army. He had seen fierce and violent combat overseas, she said, and had often endured mortar bombardments that injured many of his friends, recalling one particularly traumatic event when he tended a soldier whose eye was hung from his skull. Morua received little support from the government when he returned home and drank heavily to cope with his diagnosed PTSD, she said. Montoya went on to talk about the need for more transitional resources for veterans. “I don’t want us to forget Mallory,” she said, “… but I think that understanding this event and being able to help soldiers when they return is a start.” Morua’s brother-in-law, Juan Jimenez, spoke directly to Mallory Dies’s father, Matt Dies, commending Dies for his strength in the face of tragedy, calling him a “true man.” As Dies nodded in thanks, Jimenez explained that he too came back broken from war and began to self-medicate. “You leave for war a complete man,” he said. “ … To this day, I still wake up in cold sweats and smell those bodies from my bedroom. I fight demons every day.” Jimenez said he’s been sober for two months and looks to the Dies family as inspiration.
FROM TOP: Raymond Morua, Matt Dies,
and Morua’s brother-in-law, Juan Jimenez
As he quietly sobbed, Raymond Morua read a statement to the Dies family about his shame and disgrace: “My heart and soul drown from the sorrow and pain that I have brought upon you and your family. … I would trade places with her at a moment’s notice.” But Morua’s tone and message shifted when he addressed Rep. Lois Capps and her staffers. “I am disappointed in [their] slanderous attempts to assassinate my character and to deny the fact that I was on the job the night of the accident,” Morua said. “… The fact that they are behaving so in an attempt to avoid compensating the Dies family is just as, if not more, cowardly than my actions were the night I was under the influence.” Capps has stated Morua was not working for her the night of the collision, fired him afterward, and has sought to cut all ties with him. The Dies family has sued Congress in a wrongful-death complaint, alleging that with two prior DUI convictions, Morua should never have been put into the position where he could drink and drive on the clock. Before he hit Mallory, Morua had attended an annual holiday party hosted by The Santa Barbara Independent earlier in the evening. After the hearing, Matt Dies said of Morua’s statement,“It was good to hear those words.” Complete story at independent.com/news. june 5, 2014
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