aug. 24-31, 2017
NEWS of the WEEK
by Kelsey Brugger @kelseybrugger, Keith hamm, tyler hayden @TylerHayden1, nicK Welsh, and Jean yamamura, with Independent staff
The Likely Long Shot
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pau l wellm an
Conservative Frank Hotchkiss Has a Path to Becoming Mr. Mayor by Tyler Hayden
n normal times, Frank Hotchkiss would be a long shot to win this November’s mayoral race. The conservative councilmember who doubts traditional climate-change science and endorses a southern border wall is campaigning in a city where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1, and he’s swimming against a 40-year tradition of progressive politicians occupying Santa Barbara’s top elected office, which championed the birth of the modern environmental movement and serves a large immigrant community. But these are not normal times. This is not an ordinary mayoral race. And Hotchkiss has a realistic chance of victory. In this year’s contest, colored by bitter political partisanship under a schismatic new presidency, Hotchkiss is squaring off against a trio of equally matched liberals—councilmembers Cathy Murillo and Bendy White, and former Santa Barbara mayor Hal Conklin—who threaten to split the Democratic vote into three even slices. Angel Martinez, a fiscally conservative but socially progressive decline-to-state candidate, could also steal away critical support for the Democrats in an off-year election, where older, wealthier, more conservative voters almost always turn out in larger numbers. In fact, according to recent polling, only 16,814 of Santa Barbara’s 47,140 registered voters—35 percent—are expected to cast a ballot. Of those, 84 percent are 50 years old or older; 26 percent are registered Republicans, and 14 percent are No Party Preference. While
politics
Councilmember Frank Hotchkiss
tives, including Dale Francisco and Michael Self, backed with the overwhelming financial firepower of shadowy Republican kingmaker Randall Van Wolfswinkel, a Texan with a house in Montecito. They resisted so-called traffic-calming devices—i.e., bulb-outs and intersection redesigns — meant to encourage alternative modes of transportation, and their elections represented a major shift of the council’s political makeup. But it was City Hall’s approval of the Light Blue Line that really inspired Hotchkiss’s interest in local politics. The controversial strip of paint proposed along downtown streets and sidewalks was meant to highlight the threat of global warming and illustrate where Santa Barbara’s new tide line would be if Greenland’s ice sheets were to melt and raise the sea level by 21 feet. Hotchkiss argued the project was a waste of city money, and he worried about the effect it would have on property values. At the time, Hotchkiss said he didn’t doubt global warming was taking place, but he wondered if it was such a bad thing. “The Northwest Passage is opening up,” he said. “It might be great for commerce.” Over the next eight years, Hotchkiss maintained a stubborn skepticism about climate change. When the city considered a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2011, he argued that they posed a minimal risk to sea life, which could poop out any ingested bags. At the next council meeting, the environmental activist group Save the Mermaids offered him a plastic-bag sandwich. Always mindful of tax increases in the name of sustainability, Hotchkiss was the only councilmember to vote against Santa Barbara’s pledge to adopt
The next mayor could be elected with as few as 3,530 votes from a potential pool of 47,140 registered voters. council seats are now chosen by district, the mayor’s position remains at-large, meaning all city voters weigh in. With such a small voting pool, Santa Barbara’s next mayor could be elected by as few as 3,530 residents, according to the polling data. Gail Teton-Landis, new chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee, which has thrown its weight behind Murillo, admitted she’s worried about the split vote.“Of course I have concern,” she lamented about the crowded and competitive field. “Democrats need to learn how to do math.” Hotchkiss — a former journalist, actor, and publicist, and now a real estate agent and author—was elected to the council in 2009. He was part of a cadre of conserva-
A state bill sponsored by the Chumash to expand property tax relief for all Native American tribes has been shelved. While existing law grants property-tax exemptions for all Indian reservation land, Assembly Bill 653 would have extended that exemption to property under application to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA process is lengthy, in part because of appeals from neighbors. Santa Ynez Valley residents and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann spoke out against the bill, which county staff estimated would have cost Santa Barbara County hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Los Angeles Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas authored the bill.
100 percent renewable energy by 2030, citing a concern over rate increases. This week, Hotchkiss articulated his stance on climate change once more: “I would say I adhere to Shakespeare’s view that we are very small players on a vast, vast stage. So any contribution to the atmosphere we make is infinitesimal compared to that of nature.” He also provided an analogy to purchasing renewable energy, which he said isn’t nearly as dependable and inevitably raises rates: “Would you buy a car that you love but is more expensive and breaks down now and then, or would you buy a car that may not be as beautiful but is more reliable and costs less?” Looked at that way, he said, the better choice is obvious. Despite routine disagreements with Santa Barbara’s environmentally minded majority, Hotchkiss has nevertheless shown a willingness to break from his bloc on other key issues. He voted in favor of mandatory Zoning Information Reports for property owners, despite strong resistance from fellow realtors, and was critical of the proliferation of shortterm vacation rentals early in the debate. Hotchkiss was also instrumental in brokering a hard-won peace accord in the battle over the new Sola Street bike lane. On the dais, he’s direct and succinct and asks sharp, pertinent questions. Conversations with other councilmembers paint a picture of an honest, pragmatic colleague strong in conviction but sometimes out of touch with the whole of Santa Barbara. Hotchkiss raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle earlier this year when he wrote an opinion piece for the Santa Barbara NewsPress suggesting that World War II Japanese internment camps were not racially tinged or emotionally damaging. “When I came to California in 1971, I met a number of Japanese Americans,” he wrote.“To a man and woman,
Justin Fareed is hoping the third time’s the charm. The unsuccessful congressional candidate, who ran in 2014 and 2016, filed papers 8/16 to run for the 24th Congressional District. Last November, the 29-year-old Montecito native came within about 6 percentage points of Democrat Salud Carbajal, who won the seat with 53 percent of the vote. According to the latest campaign finance reports, Fareed has not raised any money in 2017. He has about $54,000 left over from his last race. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has already begun targeting the 24th Congressional District. Last month, the NRCC released a set of online video ads attacking five California Democrats, including Carbajal. Congressmember Salud Carbajal likes to say he’ll meet with anyone, anytime, anywhere. This Monday morning he enjoyed about 45 minutes of quality coffee-sipping time with the national Republican Party strategist charged with engineering his political demise. “It was totally innocuous,” said Carbajal afterward. “It was all very innocent.” Carbajal was referring to the get-together he had with Ohio Congressmember Steve Stivers at the Montecito home of Karen Roberts and Brad Dyruff. Stivers also happens to be chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, whose job it is to cultivate viable Republican candidates and see to it they get elected. As such, Carbajal is on Stivers’s hit list. When asked about the conversation, Carbajal said, “Kids, the community, and how we get our information on issues.” When asked if next year’s race came up, Carbajal said, “Zip. Nada. Nothing.”
environment The 5,896-acre Sedgwick Reserve, located in the San Rafael Mountains outside Santa Ynez, will receive a $1.4 million grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to build — in cooperation with UCSB — administrative and research space, a meeting hall, and an outdoor kitchen, plus to repair roads and other infrastructure. The grant is a portion of nearly $25 million handed out by WCB to help restore and protect habitat and wildlife and enhance public access statewide. The funds come from voter-approved bond measures.
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