Santa Barbara City Council candidate Gabe Escobedo said “affordable housing is an ecosystem of policies” and that he would center “people over profits,” if elected to the City Council.
Escobedo, a member of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education, shared his views on a variety of city and school issues, in the latest episode of the podcast “Santa Barbara Talks” with Josh Molina.
Escobedo is looking to replace Meagan Harmon on the Santa Barbara City Council, District 6. He supports rent stabilization—capping rent increases at 60% of CPI, keeping State Street closed to cars, and building more affordable housing downtown.
“When people say, well, rent stabilization doesn’t create more affordable housing, or rent stabilization is not the silver bullet, no one’s claiming it to be,” Escobedo says on the podcast. “I’ve spent years developing my perspective on affordable housing.”
Click on the YouTube link below to watch Escobedo and Molina.
Escobedo said he has “read many books” and “talked to many people,” even those he disagrees with.
“And really, the conclusion I come to is affordable housing, to provide truly secure, affordable housing for people that live and work in Santa Barbara, it is not one policy, it is not one decision, it doesn’t happen fast, it is an ecosystem of policies,” Escobedo said.
Molina in the episode also asks him about his support for Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado—amid an exodus of longtime cabinet staff, frequent protests, rallies and marches by students and teachers demanding more pay for teachers, and against cuts to arts programs.
Escobedo has consistently defended Maldonado. He said “she came in at a time that was the toughest you could possibly come in,” mentioning the fact that she was hired at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She came from a different system where it was very much less relational,” Escobedo said. “It’s a large, one of the largest, second largest in the United States, LA Unified.”=
He said there are some who judged her for reasons that were outside of her control.
“She’s a woman, she’s a Latina,” Escobedo said.
Overall, he said, the district has made gains in literacy and pushed for more affordable housing, Escobedo said, during Maldonado’s tenure.
“In partnership with Hilda, we’ve been able to do some really good things,” Escobedo said.
He previously was on the city’s Planning Commission and the Community Formation Commission. He announced that he would run for California State Assembly, but then stepped back after Gregg Hart declared his interest. Mike Stoker also entered the race and there were concerns about Hart and Escobedo splitting the vote and creating a path for Stoker.
Escobedo also sought appointment unsuccessfully to the City Council in 2017.
In the podcast, Escobedo talks about his upbringing, including his relationship with his father. Escobedo is also a member of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee.
Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast owned by journalist Joshua Molina. He is the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press and worked as a reporter and editor at Noozhawk and the San Jose Mercury News. He also teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. Watch Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina on YouTube for hundreds of podcast interviews and commentary.
