Jason Carlton, a local electrician and candidate for the District 6 city council seat, is leading his second campaign with “common sense.”
For example, Carlton believes that Santa Barbara’s government has an “order of operations” problem. It impacts processes from construction to decision- making, Carlton said, creating issues that led his neighbors and family to convince him to run for a second time, after he was not elected in 2021.
Carlton said he’s running a grassroots campaign. A local member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, Carlton said the District 6 community needs a city that “works for us.”
Four candidates are running to take over Meagan Harmon’s seat as District 6 city council member. Carlton is running against Anabella Lehne, Alexander Stoeber and Gabe Escobedo.
If elected to city council, Santa Barbara’s construction process is one thing Carlton hopes to bring his expertise to. He recalled a time when a road near his house was paved, but was opened up multiple times again within the next few years to make other repairs.
“We could save a lot of money if we put our construction process in the right order,” he said.
Carlton growing up moved from state to state, but has lived in Santa Barbara for the past 25 years. It’s where he raised his son, a Santa Barbara City College student, who really pushed Carlton into running for City Council again. In 2021, he finished with 9.67% of the vote, making him third most popular in a four-candidate race.
This time around, Carlton said he’s taking more time to listen to the people before delivering his own message.
“As a candidate, you have a lot of ideas,” he said. “But I’ve learned you need to listen to the people first.”
Carlton accomplishes this through strong involvement with the community. He’s hosted several fundraisers for children’s groups around Santa Barbara, such as Girls Inc. and kids’ sports teams. The fundraisers are hosted by barbecques, which he spreads word of through mass emailing and posting flyers around town.
On State Street, Carlton said four things are important—making sure it’s “clean, safe, lit and patrolled.” One way he would accomplish this is by pushing for laws creating e-bike speed limits. He also highlighted affordability, claiming that parking money is being taken from the younger work force on State Street.
Carlton thinks Santa Barbara could learn a few lessons from Goleta when it comes to State Street. He feels that high parking costs are driving youth away from downtown, who would rather head to Goleta for free parking.
On a recent trip to Spain, Carlton was inspired by Barcelona’s streets and came back with some ideas to bring to State Street. One idea he has is bollards—automatically deployable poles that block cars from entering roads during certain times of the day. He said a bollard system would create compromise and flexibility, another lack he sees with the current city council.
“There is a lack of decisions and direction,” Carlton said. “Maybe they’re not taking the time to sacrifice a little so we can all come close and meet in the middle.”
When it comes to the city’s budget crisis, Carlton sees another “order of operations” problem. Carlton said one of his first orders of business on the City Council desk would be calling for an auditing process. Before anything, he said, there needs to be transparency on what the city’s money is being spent on.
“We need to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money, and this is not being a good steward,” Carlton said. “In a city that’s in a budget crisis right now and burning up reserves, we need that more than anything else.”
District 6 residents will decide who will represent their district on Nov. 3.
