Goodwin & Thyne Closing Business - Santa Barbara News-Press

Good morning, Santa Barbara ☀️

Here’s what we have for you today:

Santa Barbara City Council candidates in District 5 battle over budget, State Street, rent stabilization and qualifications for the job. Julianna Lozada has the story.
Goodwin & Thyne Properties split, will close business after 22 years. Check out my story below.
News-Press reporter Sofia Wallace offers an overview of statewide ballot propositions and the city of Santa Barbara’s take on them.

Joshua Molina

News-Press Editor

Stories you should know about

Dramatic recording could help answer why a NBC4 helicopter crashed. Five people were killed. (Los Angeles Times)
Perspective: The three mistakes that doomed the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. (Politico)
A timeline that explains what happened with the Ed Sheeran & Macklemore tour controversy. (Billboard)

Hot Mike at City Hall

In case you missed it, a hot mic moment at Santa Barbara City Hall sparked the latest debate about civility and decorum in the public space. The News-Press wrote about the issue in its coverage of the meeting Tuesday night, but there is more to the story.

During a discussion about new surveillance technology to replace the unpopular Flock system, councilman Mike Jordan muttered “Shut the [expletive] up,” while activist Ana Garcia was speaking from the audience during a meeting.

There’s a lot of context here. Jordan was upset because Santa Barbara Police Chief Kelly Gordon was explaining how artificial intelligence is used on the back end of the software, and was laughed at by members of the audience.

Gordon said she didn’t appreciate her “integrity” being challenged.

Jordan was defensive of Gordon and frustrated himself by being a frequent target of criticism publicly over several weeks from some activists in the audience. At 2:57:03 of the video, Jordan can be heard speaking the offensive word.

It came right after Mayor Randy Rowse asked for some “civility” from the audience and a member of the audience replied that the mayor should show some “civility” first.

News-Press reporter Aston Smith covered the story Tuesday night, and he initially believed Rowse had made the comment because his mic had also been on. But early Wednesday morning, the text messages and emails were flying, and Jordan took responsibility for the comment in an email to Garcia. Reporter Ryan P. Cruz has a good account of the back-and-forth in the Independent.

The tension at City Hall right now is thick. ICE raids of many innocent families have infuriated many people in the community. Tenants have been pushing for a rent stabilization ordinance amid escalating rents. The City Council has disagreed on how much to set aside for affordable housing in the Housing Trust Fund. Nationally and locally people are pushing back against surveillance systems that track people in public, concerned that ICE and law enforcement could use the data to unfairly target people of color.

All of this is against the backdrop of a mayor’s race, where two members of the City Council, Eric Friedman and Kristen Sneddon are battling for the top spot.

The tension and emotions at City Hall are not likely to subside anytime soon. The issues in the community are real and impact working people daily. The City Council meetings are a venue for people to express how they feel about government leadership, and demand more accountability.

You can listen to the expletive comment in the video below. The hot mic moment may have been just a whisper, but it was heard loudly and the ramifications from the comment are reverberating like thunder at City Hall and throughout the community.

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