The below article was originally published on SB Newsmakers with Jerry Roberts
Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse looks ahead to a 2026 re-elect race as he discusses the new budget shortfall, housing, homelessness, State St. – and comparisons of him to Donald Trump
Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse disclosed on Friday that he will seek re-election next year, saying his job “is about service, not about politics” as he contrasted his pragmatism with more ideological views of potential rivals.
The 70-year old Rowse, elected mayor in 2021, confirmed his intentions amid a swirl of political scenarios and speculation among City Hall insiders, political hacks, and other viewers of Newsmakers TV, where his comments came during an interview with Josh Molina and the genial host that also touched on a range of policy matters.
As a political matter, the mayor’s statements effectively kickstart the local 2026 campaign season. One or more of his current City Council colleagues is expected to challenge him on issues like rent control, the city budget, and future plans for State Street, controversies in which he often has been on the losing end of decisive votes.
“I’m planning on running,” Rowse said in his return to our “Ask the Mayor” program. “I still have a real passion about the city, and I have a real passion about its future.”
“My concern is recognizing what this job is, and what it’s not,” he added. “This job is about service, it’s not about politics. I’m kind of an ad hoc, line item person. I go back to my old analogy of being the town busboy: I’m the one that provides service here — streetlight doesn’t work? I happen to know the streetlight guy.
“Those kinds of things, that is not a global way of thinking, I get that,” the mayor said. “But this isn’t a global job. The job is very specific to the city.”
Anyone can run for mayor, of course, but to this point, Rowse’s most formidable possible challengers seem to be a trio of fellow council members who will be termed out of office next year: Eric Friedman, Meagan Harmon, and Kristen Sneddon.
Of the three, Sneddon seems the most likely contender, and has repaired her once-rocky relations with the local Democratic Party, which lost its hegemony on local elected offices when Rowse – a political independent – ousted one-term Mayor Cathy Murillo in 2021. Friedman, a more moderate Democrat, has been much-mentioned in gossip about the mayor’s race; he told us he has not ruled it out, but is still working to regain full health after a recent scary medical emergency. Harmon, who recently advanced up the California political ladder with her election as chair of the state Coastal Commission, seems least likely of them to run.
“I don’t think she would run for mayor,” Rowse said of Harmon, with whom he has a good personal relationship, in spite of gaping political differences. “Meagan can make a ton of dough as an attorney, she’s got three beautiful children…she’s still going to be chair of the Coastal Commission. I think Meagan’s going to be out of city politics.”
On other issues, Hizzoner also:
- Objected to a raid on city emergency reserves that transferred $2 million to a special housing fund and that was supported by four council members — Sneddon, Harmon, Oscar Gutierrez and Wendy Santamaria – in voting to approve a $577 million spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1; the move leaves Santa Barbara with a projected $1.2 million budget shortfall — six months after residents voted to tax themselves with an increase in the sales tax rate to cover a previous projected deficit.
- Suggested that a push by downtown property owners to re-open at least some of the nine blocks of State Street may be gaining traction. Since the move was made during the pandemic in 2020, it has remained a political sore point, as gauzy fantasies of a downtown pedestrian “promenade” gave way to the stark reality of barren urban stretches that please almost no one – beyond restaurant owners with lucrative outdoor dining facilities, heedless e-bike operators and an influential bicyclist coalition in whose pocket a majority of the council resides.
- Expressed frustration that the much-ballyhooed “Fostering Access, Resilience and Opportunity” downtown navigation center for homeless people, aka as FARO House, swiftly ran afoul of neighbors, with angry health and safety complaints about some of its clients, leading to a legal face-off between the city, which has the lease for the property, and ACT UP, the contractor hired to run the program: “How it gets cured is still kind of up in the air, but our intention is to cure it.”
- Demurred discussing details about a proposed, eight-story blockbuster apartment building proposed to be constructed behind the Mission, using Sacramento’s galling “Builder’s Remedy” legal pathway, because the mysterious out-of-town developer pitching the project has sued the city, alleging unfair delays. “I think if there’s ever going to be a time when I join in on civil disobedience, that might be it,” Rowse said.
- Laughed off efforts by left-wing political opponents to equate him with Donald Trump, as at least one protest sign did at last weekend’s big, anti-Trump “No Kings” rally. Not exactly a big fan of the game show host president, Rowse acknowledged that, “I’ve put on a couple of pounds and I have actually altered my golf score before, so there may be something to it.”
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“Leadership does set the pace,” he added, addressing more seriously questions about the recent series of nationwide violent and deadly attacks against elected officials.
“When you are working through chaos, when you don’t have civility and decorum as past of your M.O., I think it trickles down pretty easily. So you get what we had on January 6,” he said.
“People saying these things out loud, it seems to be permissive, and all you need is somebody with a little touch of crazy to go, ‘I’m legitimate, I’m going to do this,’” Rowse added. “We have really come to a boiling point on so many levels, and the president doesn’t seem to be able to take the temperature down. He seems to bring a little can of kerosene to the barbecue and…that’s not the kind of leadership this world needs right now.”
All this and more, right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.
Check out our conversation with Mayor Randy Rowse via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast is on Apple, Spotify and other platforms, and on Soundcloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
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No thanks Randy. Time to retire.
Here were Randy’s “priorities” listed on his website when he ran in 2021. How many has he accomplished or event moved the needle on?
“Public Safety
Council’s #1 obligation to the community. We are blessed with fabulous departments and personnel currently, but constant vigilance and attention are needed to preserve those elements.
Community Development
A time for reform. Streamlining and expediting the process so that the maximum certainty for applicants can be achieved.
Environmental Protection
Protecting our environment is the cornerstone of our human existence. It takes more than slogans and symbolic legislation. It takes leadership to engage everyone to participate and preserve our natural heritage.
Homeless Strategy
The maintenance of status quo serves no one and won’t meet the needs of the community or our standards of compassion. Change will take energy, courage, and leadership if we are to alter the trajectory of this constant issue.
State Street
Leading an effort for immediate recovery and vibrancy and a plan for a viable future.
City Budget
Discipline and experience are required to rebuild our city’s budget while maintaining the essential services that taxpayers rightfully expect.”
https://www.rowseformayor.com
Quite a collection of platitudes. Just needs some concrete action.
He is one vote. Get rid of the councilmen who oppose him fulfilling his promises.
Agreed. Call the councilmembers and urge them to support him. They seem to have different priorities. though.
A whole list of nothings really. Not a single stand for action in either direction. Just a lot of “make it betters.”
Whenever someone says they’re “not ideological”, they are driven by ideology.
In Randy’s defense though, that sign is absurd and dishonest.
Especially at a Trump protest! 😉
I’ll take Randy over the other options all day long. That’s why he won the last time around. The others have way less real-world experience in business, and are simply way too liberal, particularly with fiscal matters. It’ll be interesting to see if someone else worthy of consideration comes out to play. I doubt it.
Of course the reason Randy won is that the other candidates split the more liberal vote 3 ways, allowing Randy to win our absurd no-runoff-plurality wins election with just 38.6% of the vote, but the resident troll never misses an opportunity to lie.
Unless voters are particularly unhappy with the status quo, they tend to stick with incumbents. If Cathy Murrillo was challenged, as you say, by two other “liberals,” she was obviously not doing the job, in their view. Rowse may, indeed, be challenged next year by housing advocates for his opposition to adding to the housing fund from city reserves. I disagreed with that decision, and it will no doubt be a campaign issue. We’ll see how it plays out city-wide. (But I know this: if the election was focused on the future of State St. he’d win.)
I think his “brand” is much too strong for anyone else to be able to take away his elected role as mayor. We had a string of extremely weak and inexperienced mayors who, in my opinion, were quite ineffective. Randy has first-hand experience with running a successful business for many years, which goes a long way toward running a small city like ours. I really hope he finds a way to open up State Street again as that’s the only way it’s going to flourish. Way to many ‘For Lease’ signs on State. Was recently in the SF Bay Area….Market St. in SF closed down to traffic is dead/dead/dead….Castro St. in downtown Mountain View closed to traffic….dead/dead/dead (I won’t bother telling you about Jack London Square in Oakland [dead] or the Embarcadero in SF [dead as dead].
BEES – explain how cars driving on State St is the only way to improve business. You people keep saying this but I have yet to see an honest, logical explanation.
And no, comparing to other cities is just correlation, not causation.
As for mayor, sorry but I don’t see anyone other than a liberal Democrat winning this town. Did you see the turnout for the anti-Trump protests? I think most people are done with anyone who is even close to a conservative in this town, including so called “independents.” Randy may be qualified and a long-time businessman, but the times have changed thanks to those who voted for a bigoted fascists. Even being an “independent,” his conservative leanings will not bear well for him.
Republicans, whether MAGA or not, are going to have a tough time at the polls in the next couple years.
I don’t believe you are correct, but time and more ‘For Lease’ signs will tell.
BEES – I didn’t make a statement that could be correct or not, I asked you to explain how “the only way” for State St. businesses to stop failing is by allowing cars to once again drive past them.
Look, I’ve asked this of everyone with this same “theory,” and none have answered. I guess I was expecting to much for you, of all people here, to be able to do that.
I think a good start for you though would be familiarizing yourself with the concept of causation vs correlation. Here you go, start here:
https://amplitude.com/blog/causation-correlation
“We had a string of extremely weak and inexperienced mayors”
This is simply a lie.
“who, ==> in my opinion <== , were quite ineffective"
Which is a mark in their favor.
As a multi-generational native of SB I can think of no one better suited to lead our city. He’s got my $$ and my vote.