Edhat StaffBy Susan Lafond
(Op-Ed is posted in response to “Don’t Be Bullied” posted on November 3, 2017)
Murillo was the first to declare her candidacy on Feb. 15, Conklin approx. six weeks later Mar. 27, Martinez nearly 2 months later May 9, and White not until the end of July. If Martinez and White wanted to court the DCC/CDP endorsement they could have declared earlier. So don’t try to penalize Murillo for having the courage to be the first out of the gate. It is simply NOT TRUE that she is unable to “secure support” aka have a good working relationship with other council members. I wonder how often the author attends a city council meeting, any board, commission or committee meetings?
The Santa Barbara mayoral race is not remotely comparable to a national presidential election and Murillo does not have the local Democratic Party under her thumb nor in her pocket.
I don’t believe she has neither the power nor the money to “rig” this or any election. There, however, is a candidate that does have the money…???
As far as the Democrats go (at least in Santa Barbara) it is both fortunate and unfortunate there are so many candidates vying for the same office. They are fortunate to have so many citizens interested in public service to our city which we don’t often see in the Republican Party, on the other hand, this fractures the party and splits the votes up amongst the dominant party (Democrats) in Santa Barbara. This could just get us a Republican, climate change denying mayor elected. Our very own “Donald” to be proud (not) of. I wonder how many Americans now wish they could go back to the 2016 presidential election and change their votes? Let’s not make a mistake here locally.
I take issue with your interpretation of Murillo. You do not know whereof you speak.
She is on several committees, task forces, is the liaison to several advisory boards, too numerous to list here but here is a link to the 25+ she serves on https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/cityhall/council/meet/cmurillo.asp
Why do you refer to her as a bully? Is it because she is a principled person who stands by her values and has compassion for the many different citizens of both the city and county of Santa Barbara? This bully portrayal sounds reminiscent of a onetime political rival of Ms. Murillo’s.
There was one non-partisan legitimate poll conducted for this election. It was done randomly via phone and was not solely regarding the mayoral race, it included questions on Measure C and other city council districts up for election. Perhaps you were not happy with the results so you choose to disregard the findings.
The big backfire has been the poorly produced negative advertisement that has been running incessantly on local television produced and funded by the Coalition for Santa Barbara’s Future.
Whoever this group of hatchet people is they don’t even have the courage to list a Santa Barbara address. They have an address in the uber-wealthy community of Laguna Niguel.
So is it big money out of Orange County that paid to introduce that ad during the seventh inning stretch of a televised World Series game?
Past Articles
- November 3, 2017 – Don’t Be Bullied
A wonk who has a degree in “Dramatic Art.” Great…an actress…just the kind of mayor we need….someone full of drama and “wonkiness”….LOL!!!
@SusanLaFond, you obviously have no idea what you are talking about if you think that the author of this article DOES NOT attend various city meetings. She attends them on a regular basis and knows more about what is going on in the city than most people. So, I would suggest that before you continue making assumptions, know what you are talking about instead of just blowing HOT AIR!!!
Have you forgotten that Republican candidate is/was a professional actor?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0396220/?ref_=nv_sr_1#actor
BTW he has a pretty impressive resume outside of the political arena.
Yale, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , Naval officer. I prefer he not be our next mayor but all that aside he is well rounded. Ok don’t go to town on this one statement all you Murillo haters out there!
Susan is Cathy’s best friend and sign girl. Gee sure are a lot of Cathy signs showing up in illegal spots and being thrust on people who didn’t want them, but suddenly find them on their property. Not cool, Susan.
25 plus committees tells me she is spread too thin to have much an impact OR she is trying to “please” everyone. Reminds me of lifelong political hacks glad-handling at every turn in the road. The video of her spewing hate at the residents on Micheltorena Street says it all. Her numbers are falling and support dwindling except those who want to be in her pocket. Disgusting.
“Murillo was the first to declare her candidacy on Feb. 15, Conklin approx. six weeks later Mar. 27, Martinez nearly 2 months later May 9, and White not until the end of July.” Good point. Why did the other candidates wait so long to declare their candidacies?
“you don’t believe she has neither the power nor the money to “rig” this or any election”, so…you are saying she does.
Not at all that is exactly what you said that I was in the KKK I remember it well it was on Facebook the day of the homicide in the 100 Block of North Quarantina on Marlborg property when me and Sharon was discussing the homicide because she was with the Milpas neighborhood association then we wanted to make sure no children witnessed seeing the corpse . Somehow since you hated Sharon you decided to sling mud my way too..Anyone who knows me knows I hate the Klan before you sling mud you ought to research people it’s really ignorant to think you know what you are talking about when you don’t. I was a democrat before that but I changed my tune, The republicans are nicer. Thank You for showing me the truth.
sbpaul, you are the one who is corrupt, along with every other right winger. Your post is full of absurd falsehoods.
Cathy wasn’t “chosen” for anything. She decided to run — she told me months in advance that she was thinking about it. When she announced, good people lined up with her.
No, she just has a lot more energy and commitment than you, sitting in your basement sniping at her. She has never spewed hate at anyone, you vile liar. Disgusting indeed.
Trying to please everyone AND spewing hate at them, eh? You right wingers lie incessantly, having no regard whatsoever for the truth.
Falsehoods? Its plural so… Specifically what are you claiming I am corrupt, anonymously? Oh yeah i remember, the left just makes false accusations with not logical premise… Just emotional banter… Did that make you feel good to make an arrogant baseless comment. Probably. I am guessing my comments will get deleted. At least I can back them up and don’t have to hide behind an anonymous handle. Murillo has not made any meaningful tax contribution to our city. I have. She wants to spend my money to make her and her voters feel good. She can raise that money and do it on her own if that is her fancy. Notice I dont paint you “A-151009438” with any other accusations. You seem to feel it completely fine to throw insults and push your opinion into my face and pocket book.
Pritchett doesn’t even live in Santa Barbara anymore. He lives in Reno. Bad that she was caught on camera pretending to not know that was her ex-husband.
And Murillo is a total bully.
The right in this country has misused the term “bully” for any opponent they disagree with in order to dehumanize the opponent and manipulate their low information party base.
During this election I have seen plenty of signs “illegally” placed in parkways, public property, public roadsides etc. I have notice most of them belonging to Hal Conklin and Angel Martinez.
Hey Anna Marie, take your meds, you’re rambling here. So you’re saying Cathy ‘rigged’ the KEYT forum because her ex-husband got a question in? If her and the ex were trying to put the fix in would he use his real name? Are you saying Cathy told the KEYT people to choose that question? Wow, that’s quite the conspiracy theory you got cooking. Makes no sense, I think her ex trolls Cathy, kind of like you but not as malicious.
Oh yeah, and anything the ‘News Suppress’ prints has to be taken with a grain of salt. They have hated Cathy and the ex since they helped organize a labor protest when the paper was harassing their writers for trying to unionize. This was before Cathy was on the council, and to say they hold a grudge is putting it mildly.
Finally, the Dems have always had an early endorsement process, that’s nothing new. Hal and Bendy have both been around long enough to know that. Don’t hate on Cathy because she was focused and got the endorsement. Bendy was so wishy-washy about deciding to jump in, still doesn’t seem to really want it. He doesn’t even have a campaign message about his candidacy on the city web page.
The candidate referred to is Republican Frank Hotchkiss.
Your sign comment is ridiculous. I see illegal Hal and Angel signs all over the city, especially in the past few days. Lets see if their people are just as motivated to take them down as they were to place them after they lose.
A bully is someone who uses their position of power to inflict their ideology of lesser connected or empowered people. Murrillo has spent her career advocating for “less fortunate” people and soliciting/forcing our community to increase its already incredibly vast spectrum of resources to serve people who are not tax paying or even historical members of our community. You can thank her for the ridiculous way the RV ban was implemented… You can’t just say that ugly dilapidated rv s that are a danger to our community need togo, you have to inflict your fairness on any business owner and or person with a larger van that pays taxes and contributes to our community. Bullies now days wear the mask of fighting for the “less fortunate” to gerrymander their voting population and create needs where community should be filling in. Murillo literally walks infront of my house and I have seen her observe ridiculous speeding on our street. The only person I have gotten a response from regarding the speeding in my neighborhood is from Randy. She is more concerned about providing resources for our homeless and transient population than to spend any time addressing an issues that has escalated to the point of cars wrecks that result in totaled vehicles in a 25 zone and kids trick or treating with cars whipping by at 45… Why fund the police when there is so much we can do to build more homeless accommodations. I guess if she is elected I should default on my mortgage and check out the great new digs she want to provide.
The comments here remind me of the vitriol that was spewed about Lois Capps in her final years. A friend of mine pointed out that successful woman politicians seem to suffer from these attacks more than men do. I guess she might be right.
We know what we are getting with Cathy and Bendy. Either would do a good job.
Hal has been out of the game for a while so who knows what he will be like.
Angel has never been in the game and I’m not going to gamble on another politician that doesn’t have a record. Has he even been on a planning committee or school board?
Additionally, why would anyone need to watch a Q&A with a politician who has been so pathetically dogmatic in everything she has been involved in. I am certain I could literally answer every question for her… Its not hard to figure her out. Whats hard to understand is why people on the left feel its completely ok that the conversation has unnaturally shifted from a two party discussion to the concern that one person is taking over the only “electable party.” (sounds pretty scary) If you wanted to see discourse and challenging of concepts and ideas you would have a debate. Fat chance the left is not going to sign up for that when they basically have the win in the bag either way, and they have almost no substantive arguments or plans to provide. What does it really matter that the left is so corrupt that they are not satisfied with a win? Well because its no longer about discourse or facts its about inflicting a specific outcome that is more ore less prescribed. Sounds like people I want making decisions for me.
Actually did you not say that me and Sharon Byrne were in the KKK? That we were planning our next meeting when we were actually talking about the homicide in the 100 Block of Quarantina acouple years back?
Hi Susan! Anna Marie Gott HERE! ———————————————
So, I hear that you are Cathy’s best friend. Does this mean that Cathy put you up to this? I really wonder what else Cathy was rigging besides the KEYT Forum and I guess I now know… ——————————————— BTW – Did everyone catch the fact that Cathy Murillo’s ex-husband was the person asking a question during the KEYT forum last week? There was a big newspaper article on it over the weekend. Murillo denied knowing that David Pritchett of Santa Barbara was her ex-husband. ——————————————— I ask you, is this credible? ——————————————— As for how often I attend City Council, Housing Task Force, Planning Commission, Joint Planning Commission and City Council, Architectural Board of Review, Historical Landmarks Meeting, Staff Hearing Officer and Special Meetings I would say I attend TOO MANY to count on all my fingers and toes, and a few other peoples too! I’m sure that Murillo can attest that she has seen me far too often at the meetings. And I bet she is tired of my emails and of having to hear Appeals of the hotel/Short Term Vacation Rentals that I worked to have denied. – 3 Appeals over the Summer! All Denied by City Council and another one coming up! ——————————————— As for your post, I can’t believe you thought I was saying that Murillo was the bully. It is clear that the Democratic Party IS the bully from my post. (Do you take after Murillo who doesn’t pay close attention to the written word?) The Democratic Party seems to have their panties in a knot because it looks like their plans to rig the endorsement process to “clear the field of candidates” has backfired and they are working double time to try to salvage the race and their strategy. I hope they fail by the way. ———————————————You should never trying to rig something, it will only backfire… ——————————————— Oh, and I think you proved my point on the rigging of endorsements. The endorsements came really early in the year. Others had not decided to jump into the race. This left the Party, it seems, to choose from just one semi-viable candidate. That candidate was Murillo, who it turns out was not the best candidate because she splintered the Democratic Party. Leaders fled rather than endorsing her! ——————————————— Let’s hope that the undecided voters in Santa Barbara, who into the thousands, decided to buck the Democratic Party and choose a candidate worthy of being a Mayor. ——————————————— I suggest they all vote for a leader (and a wonk), Bendy White.