Randy Rowse shook up the local political landscape on Monday, announcing that he will not seek re-election as Santa Barbara Mayor.
A few hours after releasing a written statement, the mayor answered questions about his startling decision in a Newsmakers TV interview, portraying it as motivated by purely personal reasons — while also acknowledging frustration with “an intractable majority” of liberal colleagues on City Council.
As a political matter, the sudden and surprising move by the incumbent mayor — who asserted several months that he would seek a second term and still had “passion” for the job — makes progressive council member Kristen Sneddon the front-runner for the mayor’s job, while also boosting the chances of fellow council representative Eric Friedman, a frequent ally of Rowse, whose politics tend to be more moderate.
“This is about me – this is about personal reasons,” Randy told Newsmakers. “It has nothing to do with any issue. It has nothing to do with any other person…It was a very personal decision. There’s a lot of things in life that I set aside for a while and it’s time to go do those now.”
The ‘intractable minority’
The 71-year old Rowse, elected mayor in 2021 after previously serving nine years as a council member, has long made clear that while he relishes the governance duties of the job, he loathes campaigning and what it takes to get elected, an attitude he again displayed in our conversation.
“I’ve always said, if you run into somebody who says they like campaigning, then you want to maintain eye contact and back away slowly and hold onto your wallet because those people just ain’t right,” he said. “My decision has been noodling for a long time…and frankly, the idea of starting up a campaign, asking people for money, it’s a necessary evil, but I’m just ready to step aside.”
Increasingly, Rowse has been on the short end of 4-to-3 votes on key City Council issues, as a four-member liberal bloc, which solidified with the 2024 defeat of former council member Alejandra Gutierrez by tenants rights activist Wendy Santamaria, has prevailed on issues from budget to housing and, most significantly, rent control.
The liberals earlier passed a rent freeze, and now are crafting sweeping “rent stabilization” legislation; along the way, debate and discourse on the matter has grown more heated and less civil, as demonstrated at last week’s meeting on the issue, when Rowse was subjected to ad hominem attacks and F-bombs during public comment.
“No, no, it has nothing to do with that at all,” he replied when asked about the role of the rent debate on his decision.
“Although as a citizen, now I’ll be free to throw the F-bombs,” he joked. “No, I think that, no, it really doesn’t. It has nothing to do with it. These issues are going to remain.”
A moment later, however, he also took aim at “an intractable majority (on council) that have been deciding these issues.”
“Unfortunately, the majority is very, very thin. It’s a four-three majority. You saw a four-three budget last year, which has never happened. This big issue of rent control is four-three,” he added. “So I don’t particularly believe that good policy is decided with very narrow margins like that. If it’s a good policy, at least six or seven of us should probably think it’s a good policy and gets hammered out.”
At last week’s meeting, Rowse was the sole member of council who expressed support for an idea floated by the city’s consultant on the matter – that the question of rent control be put on the ballot and left to a citywide vote.
“People are upset about the idea of rent control,” he said. “They’re upset about not having a choice in the matter. And everybody I’ve talked to really thinks if we’re going to do this, we better put it on the ballot and see if we really want to do this.”
“So I think that when you have a very thin majority like we do right now doing very major policy things, it really is a whole city thing to be concerned about and vote on,” he added. “Rent control could really change the profile of the entire city. And so I think the only real way to decide this would be to go to the ballot box and let everybody decide on it.”
State of play
The final deadline to run for mayor — and for three open council seats being vacated by the termed-out Sneddon, Friedman and Meagan Harmon – is not until this summer, so time remains for other candidates to emerge. Former Santa Barbara Unified School Board President Wendy Sims Moten, for example, is among other contenders who may run.
As for now, however, Sneddon’s well-defined base of support among the local Democratic Party organization and mobilized tenants rights groups, along with an active fundraising operation, advance her standing in the race from chief challenger to front-runner, with Friedman left to try to consolidate the center-left/center-right portion of SB’s electorate that put Rowse in office five years ago.
Asked if he now would endorse Friedman in the mayor’s race, Rowse said he has not spoken to him about it yet; it’s a safe bet that he won’t be endorsing Sneddon.
“I haven’t really talked to Eric about his campaign or my campaign or anybody’s campaign,” the mayor said. “This decision was made by me and me alone without any other discussion. So at some point we’ll probably all sit down and talk about this and what the future is, but I have a ton of respect for Eric.”
Bottom line
It was in an earlier Newsmakers interview, in June of last year, when Rowse first stated his intention to seek a second term, saying, “I still have a real passion about the city, and I have a real passion about its future.”
Asked about those comments yesterday, he insisted, “I haven’t lost a passion for the city.
“I spent nine years as a council member and five years now as mayor, and I think it’s just time,” he said. “I’ve got other things I want to do in my life. However, there’s a lot of things I want to be involved in with the city.
“I think on some issues I may even be more influential on the outside than I may on the inside. So no, I intend to stay involved with the city,” he added. “I have absolutely as much passion for the city as ever.”
Check out our interview with Randy Rowse vis YouTube above, or by clicking through this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or on SoundCloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on weekends.
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Good! He should retire. Now let’s enact an age limit for all politicians.
that is rudely obnoxious. typical comment from “anon”
HAHA – the Do Nothing continues. BeeKnee said Rowse was a “sure thing” in the next mayoral race. I think he got tired of the champagne at all the ribbon cuttings. Let’s get a good progressive elected. Republicans can’t manage a Dairy Queen let alone a city or a country.
er, *”or Elena Kagan”*
Dude has been tepid bathwater, he sucked leadership out of any room he walked into.
Cool. He’s done his job, and clearly tired of a 4-3 liberal majority. Let’s all watch what happens when a liberal becomes the next mayor. They’ll be in total control to turn this City around!!
Time to stop opposing and time to start implementing your very own ideas and doing something with your majority votes, right? No excuses now.
But, do you even know what to do? No. It’s ok. We already knew that.
BASIC – can you point to a single thing he’s accomplished that no other mayor could?
Randy Rowse has done 2 things:
1. Jack
2. Jack has left the building
You don’t even live here. Stop pretending.
They already have the majority of votes. Thus the rent freeze. Thus Rowse whining.
> We already knew that.
Is there an IQ in there anywhere?
I honestly can’t recall a Trump supporter ever saying anything that’s both a) factually correct and/or b) somewhat intelligent sounding either here on this site or anywhere online in any comments.
Are there any intelligent MAGAts? I mean, ones that aren’t in government and kissing a&& for re-election. An actual, Trump supporting citizen? Any?
About intelligence and MAGAts, take a look at this: https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/2044046894742012071?s=20
Go home buddy, this doesn’t concern you.
Randy isn’t a republican mayor, sorry to burst your lame bubble. he’s an independent. liberal mayors and council have controlled the town for decades and decades with success.
“an intractable majority”
What a weak man. Do you see Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, or Sonia Sotomayor throwing in the towel?
“everybody I’ve talked to really thinks if we’re going to do this, we better put it on the ballot and see if we really want to do this”
Everybody, Randy? You’re so dishonest.
In Nick Welsh’s column he writes “After a lifetime of public life” — I respect Nick but what the heck is he talking about? Owning and managing a restaurant is not “public life”.
er, *”or Elena Kagan”*
“So I don’t particularly believe that good policy is decided with very narrow margins like that. If it’s a good policy, at least six or seven of us should probably think it’s a good policy and gets hammered out.”
So do nothing unless it’s unanimous? That explains a lot!
He didn’t want to put in the work – He just wanted the perks.
Since 2010, SB mayors have been liberal or affiliated with the Dem Party, with the exception of Randy. I don’t believe anyone on this board can say the quality of life in SB has improved over the last 26 years…. as an example, State Street is a wreck! Wanting a progressive liberal as mayor will likely continue SB down the current path with the trajectory at a faster pace.
00Ps – Mayors really don’t do much to improve our quality of life. That’s up to many, MANY, outside factors.
State street is fine. Rents are keeping businesses from surviving there. The Mayor can’t do much to lower commercial rents. Now you’ll complain about the homeless and ebikes….. There have always been homeless on State. When you MAGAts constantly oppose any help for them, it’s YOU keeping the problem alive. Ebikes are just the BMX and skaters of the 90s. Adults will kick and scream about them until the City bans them.
SB is not as bad as so many like to cry about. Enjoy the beautiful town in which we live. Quit the constant blubbering.
if that’s the case, why you’ll trashing Randy for not getting anything done?
00PS – you should read my comment again. Now once more. Read it aloud to a friend. Now think about it. And…. one last time.
Yeah, I never “trashed” him for “not getting anything done.” I asked one of his supporters and a critic of everything that has every happened at any minute of any day in this town to articulate what Randy has done better than any other mayors, as that poorly educated critic maintains. That is not the same thing.
Want to try answering that? Nah, you don’t even understand what that means.
Go read it one last time before attempting to “call out” anything.
You don’t want to hear what people on this board have to say about you and other right wingers.
We haven’t had a good mayor here since Harriet Miller.
There were three good ones.