A Bad Choice

Barrett Reed is a bad choice for City Council. He trumpets that he is a Santa Barbara native and intensely interested in our future, but dismisses his own disappointing history of not voting in local elections. He has changed, he says. Now he wants to join the City Council. How committed is he?

He has sharp criticism for the incumbent, Kristen Sneddon, and the council in general, but his voice is from the cheap seats. We all get to say how things should be run when we don’t have to run them. Without any record of accomplishment, Reed can say anything he wants.

Reed is an appointed planning commissioner, an important position as we imagine the impact of Senate bills 9 and 10 that will usurp certain local controls of how our city can grow. These bills are specifically about city planning; Reed says he wants to fight them.

Where was Planning Commissioner Reed when the bills were being written in the Legislature? Did he meet with our state legislators about the bills? Did he connect with planners in other cities? Did Reed do any forward thinking about these bills, at all? Did he investigate innovative ways our city can comply with them and maintain our local character? Does he have solutions now? None that I have heard.

Barrett Reed is a development investor; development interests are the main source of his campaign funding. I am afraid development is what Barrett Reed knows best, not planning Santa Barbara’s future. Barrett Reed is a bad choice for Santa Barbara.