The city of Santa Barbara is in a budgetary hole. To cover our deficit, we’ve depleted our contingency reserves. Now we’re dipping into the emergency reserves that were designed to cover us in the case of fire or flood — both of which (as we well know) could happen at any time.
Who’s going to get us out of this mess? We need people on City Council who can cope with financial complexity and have the backbone to make tough decisions. But we also want the people who are making those decisions to have a deep understanding and love for our beautiful city. For District 4, that’s Genevieve.
Genevieve can handle complexity. With a BA from Yale and an MBA from Wharton — plus an extra MA from Johns Hopkins on the side — she’s clearly got good analytical skills. She knows how to read the fine print, and she’ll be able to work closely with our city staff to figure out the best options for digging us out of our budgetary hole.
Genevieve can make tough decisions. Having held management positions both in the private sector (Gap, Coca-Cola) and the nonprofit sector (AHA Bolivia, Fair Labor Association), she knows the meaning of a bottom line. But she also realizes the importance of bringing stakeholders together to ensure that the process of making decisions is as fair and transparent as it can be.
Finally, Genevieve knows and loves Santa Barbara. She was born here. She went to school here. She’s raising her children here. She is totally invested in this city, and I trust her to do right by us.
That’s why I’m voting for Genevieve Taft-Vasquez for Santa Barbara City Council, District 4.
