In 1966, Santa Barbara voters ratified Charter Section 521, capping city property leases at 50 years to ensure prime public land could never be given away without strict oversight.
This June, City Hall rushed Measure A onto the ballot at taxpayer expense to alter those nearly 60-year-old protections, promising to revitalize Paseo Nuevo while preserving public ownership. Yet on State Street, the most consequential downtown decision in decades, the council refuses to give citizens a direct vote.
Worse, disclosed public records show Measure A was sold under false pretenses. Internal text messages show city leadership and developer lobbyists privately coordinating a $0 land transfer behind closed doors. As City Administrator Kelly McAdoo admitted in a May 15 text: “We’ll see what happens when they [citizens] find out the land is being transferred. That is my only concern at this point.”
Disclosed texts show developer lobbyists scripting talking points for mayoral candidates Eric Friedman and Kristen Sneddon, potentially violating the Brown Act, while staff withheld roughly 60,000 communications and historic Charter records. Let’s not forget this.
Vote for someone whose hands aren’t tied by backroom deals and lobbyist texts. Vote for clean government: Vote Wendy Sims-Moten for mayor.
