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Thanks Cheri : 7/9/2009

I will admit i knew little about Mr. Cushman, other than hearing his name, and that he was running for mayor. In all your constructive criticism about the man, I learned a lot of what he stands for. But I actually disagree with most of your points and decided that this is the guy i will give serious consideration with my vote. I have rented in this town for 20 years, and i absolutely oppose preserving the cute little shacks you call appropriate affordable cottages. Its time Sb modernized, cater to our biggest backbone- promoting local business; whether retail or tourism. Jobs people! "medical/educational/development/banking/legal complex"? This is important and need to expand to other big industries! Only someone like him can put business into politics when we are looking to make SB a flourishing place again and turn around the local economy.. also stop bickering over building heights, etc.. Sb is the way it is not because of HLC and people like Pearl Chase, it is because OLD PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO VOTE, and old people do not like change. fact. I guess my fellow young politically apathetic comrades won't join me in the polls, or at public meetings, or at the bum-mumbling public comment Tuesday night show..... Oh well, Cheri you may get your wish... but thanks; you opened my eyes for my possible vote!

Jillian Petersen, RN.

Mayoral candidate : 7/9/2009

Not knowing Mr Cushman, I am deeply disturbed by the previous comment: regardless of Mr Cushman's political or business agenda, the reluctance of ppl towards change, etc. it completely eludes me how anyone can consider a candidate with vested-interest liabilities like that. I would vote for no one- regardless how much I like his overall agenda, who undermines the separation of important posts like this. As long as this issue isn't cleared up, Mr. C.'s agenda and candidacy should not even be discussed. Only when he commits to stepping down from the CoC post can he be considered a candidate ...

Robert Zimbardo

Where is the conflict? : 7/9/2009

If people knowingly vote for a guy who actually has the interest of local business at heart in both careers? What is the problem? The people voted, ok? We know he intends to keep his chamber job and they STILL voted.That means there is a concern for the local economy, which the Chamber promotes and hopefully the City will follow suit after he is elected. A vote expresses the will of the people! If Cushman get elected that means people are concerned about the economy- everybody already knows Steves background which is WHY they support him and why they will vote for him!!! Maybe people like Cheri will finally get the message that people are HURTING out here from ideaologies designed to suck businesses dry and kill jobs.

What conflict? : 7/9/2009

My only question for the author is this; Do you care as much about the "conflict of interest" that is the city's employee's unions supporting candidates? At least the business's that will support Mr. Cushman are regularly involved in the raising of money for various needs of the community, and are the base of our taxation and revenue. That is more than can be said for the unions that want more than their fair share, who actually get to throw money at the very people who negotiate their salaries. \From what I can see, Mr. Cushman is a citizen who is tired of the status quo, the politicians who run this city for their own political gain. If he wants to keep his other job, something tells me the press will keep him honest about any conflicts. Just as they did when Iya ran a recent psuedo-political ad using city resources. Oh wait, the media has said nothing? Sounds to me like this is more about personal attacks than actual concerns, otherwise ALL PERCIEVED conflicts of interest would get equal attention.

Joe L.

: 7/9/2009

Cushman is the exact type of person we DO NOT WANT as our mayor. He is a copy of what we already have. We need change. We don't need more of the same self serving, self interests and buddy system interest that already exists in this City. Cushman is another member of the "club" and we need someone who does not need to belong to the "club". I hope someone steps up as a good candidate for Mayor. Thank you Cheri for your article. Exposing the cold hard facts are a good thing.

The facts are the facts- like it or not-

: 7/9/2009

Clarity : 7/9/2009

The truth, and you seem to think that is what your offering to people here, is that the other candidates have had thier chance running this city, theyv shown what they can offer and what they can do. With Steves record, hes shown his loyalty to the Community, to the people that actualy live here. He has used every resource available to him to improve the standard of living and the city that we love. So to put into question his character or motives and then lead people into a misguided answer, seems not only unfair but is a form of bad Journalism. I admire you for the job you perform, it is an important part of our culture and the process of democracy, you are our voice. You need to speak with more clarity.

Lucien

Timing of this is quite suspect : 7/9/2009

Journalism or the pawn of another candidate? Your story reeks of favoritism and character assignation!

body of evidence

Too Big to Fail : 7/9/2009

Thanks Cheri Rae for pointing out that the Chamber actually is a very powerful narrowly focused "lobbying" "special interest." I don't know why the chamber doesn't avoid the conflict of interest issue and simply reinstall puppet Harriet Miller as Mayor. Many seeking the Mayor and Council seats are attempting to profit from this economic downturn claiming "reform." What we all need to remember is that it is the parent national Chamber of Commerce and conservatives, primarily Republican but also including Democratic conservatives that have again brought on worldwide current economic downturn. As we elect representatives let's try to recall that it is the Chamber of Commerce organizations and the financial instituions that lobby for deregulation and less oversight of the failed banking, investment and insurance institutions. We would not even be discussing the meltdowns of local, state, personal finances, federal bailouts or even Cushman's candidacy if it we're not for the Chambers and the failed institutions that have far too much input in government at all levels.

Don McDermott

Stop being a Commie McDermott : 7/9/2009

Or go live in China or Cuba or Venezuela where you will be happy. Yes, business IS a special interest. The one that improves the economy, provides jobs and creates revenue for the government. Only a lefty socialist commie would be anti- business. It is not lack of government oversight that caused bank failures, it is the government that forced banks to make bad loans to those who could not afford it in the name of political correctness, economic justice and anti-racism (and thus votes for democrats) . Ask your Democrat buddies Barnie Frank and Chris Dodd. The reason Chambers have input is because BUSINESS IS GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY FOOL! "What we all need to remember is that it is the parent national Chamber of Commerce and conservatives, primarily Republican but also including Democratic conservatives that have again brought on worldwide current economic downturn." - DonMcCommie How about what we all need to remember is that Congress has been controlled by Democrats since the beginning of Bushs first term, before which it was thriving despite the downturn after 9/11! But blaming Bush for everything is just so easy and ignorant. How many more years of Obama and the Democrats will there be before the Bush blaming ends and they take responsibility? Only four I hope.

Realist

: 7/9/2009

Thank you for this. It's gonna be an interesting election. Iya and Helene will draw much of the Dem. vote, letting fellow Democrat, "the business of Santa Barbara is business", Cushman win. The people will lose. Looking at the list of directors and thinking how many of their representative groups appear before the council on one issue or another suggests that there will be a lot of recusals --- unless of course most of the CofC Directors resign.

city voter

Oh no, not again, Donny! : 7/9/2009

I see Donny is over here getting in trouble again, but Realist is helping Don jam that other foot in his mouth. Blaming the economic melt down on a single party is as stupid as believing giving what’s left of your money to Al Gore will magically stop the planets rotation, no wait, um, he wants to turn the sky pink? No, what is it that new fangled religion wants to do again? Oh, right! Return us to an ice age, or something like that. Yep, gotta hand it to you lefties! Cheers

AN50

Cushman as mayor? : 7/9/2009

Incredible that this man can even contemplate keeping both jobs. Talk about a typhoon of conflict of interests!!! Say good-by to low rise Santa Barbara, You might just as well give the town over to the business interests, the developers, the tourists. The whole idea is outrageous, and frankly disgusting. If you think that giving the mayor's seat to Mr. Cushman is going to improve the economy of Santa Barbara, you're living in an idiot's dream. Recuse yourself now Mr. C. and run for dogcatcher. Then you can keep both jobs.

Penny

Mayor Miller : 7/9/2009

By the way, Don, I thought Harriet Miller was one of our best mayors. Wish she'd run again

Penny

Special Interests : 7/9/2009

Special interest that promotes business and tax revenue - bad. Special interest that promotes economic justice and handouts from the tax base further impoverishing the budget and everyone else - good. Right McDermie?

Thanks Cheri : 7/9/2009

You solidly nailed the conflict of interest possibilities and double dipping sense of entitlement issues with your amazing intelligent style. Thanks!

Bonnie Carroll

: 7/9/2009

I'd rather have Steve than Iya or Helene who both take campaign contributions from the unions. Not to mention we need a few new faces on Council. Of the faces we have to pick from I would go with Steve.

Full Time Paychecks?? : 7/10/2009

Full time paycheck? Wait a second, our current mayor says she spends on average 2 hours a day being mayor. And.. I think the position pays $40,000 a year which is why the position typically attracts grandmothers.

I Love Granny

I Love Granny : 7/11/2009

I stand to correct you about Mayor Blum only working 2 hours a day. This woman can and does run circles around any young person. She is the most hardworking, dedicated individual who is the first one at work every single morning and the last one to leave. She is conducting business as Mayor. It's too bad you don't know what you are talking about.

Get the facts straight please.

Wh-a-a-a-t? : 7/12/2009

FINALLY someone wrote about the obvious, major conflict of interest should Cushman be elected Mayor. Why the chamber said it was hunky-dory for him to run for the office and still keep his full time job with them should he be elected is beyond me...Yes, I know they'd love to have their lobbyist as mayor, but how could he possibly do 2 full time jobs at once, much less do them well? Yep, they'd probably appoint a "Vice Pres.", and then are they charging their members more to support the 2 "leaders?" He should never be allowed to weigh in on anything to do with business or development should he be elected. Now that would be an effective mayor, wouldn't it!

Lydiaolydia

Cheri likes elites : 7/12/2009

If Ms. Rae thinks the mayor's job should be full time, then she should be leading the charge for full time compensation at an executive level. Otherwise, she supports the fact that only the wealthy, the retired, or the married with a working spouse can afford to serve in office. Whether Mr. Cushman or any other candidate intends to keep his/her "day job" is between him/her and the employer. Conflicts of interest can be addressed as they arise - it ain't that difficult. And supporting workforce housing, etc., couldn't be considered a conflict unless the office holder had a direct financial interest in the outcome of a vote. People also seem to forget that decisions are made by majority vote - a mayor is only a cheerleader, at best, without support from at least three other council members. SB is NOT a strong mayor city - despite occasionally electing humourless curmudgeons like Harriet Miller.

tired of the elites

Cushman's Conflict of Interest : 7/12/2009

Thank you, Cheri Rae, for pointing out what seems an obvious conflict of interest. What alarms me in these comments are not that people are pro-business or pro-union or left or right -- it's that some people don't *care* that there's a conflict of interest -- as if "hey, as long as MY ideology is being served, who cares about anything or anyone else?" That's troubling. There are good reasons to avoid conflicts of interest, to maintain a system of checks and balances. The other thing that I find troubling here is a public ignorance of what Cushman's current day job entails. He hires other people to sell memberships. He hires other people to run the tourist information office. He hires other people to write newsletters, maintain the web site, and answer the phones. So what does he do with his time? He spends much of it gripping and grinning, going to lunch, playing golf, and generally socializing. Nice life! He makes a nice six figure salary basically for networking and enjoying Santa Barbara. Someone else here naively commented that these business people and the Chamber put on great charity events. Ask to see the paperwork! How many events in the last few years have actually resulted in a decent contribution? Few! Cushman will, of course, total up the gross proceeds, then deduct all kinds of "costs" in putting the event together and magically there is no or little money left to donate...exceptions are the events and causes that he's not in charge of (for example, the scholarship money raised at a Chamber dinner a couple of years ago -- those were live bids and he had no chance to ruin that!). Bottom line -- Cushman is for Cushman, and Cushman is for business. And he's not even for small business anymore. Ask many current disgruntled and former Chamber members who are owners of small businesses. As more and more events and networking opportunities for small business owners have disappeared, and as more and more big businesses and chains come into the city, small business owners find themselves not just excluded from State Street but from the attention and help of the Chamber. So Iya or Doreen or some other mayor might take contributions from unions. At least they don't have full-time jobs with the Unions!!! And Nurse Jillian -- I just hope I never run into you as a nurse when I'm old. You sound like a hysterical and bitter person, as well as an uninformed voter. Did you know that it was the UCSB vote last November that changed a few local elections? Finally -- it was not about "right" or "left" that created this economic meltdown -- it was about the rampant greed that corrupted many institutions and individuals. Have we learned nothing? We'll throw our democratic principles and morality under a bus just so we can get ahead, get a better house, or "win" a pissing contest? Wake up!

Concerned in Santa Barbara

Steve Cushman Has Already Slit His Throat at the SBSD : 7/12/2009

SBSD Board Member and former UCSB Political Science Professor BOB NOEL called for SBSD Superintendent Brian Sarvis' resignation, citing years of administrative bungling and embarrassing scandals. So Steve Cushman, who knows NOTHING about the situation of decades-long school administration corruption being exposed in the nation, stood at the SBSD public podium with other Bill Cirone Cronies and said, "I am offended by the criticism of Brian Sarvis; I call for YOUR resignation, Dr. Noel!" Well, Steve Cushman, Brian Sarvis has sold his house and is "getting out of Dodge" now that the FCMAT has declared the SBSD is the worst site of corruption that they have ever seen. SANTA BARBARA CANNOT CONTINUE TO ALLOW COLLUSION AND COVER-UP WITHIN OUR GOVERNMENT. No, Steve Cushman, you cannot be mayor---and Santa Barbara will tell you that by refusing to vote for you (and your cronies).

Kate Smith

Full-Time Mayor : 7/12/2009

This article, and most of the comments, focused on the potential conflict of interest should Cushman become Mayor. In a couple of posts however the point was raised about the Mayor's job being a "full time" job and how much time Cushman could devote to it and how much time the current Mayor spends. We should all think about the fact that we pay over a quarter of a million dollars a year for a City Administrator to run the City. There is no need, nor is the city's organization set up for, a "full time" Mayor duplicating or interfering with the Administrator. If we need a full time Mayor perhaps we should elect a qualified Mayor and save the cost of an Administrator...

Art

Mayor and Council are a double-time job : 7/12/2009

To be done right to attend all those public meetings and events, meet obligations to be an active liaison to all those City boards and committees, and actually study up hard and do separate research on the issues on each meeting agenda, a serious City Councilmember and Mayor really would be working 70 hours a week. If those were part-time jobs, just how soon would other people be criticizing those elected officials for not spending enough time and effort to be effective for the attention that Santa Barbara residents deserve?

David Pritchett

Re. Mayor and Council are a double-time job : 7/12/2009

"...meet obligations to be an active liaison to all those City boards and committees..." Surely you jest. How many times have you ever seen a Council liaison actually attend a board or committee meeting? ... unless it is to make a public point.

Art

Mayoral Matters : 7/12/2009

Ok, so let's suppose that the mayor also runs the Chamber. Does that mean that every time an issue comes up for a vote that might involve a Chamber member or the business community at large, the mayor would need to recuse himself to avoid a conflict? That could mean a lot of split votes on projects, assessment district revisions, contractors who do work for the city but belong to the Chamber, etc. If the mayor has a hand in setting the agenda, how does the population at large get represented, at least for the sake of unbiased appearance? Every vote for Steve puts Helene closer to the mayor's seat....If you think that's good for the business community, then knock yourself out.

artful dodger

thanks : 7/12/2009

Thank you Ms Rae for this informative piece. Let us hope enough citizens will acquaint themselves with this threat to the city. If not, Santa Barbara will go the way of the rest of SoCal: more people, faceless concrete slabism, filthy air and unbearable traffic jams. The profiteers will be delighted, the rest of us will long to leave. As for all the whanking about housing costs, if a person can't afford to live here, then live somewhere else. Even if the guy quits the CoC, we at least know how he will direct the city, and it's not a pretty picture.

Abigail F.

Double what? : 7/13/2009

Good grief what a load of blather! To all you conflict of interest folks out there, it’s only a conflict if it’s the opposing political philosophy being represented? Sure seems like it. I like Pritchett’s comment. Jeeze is this guy ever the consummate bureaucrat! 90% of what is discussed at all these meets is BS and bureaucratic fluff. I really don’t want the mayor wasting his valuable time sitting in committee after committee sucking up trivial non sense so he can be a great bureaucratic leader. The mayor has minions to do that crap and they disseminate the long drawn out insufferable details and whittle it down for the mayor’s consumption. We already have a government where micro managing is the MO and spineless bureaucrats and technocrats do everything other than lead (mostly obstruct). So David, quit watching West Wing and get real will ya? As for the rest of ya, lots of axes to grind out there, huh?

AN50

Vote For JMike! for Real Change : 7/15/2009

“Where to start when asked to describe a shooting star like Justin Michael? Well it’s simple to knock out the basics like smart, reliable, honest, and focused…but when those traits are combined with an unbelievable passion for life, an insatiable appetite for success, and an uber-professional method of management, you’ve got Justin Michael. His incredible business sense is nothing less than a biological compass he has in his DNA and he is truly one of those people who makes a positive impact wherever he goes and with whomever he meets. In sum, Justin is someone who brings immediate value to any organization and most importantly, raises the level of performance with those that he works around. As a friend and former supervisor to Justin, he is someone I hold in the highest regard both professionally and personally.”

J.T.

Cushman : 8/11/2009

After 50+ years of life in this beautiful city, I have seen the political tides come in and go out. As a long-time resident who senses the delicate balance of the Santa Barbara we know and love and the Santa Barbara of "the future", a grey cement extension of the greater Los Angeles area, I could no more vote for Cushman than I could fly to the moon. The monopolies in the banking, insurance, and media world have brought us to the economic doldrums in which a majority of Americans now exist, and I doubt anyone advocating those same interests would care to maintain the quality of life envisioned by Pearl Chase or any other resident with the true sense of Santa Barbara deep in their heart.

Lahuna

Boo Jilian Peterson, profiteering champions of a failed model : 8/13/2009

Why do you / does anyone like living in SB? What is it about SB that makes you partial to it over other Southern California towns and cities and bigger? You might even be passionate about living here...why? Planning for COMMUNITY development requires more than dollar signs in the mind's eye, and there are more than a few jaded posters in this thread who would create a crime-ridden seasonal failure of a tourist trap if given the chance. Don't give the jaded posters that chance. These individuals represent shortsighted visions, with a problematic and conflicted future.

BeeSB

Sad Analogy : 8/13/2009

They're no better than the Mexican drug cartels utilizing our National Forests for profiteering ventures. When money is all you care about, money is all you get. As a business owner, I cannot afford to post my name. The SB Business atmosphere reeks of a new breed of self interested Franchise Stazi. Someone, save this town from the Ministry of Development Security.

Local Businessman