Grant House in the Race

[ SBN-P 4/26/2005 ]:

Planner announces bid for council seat

4/26/05
By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER


Beaming with enthusiasm, longtime Santa Barbara Planning Commissioner Grant House announced his bid for City Council in front of more than 50 supporters Monday outside City Hall.

Mr. House is the first nonincumbent candidate to come forward for the November council election.

Owner of Grant House Sewing Machines and an avid alternative transportation advocate, Mr. House said his campaign is about the three "E's," economy, ecology and equity.

"Santa Barbara is strong because of its diversity," said Mr. House, who also speaks Spanish. "Everyone in Santa Barbara has a place at the table."

Mr. House, a renter, can often be seen riding his bicycle around Santa Barbara. He is a founding board member of the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation, or COAST. At his business in the Magnolia Shopping Center, Mr. House holds regular sewing classes for adults and children. He is a founding board member of the César Chávez Charter School and past treasurer of La Casa de la Raza, an Eastside Community Center.

Several planning commissioners and two City Council members, Das Williams and Brian Barnwell, attended the event.

"I can think of no better place for Grant than the City Council," Planning Commission Chairman Jonathan Maguire said.

Former county Supervisor Naomi Schwartz spoke at the event and said Mr. House is a man of "integrity and character."

"Grant knows how to reach out and be inclusionary," Ms. Schwartz said.

Mr. House, 54, throws his hat into a race where three council positions and the mayor's seat are up for grabs. He is running against incumbents Iya Falcone and Roger Horton.

Although Mr. House is the first to hold a media event, others are gearing up to run, including Dianne Channing and Loretta Redd. Mayor Marty Blum is running for re-election, but so far no one is challenging her.


[ SBN-P online edtition:
Planner announces bid for council seat ]