Wins & Losses

[ Excerpt of: "Williams and Schneider In; Francisco Triumphs Over Barnwell
Measure A Election Reform Goes Down in Flames," By Nick Welsh, SB INDEPENDENT, November 7, 2007 ]


... In a low turn-out election where very few voters bothered going to the polls —- the vast majority of ballots were cast, absentee style, by mail —- incumbents Das Williams and Helene Schneider managed to win re-election by comfortable margins. But their fellow incumbent Brian Barnwell was knocked off, placing fifth in a field of eight candidates with only three seats up for grab. Barnwell will be replaced on the council by challenger Dale Francisco... “The middle of the road is no longer fashionable,” Barnwell concluded of his surprising loss. “You’re either one extreme or the other. That’s the way it went tonight.”

While Francisco’s election will not alter the fundamental tilt of City Hall, it will change the council’s composition. He will be the only Republican on an elected body that for the past two years was composed exclusively of Democrats. On the campaign trial, Francisco proved prickly with his throw-the-bums-out rhetoric—often getting under Williams’ skin —- but he pledged to work hard, learn the ropes, and try to be constructive. His perspective will be more openly skeptical of the council’s clear tilt in favor of alternative transportation...

Williams and Schneider both expressed satisfaction in their own victories, and disappointment for their colleague Barnwell... Williams and Schneider have been the progressive wing of the council, advocating for the living wage, arguing against many developments and pushing for affordable housing. Both enjoyed strong support from the social activist core constituencies. And both were willing to do the grunt work required to raise campaign funds and walk precincts.

By contrast, Barnwell proved to be a man without a country. The environmental community always tended to regard Barnwell as too pro-growth, and were not won over by his born-again support for city-wide sustainability policies. And the business community —- which supported Barnwell during his first campaign —- found him too unpredictable for their comfort the second time around. Barnwell lead the charge to impose more stringent height restrictions for new development in Santa Barbara, something bitterly opposed by many in the development community. Nor did it help Barnwell any that he was regularly reviled in the editorial pages of the Santa Barbara News-Press, often for reasons more personal than political. Compounding matters, Barnwell never embraced the money-raising-door-knocking rigors of the campaign trail the way Williams and Schneider did...

Santa Barbara voters also overwhelmingly rejected Measure A, which would have changed the timing of Santa Barbara’s elections from odd-number years to even numbered years, to coincide with state and federal elections. City Hall pushed for the change because it would save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in election costs, and a coalition of progressive-minded activists argued the change would almost double the number of people who turned out to vote... “We were naïve," [Cathy] Murillo said. "We didn’t think anyone would oppose this. Who in their right mind could be against something that increased voter turn-out and saved lots of money? I still don’t get it.”

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For full text of the original article, please go to:

SBI: , November 7, 2007

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Election Stats as of 2:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 7th:

-- Voter turnout: 31 percent

-- Das Williams: 7,315

-- Helene Schneider: 6,539

-- Dale Francisco: 6,290

-- Michelle Giddens: 5,802

-- Brian Barnwell: 5,725

-- Frank Hotchkiss: 5,319

-- Bob Hansen: 724

-- Dan Litten: 1,874


Measure A:

-- No: 7,554

-- Yes: 5,804