The Six Candidates Running for Mayor of Santa Barbara

••• From Newsmakers: “Cathy Murillo’s chances of winning a new, five-year, term got a boost Tuesday, with official word that the field for mayor of Santa Barbara now comprises six—6, count ’em, 6—candidates. The late entry of publisher Mark Whitehurst, along with the unexpected candidacy of eclectic Funk Zone investor Matt Kilrain, into a field of challengers that already included former city council member Randy Rowse, Planning Commissioner Deborah Schwartz and entrepreneur James Joyce, will further dilute the vote for mayor in the winner-take-all contest, bolstering the weight of incumbent Murillo’s loyal 27 percent base.” Whitehurst is the publisher of Voice, arguably the least essential of Santa Barbara’s free newspapers, which is saying something. As for Kilrain, “The core promise of his campaign: ‘Boat Rat Matt will develop and implement a profit sharing program whereas the citizens own the business of Santa Barbara and recieve (sic) a dividend and a pension for living in Santa Barbara.'”

••• “On Aug. 6 at 4:05 a.m., the Santa Barbara Zoo’s leopard Ajax gave birth to her first cub. The cub weighed 1.1 pounds when it was born and was given the name Marta. This is the first Amur leopard birth at the zoo in over 20 years.” —KSBY

••• “California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly Covid-19 testing.” —KSBY

••• “Santa Barbara City Council members voted 5-2 to reject Mission Canyon Bridge project options and to direct staff to return in the Fall with funding options for improved pedestrian and multi-model access on both sides of the road.” —KEYT

••• “The attempt to block MarBorg Industries from expanding near the Funk Zone”—actually, it’s a bit to the east—”fell flat for a second time. The Santa Barbara City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to deny appellant Guy Dolev’s effort to stop MarBorg from storing portable bathrooms, trucks and other equipment on property it owns at 2 S. Quarantina St.” —Noozhawk

••• From KEYT: “A Santa Barbara man has been arrested after Mexican authorities found his two children dead from an apparent stabbing.” I’d prefer not to include items such as these, because the way tragedy gets turned into grist for the news/entertainment mill makes me queasy, and anyway, you can find more in every other local media outlet, should you choose. But I’ll defer to readers’ wishes, so please let me know (either by commenting or emailing [email protected]) if you feel strongly one way or another about whether this is the kind of news you’d like to see on Siteline.

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