Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina
Santa Barbara Talks: City Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez Talks Politics
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez is running for a second term on the Santa Barbara City Council. In this podcast, Gutierrez talks about her accomplishments during her first term in office, and answers questions about her stance on rent control, housing, and her primary opponent, Wendy Santamaria. Gutierrez also talks about her new alliance with Jason Dominguez, the person she unseated when she won her first term. Gutierrez also discusses the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, and whey she did not seek an endorsement. Gutierrez also shares her personal story. Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast hosted by journalist Joshua Molina. He creates dynamic conversations with people on the topics of housing, education, politics, business, culture and much more. Please subscribe on YouTube and visit Molina's website www.santabarbaratalks.com
- Duration:
- 1h 11m
- Broadcast on:
- 12 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
[ Silence ] Welcome to Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. It's such a pleasure to be here today with Santa Barbara City Council member Alejandro Gutierrez. Alejandro, we're going to break the Internet today because for some reason, everybody wants to know our conversation. So I'm really looking forward to it. And you are running for re-election. And there's a lot of excitement about this campaign and your re-election, just like when you ran and you unseated the incumbent. So thank you so much for being here today and taking the time. And you've been on my show several times. And you were one of my original YouTube podcasts guests. So I really appreciate you making time during election year because you certainly don't have to. So thank you. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you, Josh, for the invitation. I think I was probably your first guest or like first three guests. Which I really honored. And so thank you. This is -- being on your podcast is always a great opportunity to educate the public. Especially because I am that one council member that it can be a little private. You know, I grew up not thinking that I would be in this role of politician, you know, as a politician, but I'm excited to be here. >> Yeah. Well, I'm excited to talk to you. You've had quite the run the first four years. And we're going to talk about that today. And then you've got a big challenge and opponent, you know, going into this re-election campaign. So let's start right off the top. I just want to give you the floor. Why are you running for re-election? Talk to me about the reasons for wanting to seek another term. >> Well, I -- there's a lot of work that I want to see, that I started, that I want to finish. I strongly believe that we are living a very crucial time in the community. And we need somebody that not only is rooted in the community that understands the values and the needs of the community in a way that most people that come from the outside wouldn't understand. Also, it's a non-partisan seat. And so because we're -- the community is so divided right now that we need leaders that have -- that are okay asking, you know, difficult questions that are not going to push political agendas before the community's needs. And so for me, it's really important to finish what I started. Especially right now in how divided this community is, I've never seen my city so divided than I -- than what we're living right now from the teachers almost going to strike. I mean, I think we're like a couple weeks away or a week away. I've never seen that. You know, and to like almost defunding the police. And how we're so divided with the housing crisis that it's not just happening in the United States. I mean, just in here in Santa Barbara, it's nationwide the state and then the city and how we are -- basically, you have to be on one side of it, you know, on one side or the other or else, like, you can't be part of the conversation. So it's -- for me, it's really important as a community member and then my background in education and the work that I did in the community. I want to see my community sitting at the table and making, you know, solutions and not division. >> Great. I want to ask you specifically about some issues in a second. But before we get there, let's talk about this year accomplishments during your first term. It's very difficult to make significant change as an elected official because you're just one of seven. So elected officials do what they can. They advocate. Maybe they try to build a majority, get things passed. They take votes. But as one individual, it's difficult to sort of set the trend of what's going to happen. And, you know, the city manager runs a lot of stuff at City Hall, the city administrator. But can you just talk about -- what have been some of your accomplishments? Some of the things that you're proud of, that you've been able to successfully pull off or draw attention to or anything that you can look yourself in the mirror and say, "Yeah, I supported that. I did that." >> The first one that comes up to mind is speaking specifically in my district are two. Is the Casika underpath, how clean it is. I think it's one of the cleanest in the city. And during COVID, we had a lot of unhoused -- the unhoused population, you know, can't be there. But the Casika underpath is the connection from the neighborhoods to the beach. And so living in a time where government was saying, "We're not going to move anybody unless you have a place to put them." And the city was sort of, you know, turning the other way and saying, "Oh, they're going to be fine without taking a consideration that -- I'm sorry. I live in a neighborhood where -- I think it's the trash." >> Yeah. My -- my -- my -- my -- my -- my -- my -- my -- my place do. So -- >> Sometimes the city staff, because, I mean, they have to think of the city as a large -- as large. But in my district, we are very diverse. So we have two homeless shelters. And it's the last working class district. A lot of people in my district don't have the time to, you know, to call to city government for help. They believe in just creating their own solutions. And so for me to be the voice from my district and say, "Hey, there's other city -- there's other parts of the city where it's not looking the way that -- that it is right now. We have so many unhoused that it's dangerous. Families are now walking in the middle of the street because they can't walk on the sidewalk. Like, what don't -- it's not fair for the people in the neighborhood, and it's not fair for the unhoused to -- to be there. Like, we have to help these people. But, you know, with everything that was going on in the state where the governor is like, "You can't move anybody." I think the city did a great job in saying, "Okay. We're going to take action because we have to do something." Especially with COVID spreading so rapidly. And in my district, you have multi-generational families living in one household. So because one got COVID, the other 10 or 15 was going to get COVID. So -- and then until this day, it's a team effort from city with other organizations and even community members to keep that path clean. The second is the Eastside Park. And I'm so proud of the Eastside Park because I was very involved in the beginning where, you know, I told city staff, "We need to do more outreach even though it was in the middle of COVID." City staff said, "No, we've done the outreach." And I said, "You know, there's still a lot of community members that would like to give some input." And I also was able to advocate for the community members just the urgency to remodel that park because it was now being a place where it wasn't safe for children and families to go. There was a lot of illegal things going on. Basically, the problem that was going on in Ortega Park moved to the Eastside neighborhood park is, like, right in front of an elementary school, right in front of a child care center, and then there's homes all around. And so children stopped going. And it was great, the city staff, because of the relationship -- again, I've built a relationship through the years. We had every department from the city that is involved in remodeling that park from PD, from public works, you know, parks -- parks and rec. And then the community came out on a Saturday, and then the parks and recs took it over. In the middle of COVID, that park was renovated. And for me, that park is really special because it represents how when community and city government come together, you put politics aside and you let both parties work in the time space where they need to. So the community got involved, gave their input, then we let city staff do their work. And the director of parks and recs will set it in the ribbon cut. And the years that I've been working for the city, she's, I think, one of them now, but a city employer that's been there for a very long time. She said, "I have never seen a park renovated so quickly." It's unfortunate that Ortega Park, it's been -- it got to a point now where it's very -- it's very political. And so people are very divided. But with Ortega Park, I'm happy again that I was able to bring the community input. Like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we can't just destroy these murals." And now we need to bring everybody together, find funding, and move forward with the project. Because it -- it's not just -- I'm just going to remodel a park. There's so much red tape that goes with it. But the east side park in the middle of COVID to be renovated and all the work was being provided in-house, and it was through the city. They didn't hire anybody else to come, and people love it. So let me just follow up on that. The east side neighborhood park -- I know some people talked about that. The benches removed from the park. I know there was some concern that it was sort of maybe sanitized in the sense of, like, it took a lot of the stuff out that people actually used in the park. What's the deal with the benches? And I know people have complained that it's -- there's less stuff there. So there's benches inside, like, the playground area where parents get sit down. I did hear from Santa Barbara's strong towns, and my Instagram sent a message like, "You guys took the picnic benches, and I asked them to meet me at the park." I asked -- the first thing I asked them after I asked their names, like, where are you guys from? And they -- both of them said that they were from, you know, out of the state. And so I started to explain to them kind of the history behind the park and why the city decided not to have the picnic benches. And again, it was to avoid the illegal things that were going on. We're kind of like, like, drug deals? Is that -- you know, drug issues in the drinking. But I also explained how that park is used as the backyard to -- for festivities, for a lot of the community members that live in my district that don't have a backyard. Or they live in the living room, or they share a room, and so they don't have the space to gather. But it's -- we're so used to bringing our tables and our chairs that -- for the people that live around there, it's really easy just to carry, you know, our chairs and tables. The bus behind, like, the picnic tables and all that, it's from what I've seen and heard -- are from people from the outside. And it was funny when I was meeting with these two folks, they -- after I told them a little bit about the community and what we were seeing and the challenges, they, like, they understood. And shortly after there was an older lady, she thinks she's in her 80s that lives in my neighborhood. She was coming from the laundry. And I asked her, I said, you know, we -- they're asking us to put picnic benches. And she's like, no, I'm not going to be able to enjoy it. I said, but don't you want a table and chairs to sit? She's like, look, I'm carrying my laundry. You think I can't carry a table? I want this part to be clean. And so I understand that we have to be mindful of everyone, that not everybody has a car, not everybody has the capability of carrying tables and chairs. But for my district, it is really hard to keep certain areas safe. I'm not going to say clean, but safe. And so the people that live around there, they have been really happy. And also, you know, the city has said, you know, if things go okay, we could probably put, you know, maybe like they did at our take a park where they had like a box. It's like a wooden box, I think, and then they had the tables and chairs and people can like get the key from the city and pick up the tables and chairs. But for the moment, we haven't had, we don't have a solution for avoiding certain illegal situations going on in neighborhoods. And it's really safety. There's children. There's an element. There's actually two elementary schools and you have a daycare center. And there's families that live around there. Yeah. Before we move on to specific topics, I want to ask you about rent control in a second. I want to just sort of address is I hear it as a journalist, people, of course, whisper things in journalist ears all the time. I do cover city hall. So I observed this myself, and we talked about it in a previous podcast. Can you talk about, you know, there were some meetings you didn't attend, and there was some times when you were dealing with other issues other than city also. You mentioned it on the podcast before, but can you just address the fact that some people say, yeah, she took a year off. She wasn't at city hall going to meetings, whether it's the council meetings or just, you know, meetings behind those doors with staff and members of the community. I think we both agreed that there was a period where you were not as engaged. So can you just address that, please. Yes. Thank you, Josh, for that question. I know it wasn't part of the questions you might ask, but I'm really thankful that you brought it up. First of all, I, I do want to make it very clear to your audience that that question that I've been missing in action is really coming from my opponent side. I gave you an exclusive during the time I was sick. So if anybody wants to, you know, hear more detail, I encourage them to watch that podcast, because I think we had a really good conversation. Second, I think we've all forgotten that we went through COVID and we went through a pandemic, and it was three years of being in zoom. So that's definitely coming from my opponent side. And I, I'm very proud of the work I've done. It's really easy to say she, she, she hasn't been there, but I can tell you with a lot of confidence. I've been in, in the meetings where the voice of a lot of people that are, can't be president city hall has been heard. I'm a council member that has stood up for many issues. And so my presence on council is, is very important. And people know that I'm there. So this narrative of like she's never there. Okay, I might not go to a lot of social events and take pictures. But when it comes down to making decisions, I'm not afraid of making people upset. I'm not afraid of thinking of the greater good and making decisions, not on political agendas. So, one, yes, I was sick. We covered it in the podcast. Second, we were in COVID for three years via zoom. So that human contact wasn't there. And yeah, anyone can watch that last one and I'll link it here in this show where you kind of go into more, more detail on it. So let's talk about some issues. And rent control, rent control is the focal point, at least for your opponents as the main issue in this campaign. And, you know, regardless of what anyone thinks of you, whether you've been a good representative or not. It's clear you've been targeted really hard for your position on rent control. And I want to just get your answer. Okay, do you support a form of rent control, rent stabilization, you know, a 2% cap, a 3% cap, 4%. I think your opponent Wendy Santa Maria, you know, she's definitely for rent control. I believe she said 2%. Where do you stand on this issue of rent control, which has become a real divisive issue in this election. Well, it's, it's not just a divisive issue in this election. It's what's divided us to move forward and creating a housing solution for this this housing housing prices that we have. I want to make it very clear that I, I am a tenant myself. And so I've been very supported on tenant protections, but I stand in no on rent control. I don't think rent control is the solution for a housing crisis. It is a temporary band aid. The only ones that will benefit are the ones that are that have a home now. Rent control comes with a lot of maybe unintentional consequences where you have people that are no longer going to invest in the city. That the rents will go high, you know, you have the rents where if you're in a home. And yeah, they're pushing the 2%. It will stabilize the rent, but once a person moves out, the rent can go up. Also, it, it will stop. People from wanting to, because we've seen it, it's been proven in other cities, people are not going to want to invest in their properties, which is sad. And let's, I mean, you want to talk real talk, look into all these cities that have rent control Josh, tell me. Have they produced more house housing. Look at the populations that stay there when it's rent control. It's there's proven facts that when there's rent control. Gentrification is established. Look at San Francisco. Look at Pasadena. Look at Berkeley, the people that are living there. It's either very, very low income or the very rich and the highest populations are. I've seen data where it's whites, Asians, and if we're talking about protecting our Latino community, the Latino communities, the percentage in cities that are in rent control is a lot smaller than even the, the black community. So when I hear my opponent saying that rent control is going to solve this housing crisis. No, nobody is going to want to develop. We need to create a solution where we start to develop. We start to fix the house that we have a very old stock of homes here. We start investing in the homes, where we make it more safety and health wise to live here. There's a lot of people that want a path to ownership. A lot of people want to stay in Santa Barbara and live here, but we have to be mindful that Santa Barbara with the infrastructure wasn't made for the amount of people that lives here. So, creating division and the solution being rent control, like let's be real, like that. Look at, let's just look at the cities that have rent control now. So, okay, I hear what you're saying, right, but there's another layer to this. Okay, and since you're bringing up real talk, I'll bring up real talk. And there's a certain, what is it, expectation from you as a Latina as a Mexican American that you should be for rent control because most of the people in Santa Barbara who are struggling are Latinos. And we've seen the reports that say that Latinos have left the community over the years, our population has gone down and we have fewer Latinos than we did 10 years ago. And so can you talk about that because there are some people who are thinking, Oh, hunter guitarist, you are Latino woman, you should be for rent control, because rent control is going to help Latinos, Latinas stay in Santa Barbara. And they're going to say you've sold out, you've lost touch, you know, like you say your renter, not everyone's on the city council, you know, they're housekeepers, gardeners, people working multiple jobs. And so, can you talk about that because I think that there's a certain population that absolutely agrees with you, but then there's others who are going to say, come on, you should be for the working class community. You grew up. And why are you sided with, you know, property owners. So, can you just sort of like define that because that's a, that's part of this, you know, that there's a certain expectation that you should be for rent control more so than, you know, maybe another council member. Thank you for bringing that up. It's, it's been very heartbreaking that I've been the one person on council to be picked on on like, why did you vote against the rank cap, because everybody on council is for, you know, tenant protection. And I wasn't, I wasn't the only vote, the only person on council that said, you know, no, I'm right, but you don't hear anybody talking about them. It's easy to pick on the one Latina because of the, of what you mentioned. And I really want people that are trying to push their, this political agenda of rent control to stop using at least the Latinos are the Mexican population as their little flag that they're waving as, you know, they're pushing the Latinos out. Latinos have left some yeah they can, they can't afford it, but a lot of Latinos left, because they wanted to buy a home. And so, but they still work in Santa Barbara. I'm going to speak, my parents are Mexican so I'm going to speak for, you know, the Mexican community. The being able to come to this country and buy property is part of making it in the United States it's part of that American dream. And so this, the comments that they use that you're pushing the Latino community away. There is a percentage that said, you know, it's too expensive. I have to leave a lot of that's why you see, you know, during the week, a lot of people are coming from the outside because they work here, but they land outside because they actually want to own a home. And the Latinos that have lived here for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years, they have, they've been very conscientious that Santa Barbara was never going to get cheaper. It was going to get more expensive. My dad was a mechanic. I have uncles that work in landscaping. I have a lot of mechanics in my family. My mom was a housekeeper for many, many years. So there's Latinos that worked really hard that sacrificed their family time, you know, their children to be able to work those two jobs to be able to make the down payment for the homes. And so that's why on the January 9. I, because I have such a good, you know, relationship with people that live in my district, I said, Hey, you guys need to come to this meeting. And there was a high representation of Latinos in that meeting. And those that are pushing the 2% rent cap, they like to say like, Oh, the Latino community is going to be pushed out. There's actually a large Latino community that still lives here. But is a lot of them say yes, I will pay that high rent, because the city is safe, because it has a lot of resources when I was working at Franklin, I would ask my parents. Why do you stay here? It's so expensive. And they would say, Senorita Ljandra, I don't want to live in another cities. I know it's expensive, but I know that my kids are safe. I know that worse comes to worse if we do end up homeless. I'd rather be homeless here than in other cities. And they said, Santa Barbara has so many resources for families and children. Santa Barbara is very rich and it's beautiful. We'd rather stay here and pay those, you know, the high prices than go to another city. But we need to do Josh is start working as a community and stop this division like what do they want to do dividing conquer to push their political agenda. This is Santa Barbara. This is not San Francisco. This is not Pasadena. You have so much wealth here. You have people that are invested to really want to help the greater good. Sit down at the table and have a conversation. Don't go sit, you know, to sit down and say like, Oh, I know what I want. Because there's going to be so much pushback. Let's think about a plan. So you brought up that meeting on January 9. There was. People said, Oh, you sort of scared people into coming to the meeting and they didn't sort of understand what was happening. And can you, can you address that? And I'm going to ask a question about your opponent. You know, she talked about that on the podcast was that the people were there. They didn't quite understand. She said, and she kind of explained it to them. And there's sort of a feeling that you were maybe misrepresenting to them what the issue was. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Can you address that? The people in the room? Who did you organize? Who did you get there? What were you trying to do with that whole display of people property owners showing up and having signs? First of all, that is coming from my opponent's side. It is very sad to hear when she said that the people that were there on that city hall did not understand what was going on. Because 90% of the people that were there live in district one. And so if she says that she's so in touch with the rent, the renters community, or even my district, she should have known better. The people that were there were there because they got the information that they was going to be a push for rent control. They are property owners that have lived in that district for a very, a very long time. I have communication with folks that are part of the San Barbara rental association. Folks, a lot of a lot of Latino property owners that live in my district are not part of that organization. I, to Latino property owners that, that do follow city hall had text me and I said, you know, if you want to learn more like you need to come to city hall. These are sort of the things that, you know, are going to be voted on. Please let everybody know, but as Latino property owners like you guys need to show up, they can't just be the white folks that are there advocating. And a lot of them came out because they were one, they don't believe in rent control. And the second is that. And the reason they don't believe in rent control is because they're going to be forced to be able to raise their rent to keep their properties like a lot of them have. Orplex or they own, you know, six units apartments or they just own like a duplex. And in the ordinance, it explains like the consequences of you violated and a lot of them were afraid of just like not following the law. So when my opponent says that they didn't know, they didn't know the language. These are property owners. You don't think property owners that have been living in this. District in this city, a lot longer than her. And for her to assume that they don't understand that a language is very disrespectful. Second, the fact when you go through the process of buying a home. You have to understand how, you know, the language a little bit, even though you have a translator, but 90% of the folks there understand English. They are bilingual. The fact that they don't feel comfortable speaking in public because it's not their first language is something else, but a lot of them spoke during public comment and they spoke in English. I think the only one that is wasn't bilingual that was there was my grandma. My opponent should think about the division she's been creating in a district that she probably moved in there. Maybe less than three years ago. How long has she been living in the city. We need to be mindful. If you're coming to a new city, be respectful. Do your homework. These are folks that are living in district one of where she wants to represent. And so again, it's, it's coming from the opponent side to make me look bad. And it, it didn't, it didn't go like the way they're saying the people that were there, even though they love Latinos, they all, all understand English. And a lot of folks in the city would be surprised. How many Latino property owners actually house a lot of people that don't have legal documentation, don't have a good credit score. Or, you know, they're working two jobs or they're single moms. Those are the, because the Latino property owners were, you know, they're, they migrated to this country. They understand the struggle. Those are the ones that actually help the Latino community a lot to house them. Yes. I mean, I mean, I know anecdotally there are lots of white landlords who have given subsidized rent to, to people and let them live there. That's under the radar that. You know, everyone, no one talks about, you know, and that's, that's not a answer because that doesn't work for everybody. It kind of works based off of connections, but we do know that that does exist. Let me ask you, Council member Gutierrez on the right control. Do you support any percentage? I guess the bigger question is, how do we stop escalating rents in Santa Barbara, because, you know, I've heard, you know, Council member guitarist should just come out like with a compromise. And it's four percent, right. And, you know, and it'll not please anyone, but also to show that she's trying right. Do you support any percentage, or what is the answer then to escalating rents is it just the market forces. And then we can move on to another issue. Josh, we already have rent control in the state. Yeah, the landlord shouldn't be raising the rents more than what the state's telling us, like we live in a rent control state. For me, we need to create a plan. Where to build houses for the working class. So the fact that we have high rents is because there's such a high demand, and we don't have enough homes to house so many, you know, the people that already live here. And so when there's a house for rent, it, the rents are really high because of the need. So how do we build more homes? Well, we're going to need the developers. And the developers right now are saying it is too expensive with inflation and the way the economy is like to build right now. Second, the process through the city, kills a project within, you know, submitting the plans and trying to get permits, people get discouraged. We're going through the review boards. And a lot of people in the city because we're so used to the small town and just like a very mellow city, they don't want to see the city grow and I'm not saying to build sky record buildings. But we have to do something for that middle class, you know, for the teachers for young folks that are starting their careers for nurses for, you know, law enforcement for the city workers like public works the workers that are here every time there's a disaster. We, we have to find a way, the city, we need as the, you know, in the city, we need to better our permitting process and, and the process to develop, because that, that can get really, really expensive, really quick. And we have to work with developers to also be mindful when they built here, you know, we do a really good job in building, you know, really expensive homes and, and rentals. And then we do an amazing job to give money to the local nonprofits like the housing authority. The other ones that produced a very low low income housing. Yet, we have the every time we give money to, to one or the other we're creating this gap, even bigger for that, you know, for that modern income, that missing middle that we talk about. Building for them. Why, because the nonprofits are not in the business to do that. We need them to build that very, very low income housing. And we also, and they're not in the business to they can't create that missing middle. We need the developers. And so, somehow we need to bring the developers to the table, the city, and the community, where we can build that modern income housing, but right now with so much division. It's not happening. So, let me ask you, you've you kind of referenced her already, but I want to ask the correction question directly because I asked her of you. You know, and I've told you to your face in person, you know, I think Wendy Santa Maria is a strong candidate. Right. It's I'm a journalist. I'm not like endorsing anyone, but as a political analyst. I think she's a strong candidate. I think she's smart. And she, her messaging is really clear, right, like she is for 10 of protections. She is for rank control right. And she's saying the same thing over and over. And she has, I've said, and I'll say it here, to me, appears to have a lot of momentum behind her campaign. Okay. I don't think it's going to be a runaway either way. Right. I think it's going to be a very close race on election night. That's not to say that I think she should win over you. And it's not to say you should win over her. Right. That's, you know, that's not for me to say. Right. I want to be honest with you, like, yeah, I've told Wendy and I've said on the air, she's a strong candidate. And I think, you know, she may been the front runner, maybe still be right. It might also be because, you know, we weren't talking a little bit back then. But what do you think of Wendy? Do you see some of these traits that she has that she may be a formidable challenge. And what does your take take on her as a candidate and as an opponent and her the way she's very clearly made you the issue so far. I'm, it makes me really happy to see a Latina running for office, especially a young Latina. It takes a lot of courage for women, especially women of color to put themselves in this position. She, she's a very smart girl. I mean, she, she looked at the institution she came from. And yes, she's been very clear about her position, but she's running on one issue when it's rent control. And she has, if you look at her, you know, work experience and the things she's done in the community is been, you know, she, she comes across some activist and for the people, yet her roles are activists she's been paid for. She worked for cause you're getting paid for it. I grew up in an era. And my dad worked at the Casa de la Rosa. So I know what activists look like. I know the activists that in this community, they didn't get paid. They did it because they wanted to build community. They wanted to uplift other Latinos. I think she has a lot to learn, especially from our district. We don't have one in the history behind it and how Latinos we, we don't all get along and under, you know, we don't agree. But in this community, we don't disrespect other Latinos in public. You know, and so that really turned off a lot of people that even probably didn't want to vote for me one, but when she came across attacking another woman and Latina, and I understand this is, this is politics. She's your opponent. We don't do that here. And, but I'm excited. I'm getting challenged. This, that's, this is why these positions were, were made for, you know, imagine if nobody got challenged how, how politics would be. I mean, it's crazy enough. From my experience. She's not one to bring community together. And I'll go back to what I said in the beginning. You need a leadership that is not going to be putting their political agenda before the needs of the people. You need to think about the greater good. We need to think about the, you know, not just my district, but the, the city as at large. And it, it really takes a lot of courage to make decisions that you know that is not going to be very popular, especially being a Latina council. So I'm, I congratulate her that she's running. She has endorsements, but in my district, a lot of those endorsements people don't even know who these organizations are. They hear of them because during the election they come, they come every four or five years. In my district it's, it's a very strong community. You have local businesses there. We take care of each other. So, you know, I wish you're the best, but I think she has a lot to learn. Let's dive into the to you a little bit. Let's transition from that, because you mentioned, you know, you're, you're kind of a private person, right? You know, you don't kind of let it all out there in social media and, you know, you do your work and you know, we've over share a lot of information. So let's talk about you. You grew up on the east side. You grew up. You're local. You, you know, you've made comments about Wendy being fairly recent. And I forget what year she came here. But, you know, I think I don't think I don't want to say the wrong thing, but it's, you know, sometime within the last five, six, seven years, something like that. But who is Alejandro Gutierrez? Can you share a little bit about your story, your background and, you know, where you grew up, because you obviously are local, you know, and me as a local, like I get all weirded out when people try to tell me how to do my job or how to live or give me any kind of history. And I'm like, you know, I lived in what's now a cannabis dispensary, you know, in Galita and old town Galita, don't tell me what old town Galita should be like, I mean, you could have your opinions but don't try to tell me I'm wrong, you know. So I get that sense. But, you know, talk to me about your upbringing, your background so people get a better sense of who you are. When I was born and raised in the city, I worked for 20 years for the school district. I recently left the school district, and I am the oldest in my family system, my sister and I, my parents came from Mexico. My dad's first job was at the Casa de la Baza. I worked at a local mechanic shop for many, many years. My mom was a housekeeper, she was a nanny for a family in Montecito. Then she started working in in Galita, they bought their first home. I grew up with really great values that my parents installed, especially coming from Mexico. I never thought that I would come into politics. And so, the way that I was raised and taught to carry myself as a person, and then going into politics. It was very confusing at first because I was taught to, you know, your work is going to speak for yourself like you're, don't, don't advertise the good things you do, you know, just always stay humble. Stay true to your values and to your roots. Never sell out, so it's funny when they use that word like oh she's a sell out yet. Nobody knows my opponent really in my district. And to be honest Josh, you're the one that's giving her a lot of publicity because in my district. If you ever want to have, you know, I will touch up the milk bus and sit down, you'll see like, where are they, they're, they're not a rip. So I, and then working at Santa Barbara high school for almost 10 years at the college and career center. I helped a lot of first generation students from that district specifically getting them to college or, you know, higher education as BCC I helped a lot of students get their first job, get them involved in the community. I was in charge of community, the community service requirement there at Santa Barbara high school, and then at Franklin I created the evening tutoring center and I created a lot of workshops for parents to understand the education system, especially parents that came from other communities. So yeah, a lot of people in my district know me as I have always been the go to person for, especially first generation students to, you know, get them connected into higher education or to navigate the city. So yeah, I am very rooted. I, I have family members that are very involved also in the community, either in education or, you know, law enforcement. So I'm a local girl. Did you go to Franklin and Santa Barbara high and Santa Barbara. I went to Franklin. I didn't go to Santa Barbara junior high or Santa Barbara high school because my parents work towards the Galita area, and they were always really concerned that if something happened to my sister and I we wouldn't be able to like come quickly. And so I went to Sam Marcus and I went, I actually was at Sam Marcus when Oscar was there as well. And I went to the cool breath, but I grew up in an era where I remember there was a assistant superintendent and when I was at Santa Barbara high school in like 2015 she was my English teacher when I was in junior high and she was telling me that my generation was the most like difficult generation. So the games were very, very much in the schools and there wasn't community between law enforcement and the Latino community. And so now that I'm on council and to see how much our police department has grown to doing community policing instead of just like going into the neighborhoods and pushing the uniform is, is very rewarding to see how much the city has grown. You know, when we talked the first time, I think it was that that coffee shop on Haley Street, low pigeon. And now it's June, I think. Yeah, June. And what's that is the lighthouse. Oh, is it lighthouse now? Yeah, that's right. It's turned over. So we talked there and I remember, you know, we were, you know, you were running and it was just the very beginning of your campaign. And I know in my head, to be honest, since you're on it, you know, and I probably told you this and I know I told other people like, she's not going to win. There's no way, you know, like she can't do this because you're going up against an incumbent. And, you know, Jason was very vocal, powerful, like, you know, he had a lot of opinions and like thinking, you know, it's, I don't think she can do that just because it's going to be an uphill battle. Obviously, you won, you know, and you won on election night. It was a close race. I think you won by eight votes. The Democratic Central Committee endorsed you during that campaign. And I have said, they're at least responsible for the votes, right? You did not seek their endorsement this time, right? So what happened? What happened between your first campaign and now you are a registered Democrat. Correct. You are. So why would you not seek the Democratic endorsement, Democratic Party endorsement? Yes, they did endorse me the first time. I'm going to be very honest with you. I give my family and friends and my students, the credit for those eight votes. The work that I had done previously in that community got me those eight votes because we got people that normally would invoke to come out to vote because they knew on it. There's this homeless gentleman on house. And he, he always, he's always around or take a park. And every time he sees me, you know, come by. He's like, you know, thanks to me. I was one of those eight votes that voted for you. And I get that a lot. And it, but it, it, it warms my heart because that's community for you. And I didn't know if I was going to win. All I knew was that I got offered an opportunity to make a difference in my community. I had when I made the decision, my students were there. I always would tell my students to, you know, to get out of their comfort zone. So they called me out. They're like, Hey, I'll do it. I remember I said, Hey, if I'm going to do this, can you guys are going to help me. So I have students that never, a lot of people in their families never voted or never involved in politics out there knocking on doors and advocating for me. Why were family and friends and students willing to do that for me? Because they knew me. They knew the work that I've done. They knew how much I cared about the community. And it was fun. We, we were honestly for me and the, in the community, having a local, you know, local person in the ballot, just to see the name was huge because I opened the door for other locals that probably doesn't feel that they are larger part of this community or that they can actually run for politics. Now the opportunity, like, Hey, I did it. I could do it too. And so I always respected Jason. I mean, he, he's a lawyer. He, you know, he understood that field very well. But I also knew I had a chance because of so, so much work and my dedication to my community, Josh, I never left. I never left. There's a, there's a saying in Spanish. It's probably just a Mexico. Nothing is profiting so propiate era. And I remember my mom saying that to me. She said, Hey, you're, you're maybe going to have to think of, you know, going to another career field because at one point I wanted to become a probation officer. And I just didn't cut it. And she said that to me. And basically, and it translates in English that, you know, not everybody is a prophet in their own like territory like he's not everybody will make it in their own territory. You're going to have to go somewhere like create a name for yourself. And I remember she said that and I said to myself, like, No, I'm going to make it here. Like, people are going to know who I am. And it wasn't for people to know who I am. I think this nothing has been handed to me the struggles of always being. Underminded like it because I am quiet, but I love to work. And so I made a promise to myself that one, I was going to help people go on to higher education, because there's such a big world outside the Santa Barbara that a lot of people don't see. I also promise that I didn't want other people to struggle the way that I did. And so the love that I have for Santa Barbara got me to run for office. And got me to the finish line with Jason, when I want to both even my dad was surprised. I did it mainly to, to break down that door of opportunities that you don't have to be a man. You don't have to be a white man. You don't have to be a lawyer or a certain economic status to be on council. You have to be somebody that's willing to work hard to view voice of the people and to really put the people's need first, then, you know, these political agendas. And that's exactly why district elections were created, because we can now have a contest where you have strong, you know, Latinos, Latinos running. And in the past, it would have been just, you know, whoever's the, you know, one of the highest vocators because it's at large, you know, so And, you know, we don't give a lot of props to the folks that fought so hard for district elections. And it's thanks to so And I tell you that, you know, my opponents, there's a lot to learn. And those were Latinos, Josh, the Latinos that have stayed here. They've worked really hard to, to have a voice. And so, as Latino candidates, we have to be very mindful of what we put out there in the community, because we have a lot more in common than differences. The judge at show, I was also a part of that right, I believe, so you decided not to seek reelection or seek a reinforcement from the damn party this time did you just sort of get when like they were going to be fully behind Wendy or your values had shifted from them They've made you not want to do an interview. I mean, obviously, I don't think you would have gotten it, because they've made it very clear a long time ago early on that they weren't supportive Wendy, you know, you know, if not formally informally so Why didn't you try to say, Hey, here's my case endorsed me. I really didn't know that they were going to endorse her or not. I, they've made a very, very clear ever since I said no one run control that they were not, you know, happy with. And not just run control just other issues to I anybody that knows me knows that I'm, I'm not going to put certain certain people's needs over the larger community. I'm a person that likes to create policies that is going to be long lasting that is, is going to be, it's going to be sustainable through the changes of times, like we have the reason we're in this housing crisis is because, you know, people before we didn't think that Santa Barbara was going to grow so much right that city college and UCSB were going to be like top in the country. And so, I actually the Democratic Party has never really reached out to me like once I won, they kind of left me alone. And it's a nonpartisan race, and I, I'm an independent thinker, and they made it very clear that they don't want that they want somebody that's going to push their agenda. And I'm okay. Again, it's district elections. It's the work that you've done in that community is those one on one contacts you've done with with the voters. And I said it again like previously, a lot of these endorsements that people get these organizations are never around in that district. They only come around to get people's votes. You know who's around in the district teachers. Law enforcement, firemen. And that's the first and so, I know you've done a lot of hype that she's going to win because she got the Dems endorsement. You're going to win because of the work and the relationship that you created in the district. This is why district elections were made for. They were made for to get away from those larger political agendas. It was to give a voice to the direct voters in that district. And just to be clear. The parties endorsement means people. It means Saturday morning, walkers, Sunday. It means phone banking. It means resources. So that's what I say. And I'm assuming you have your own team. There's going to be doing all these things. You'll be walking all of that. But, you know, I think any Democrat who has the endorsement of the Democratic party has an advantage when it comes to reaching those voters who care about whether a candidate's a Democrat or not. And it sounds like you're saying that a lot of your voters just care more about what the work they've seen in the community more so than whether you're on a ticket with Kamala Harris or any of the other Democrats up and down. And we also know Mayor Kathy Maria was not reelected. We know that. So we know that there's precedent that, you know, any groups endorsement is certainly not a guarantee of anything. So I just, I was surprised. When I heard that Jason Dominguez had endorsed you, and that you guys were sort of, I guess, talking a little bit about the campaign or whatever. So you did seek his endorsement. He did endorse you. Is this helpful to you. I'm going to call covering Jason and, you know, back when you were challenging him. It's so funny. It was like, you know, all hundred Gateras needs to win this seat because Jason is this and that and he talks down to staff and he doesn't live, you know, all these things that came up. And you were the rising star one that was going to unseat him and now you two are aligned. Just can you just spend a minute or so on like that sort of political alliance. And it actually came very naturally. I was meeting. I was had a coffee with a couple of friends he came by to say hi. We were never mean to each other. We were, I think, and one of the debates I think I did interrupt him and like corrected him but he doesn't even remember, but Jason's endorsement is really a reflection of me being able to work with everyone and the community building. And also the fact that he cares about this community. He's a very smart man. We actually share a lot of views alike when it comes to policy. And he, he's done this work. And he has, you know, he's a lawyer so he sees things very differently. And he just brings a great, you know, he's a great asset to, to the campaign team but I have a grassroots team. People that are not getting paid, but they care for the future of this community. And they care for the future of the Latinos in this community. And they want to balance, they want equity, equality and in the city and, you know, going back to that dumb endorsement. I saw that. I'm a fan of your podcast. I saw your podcast on one of the with one of the leaders from the party and, you know, he, he talked down about one of the oldest women, democratic groups in town, you know, and that for me was, I don't want to be endorsed by an organization where the leadership is going to talk down or be little people that see differently than them. Because I hold my democratic values very dear to my heart. And for me that's not a reflection of, of being a Democrat. So that's another reason why I said, you know, this is district election, let's bring it local. I won by, you know, working really hard grassroots. I have my team. And, you know, let's, let's start knocking on doors. You know, I think we're going to wrap up here. We've been about an hour. And I just kind of want to give you an opportunity to sort of talk about, you know, issues other than rank control other than tenant protections. You know, you've talked about your accomplishments, but, you know, the Santa Barbara's dealing with obviously affordable housing crisis, the whole state street master plan and whether, you know, what role cars are going to play and whether it's going to be a temporary solution. There's so many issues that Santa Barbara's dealing with so maybe kind of as we wrap up here, just give you a chance to sort of talk about. What do you, what else are you concerned about, you know, and what will you do if you're reelected, given another four years in office. Yeah, I do want to talk a little bit. You also made a big commotion on why do you have it about. Yes, on the, on the tax. So I, my, my original vote. And no, Randy didn't convince me. Come on, Josh, like it's. Thank you for reminding me that and holding me accountable. Thank you. Go ahead. Again, and this is why I'm here at your program. So I don't believe in the regressive tax. I don't think that in order for us to get out of debt. We have to tax the people, the regressive tax is only going to hurt people that make, you know, a lower income versus somebody that has more income, and that is directly going to affect people in my district. Again, the last working class in Santa Barbara. I think as leaders, we have to, again, like stop putting these political agendas. It's costing the city a lot of money. And I'll give you a quick, perfect example. We voted for the just cause relocation assistant. I was very much in favor for the two, the two months relocation. But a couple of my council members, again, pushing their agendas and listening to, you know, people that are going to. Push them into higher office. They said three months relocation. Guess what, Josh? Nobody, nobody talked about it, but the city got sued. And now we're at two. So where did that. You know. Three months relocation, it costs the city money that's taxpayer money that we could use for somebody up for for something else, right, making our streets better aside. What's better. So. I, the second time it came to cancel. We agreed on. You know, that the resolution that was attached to it, but I don't had already been convinced. I'm in the minority. I was the only one that said no. And at the end of the day is going to go out to the voters and the voters are going to decide. But we have to be very mindful on when we're making decisions, how it's going to also affect. Financially in the city. We can have great idealistic ideas, but what is the cost behind it. Look at State Street. We poured so much money. And you and I just know it's political. It's political. Like if we really would come together and say we want to fix this, we probably could. We have the resources. We have really creative people here. We have amazing architects. We have a team here. But again, that those political agendas, no card. We want to do the 15 minute cities and then you still have a working class here in us. You still have locals that actually miss cruising on State Street. So again, we got to build community. We really need to stop. It's especially right now that, you know, the whole state's living in such a crucial time. We really need to come together. And so I'm really excited to continue. To be hopefully, you know, getting at us out of debt. You know, I'm the chair of finance, creating a balance on council, keeping that local voice on council and being. Just really giving the voice of the community instead of these political agendas. I'm really proud of the policies that as a council as a whole, we passed, you know, environment to protect environment. We've created really great tenant protection policies. I'm really proud of our fire and police department, you know, throughout the whole. COVID and, and politics, they. They really have done an amazing job here. And I have faith in this new city administrator. I was a huge advocate for her when it came down to voting cool. She comes from the outside. Sometimes people from Santa Barbara can be. Over dramatic. Sometimes I'm very needy. And sometimes we need a voice from outside of you like, Hey, guys, you guys are really blessed. You have, you live in amazing city. You have so much resource. It's about building community again. And also, I was frustrated because you were against it during the finance, the sales tax, and then during council, you didn't say anything. And so as a reporter. Right, I'm looking to explain to readers, like, why did she change? And so I guess I could ask you afterward, you know, and come up to you do that or text you, you know, but. We'll call you, but I didn't. So that was the whole thing was like, you know, it's fine. Obviously, people change their minds or they have different perspectives, but it's like, what saves the, you know, talk about it, that kind of thing. So, so yes, I apologize to you. If, you know, you did not get with Randy, you know, decide to change your kind of deal with Randy so he can support you. I was surprised. But when, when you said she didn't say anything, I was like, Oh, he has a really good point. Like, I can't just make a decision like life out and not explain it to the public. I voted no on the finance. I said, Hey, let's take it to the larger council. The second time I said, absolutely not. And they talked about like this is going to bring housing. It's not going to bring housing. If this passes, it's going to go directly to the debt. And we, I don't believe in more taxes like we live in the state where we have so many taxes, but that regressive tax specifically going to hurt people that make less. And that's what's like, not cool. The second time around, we added those, the resolution, which is great, but I was the only vote. So I said, Hey, let's just let's have the people vote. Okay. Well, I think it's been a great conversation. I think we've covered a lot of topics and I appreciate you taking time to come on the show and answer a lot of questions and, you know, put it back on me a little bit and, you know, sort of have that. Respectful debate, you know, about these issues. And I do want to remind the audience that my colleague, Jerry Roberts, who, you know, is an awesome icon of this community and throughout the country as a journalist. We're co hosting a night with the candidates and it's going to be a forum debate. We're getting an email out to you very soon on the format to all the candidates. August 28, and we're going to have you, your opponent, we're also going to do district three with those candidates as well. And it'll be live streamed and everyone can can watch it. So that'll be an opportunity for viewers to be able to hear from you again. And all the candidates in that, in that format. So I'm really looking forward to that. It's going to be a fun, a fun night. And so thank you, Council Member Guterres. Thanks a lot for your time. And parent on the show, and I look forward to talking to you as we get closer to the election. And I guess, enjoy your two weeks of no council meetings, right? It's a good summer break. Thank you so much, Josh, and thank you for the work you do. And I've told you this off camera. Thank you for challenging leadership. You know, we don't see eye to eye all the time, but I think we've been very honest with each other and honestly does doesn't always mean that we're going to align. But having somebody, you know, that's like pushing you really helps, at least it's helped me. I mean, you, you made me upset with some comments like, what is he talking about? But, you know, it comes down like I used to tell my students, but like, so what are you going to do about it? Like, how, how are you going to make this better? And so it definitely kept me on my toes. Thank you for that. And thank you for this platform. Yeah, well, thank you. I appreciate that. And, yeah, it's going to be a great campaign. So we'll talk soon. Take care. Thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]