Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina
Santa Barbara Talks: City Council Candidate Tony Becerra
They call him the mayor of the Westside. Tony Becerra, a karate trainer, enters the political arena to challenge his former student Oscar Gutierrez for a seat on the Santa Barbara City Council in District 3. In this podcast, Becerra opens up about the reasons why he is running for office and his views on issues such as rent control, State Street and the sales tax increase. Becerra also talks about his personal story, being a renter, a small business owner, and one of 12 children in his family. He says he has a vision, is an entrepreneur and plans to advocate for more crosswalks and services on Santa Barbara's Westside. Becerra also talks about Gutierrez, notes that he lives with his mother, and says that ''at some point you have to create your own life, your own opportunities.' Learn about Becerra's campaign in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. Please consider a financial contribution to support these podcasts by visiting santabarbaratalks.com. Joshua Molina is a journalist and college instructor who creates dynamic conversations on the topics of housing, politics, education, culture and business. Please hit subscribe on YouTube.
- Broadcast on:
- 12 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
- Welcome to Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. It's such a pleasure today to be here with Tony Becerra, who is running for Santa Barbara City Council in District 3, the West Side. And he's got a lot of nicknames, the Mayor of the West Side, the King of the West Side. We're gonna learn everything about Tony today and why he's running and what he's all about. Welcome to the show, Tony. How are you doing today? - I'm doing great, thanks. Thanks for the invitation, the opportunity to talk about the issues on the West Side and about myself and my history and just getting that people get to know who I am and why I'm doing the things I'm doing. - Yeah, this is great. It's been kind of a story since you emerged as a candidate because a lot of people knew who you were. You have your dojo there on the West Side and you've trained generations of people and you're kind of a household name out there. And so you decided to run, I guess, it's a bit of the story of a small business owner who over time becomes increasingly frustrated with how government is responding to the community and decided to just throw your hat in there and get involved. So talk to me, Tony, you know? This is a big, big job to take on. Why are you running? - Well, first of all, it's funny 'cause I talked to one of your, another reporter, Jerry Robertson. He said, you know, I was kind of a throwback back when City Council used to be run by businessmen or ex-businessmen, retired gentlemen. And so it's, I never, ever thought I'd be running for office, but you know, the truth of the matter is it was kind of like by force. I mean, a lot of things have happened over the last couple of years, you know, being kicked out of my house, you know, and having to move and then trying to work my way back and trying to find, you know, a suitable place to live here in Santa Barbara, you know? And then, you know, even some might stay in my business because, you know, it was just easier to stay here than, you know, being commuting back and forth and stuff. So, you know, it's been tough. But in the process, you know, I, you know, I have, like you said, generations of families have come through here. My lobby, which is behind me is a, it's kind of like a gathering place for the local, locals to sit, they sit there for an hour, you know, at a time and, and they just tell me about, you know, the issues that are going on. And one of the biggest ones was the crosswalks, you know, the conditions of the street, you know, the bad lighting and not feeling safe at night, you know? And things, you know, when you're a businessman, you're, you know, a father first, you know, you know, I have my, my wife and kids that, you know, that obviously I prioritize and then, you know, after that, then it's business, you know? And, you know, when you're doing business and you're just trying to, you know, get things done day by day, you know, you know, we live paycheck to paycheck, just like most people in Santa Barbara do, you know, you don't really get a chance to smell the roses. So, you know, not really looking around, just kind of seeing things going, oh man, this place has really gone downhill, you know? It's been over 20 years that they've done major renovations in the area. And then after about a year, they stopped maintaining it. So looking at what was around us and how, you know, the recent repairs, then they added up water pipes to the, replaced the water pipes on the, on San Andreas street. And they just left it worse, you know, potholes and, you know, just uneven elevation. But I think going back to what the parents were saying is the worst part is the kids don't feel safe. The parents don't feel safe crossing the road. You know, the San Andreas sometimes, you know, it could be 45 miles an hour that these people are racing up and down the block, you know? And we have one stop sign, one stop way, that's it. You know, if that doesn't slow them down, then they're just, it's another freeway, you know? So I think I started talking to people and just realized that things weren't gonna get done. I'd had conversations with the incumbent, you know, before about little things, you know, garbage cans and benches and even dog bags, you know? 'Cause I walked my dogs to the neighborhood almost every single day, you know? And there's only one place you can find dog bags on the West side, you know? And it's just like kind of ridiculous. Meanwhile, you know, people are on next door apps talking about how people don't pick up after themselves, you know? So it's just, you know, kind of just the basic stuff. So I think, you know, realizing that things weren't gonna get done unless we had good leadership. And that's when people started, you know, get into my ear like, well, maybe you should do it since day. Maybe you should do it, you know? And, you know, looking back at my background, you know, as a wrestling coach, you know, as, you know, as a, you know, community leader as far as, you know, running a nonprofit like the junior chamber of commerce and, you know, the president, the band page center out in Galita, you know, I've gathered a lot of information. I've, you know, made a lot of relationships with people with other nonprofits, I've worked with other nonprofits to help them fundraise and to get projects done. And so, you know, looking at, looking at my history, I was like, man, I guess I am kind of suited for this. You know, I've had the experience, not only the business experience, but I also have the contacts, you know, that I've made over the years, over the decades, you know? I think I got into the junior chamber when I was 19. The month, there's a month later, they changed it to 21 and over, you know, so, it's like, I just got in under the wire, or they railroaded me into it anyhow. So, but, you know, but in the process, it was a growing, it was a growing time when, you know, they would stick in a project and run that project. I don't know how to run it, you know, and then you'd have to figure it out and talk to people and learn how to communicate and to build relationships with people in order to get things done. And that's what I've done my whole life, you know, is being able to read people and realize, you know, okay, we can prioritize this because, you know, just like a small business, I don't have the money just to go, "Hey, we need new bags and new flooring." You know, you have to kind of put everything in its place. And then, from there, you can kind of decide, you know, you know, a plan to get things done. And I think that's where the city is lacking a little bit, is that, you know, they, a lot of talk, and I think they do things before they really plan it out and think of all the aspects of it, you know, they're spending money that we don't have. And that's one thing, as a business person, I can't do that, you know, I went through COVID, you know, during COVID, there used to be 22 karate schools or martial arts schools in Santa Barbara prior to COVID. I think right now there's only six. So it shows you that how badly that affected businesses like mine, you know, I was able to sustain, even though I wasn't getting payments in, I was able to, you know, add good credit. So I was able to put it on my cards. But, you know, I put myself in a world of debt as a result, but I was able to maintain, you know, classes. I would teach classes at the park and just, you know, get people there, you know, 50 people at a time at, led better, led better. I'm sorry, I'm Shoreline park where I grew up up on the Mesa. And it was great, you know, get these kids out there to smiles on their face, you know, parents' crimes. Like he has a smile then weeks, you know, and just getting them a chance to run free and, you know, to get out there and train with other kids. And, you know, so it's just, my life has been, you know, and it realized it's been a roller coaster of preparation for this time in my life. And now at first I was apprehensive, not sure. But now I see where I need to go with this, you know, how I need to lead, how I need to pull together to make things happen. And, of course, you know, I don't know at all, but I'm willing to reach out and get that information from the real issues I've built over the years. - Yeah, that's, you know, very well said, 'cause there's so many issues on the west side, and they don't necessarily get the attention over at City Hall. It's historically been that way. It is true on the east side. We do have district collections, so there's obviously more awareness of these issues, but typically it's always been sort of like San Roki, the Riviera, the Mesa. These are the areas where the power has been politically. And so now we see more attention to your district, district one. And here's somebody who's right in the middle of it and sees it all. You know, so we have the issues that you outlined that, you know, are prompting you to run a crosswalk safety, you know, and just the, you know, lighting, you know, I know we've talked about that as well. There's other issues that come up in a campaign, right? And so a lot of people have made few issues, the focal point, and now you're sort of caught in the middle of it as a candidate. So for example, a rent control, right? Or rent cap or rent stabilization. And I know they're all different things, but, you know, the bottom line is, there's a lot of talk about a cap on the amount you can raise rents per year. And this is an issue that's getting lots of attention because your opponent is for this. Can you talk about your perspective on a rent cap or rent stabilization in Santa Barbara? - Well, the problem is is that, you know, first of all, Santa Barbara is gonna have issues all the time 'cause everybody wants to live here. You know, what we found out when I got kicked out of my place, I couldn't find a place to rent because people were coming in from L.A. because they were starting to work remotely and they figured, if I can work anywhere in the world, I'm gonna live in Santa Barbara, you know? The couple clients that I have that, you know, their kids come here, but that's the story they tell me. They're like, heck yeah, I went to Santa Barbara vacation. I said, I'm gonna move there, you know? So, you know, that part of it's always gonna be tough. But as far as, you know, the cap goes, there's a couple of reasons why I'm against it, you know? It's not that I don't wanna, I don't believe that there should be fair pricing for where someone lives. Obviously, I'm a renter, so of course, I want fair prices, you know? But the reality is, is that, you know, when you talk about, you know, if we want to live in a nice place, if we wanna have the upgrades that are, you know, we should be getting this tenants, then we have to be willing to understand how business works and the way business works is, for example, you know, our property tax, if you're a property owner, property tax is, you know, close to 2% every year that it goes up because of, you know, ballots, propositions that were on the ballots for city college or something like that, they naturally raise your normal property tax. Well, if that's almost 2%, then what happens when, like this year, especially, insurance, some people got insurance, they're doubled, some people got their insurance tripled. I know I've talked to a couple of residents who got their insurance canceled because the city didn't trim the trees in front of their house and the trees are in the middle of a power line. And then I have one person right up the block on San Andreas who said he had to pay personally and worrying about a find where he had to pay for a tree trimmer to come trim the trees so he can get insured at the fear of getting cited for trimming a city tree, you know? So it's like, at some point, and he had called the city to have them come do it, but they said it's not on the schedule, they had to wait another two years before the tree trimming came to San Andreas, you know? And so those are the type of issues that are real. So when you talk about if you have your insurance rates going up and you have your property tax going up every year and then how about repairs where you live? So the problem is it doesn't make sense. If you're at 2% and you have a natural 3.5%, 4% increase because of insurance or whatever it is, repairs for your property, people won't do the repairs. And if we want to live in a city like Oakland or a rundown city where everything's a slum, that's how you do it. Because not only will the homeowners or the property owners not do the repairs because what's the reason? The value of the property is dropping. And the other side of it is that when Santa Barbara obviously needs more housing. Whether it's in equity building condos or new houses, or if it's more apartment buildings for our community, the builders aren't going to come because if they can't make their bottom line make sense, then they're not going to come here. And we see that in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when they went with the 2% cap, the following year, there was 80% less new building. And I know my opponent said, well, hopefully that doesn't happen. Well, we can't go by hopefully. We got to go by examples. We got to see what's the real bottom line? What's the ink say? The ink say says that it's not sustainable, especially for a town like Santa Barbara, with the cost so high and in a rental market that's so high. Yeah. And so I think a lot of people are frustrated or they don't know what the answer to this issue is because a lot of people have left Santa Barbara because of increasing rents. And we know that Santa Barbara has always been expensive and will always be expensive. There's a thinking that it's gotten really worse recently in the last few years. How do we keep locals here in Santa Barbara? How do we keep them from having to move out? There's a lot of people I went to high school with, most of them, in fact, don't live here anymore. And they live in Oxnard and Longpoke, Santa Maria, Ventura, Oregon, Arizona, anywhere else, anywhere that's cheaper. So if we can't sort of do something that you think makes sense for the property owners to keep rents somewhat, not out of reach, what is the solution? What are some answers to this problem? Well, and that's the funny thing because we've really seen a huge increase in the last five or six years. And the one thing the common denominator with that is what happened in 2019. They passed a state rent control proposal. The governor got that passed, which is-- and you see it has it decreased rent, has it maintained rent? No, rents have gone up. I talked to a property manager who would say to his lady he works for and said, hey, how much are we going to raise the rent this year? Do we want to go $100? She goes, oh, that's kind of too high. Should we go $50? And she goes, OK, how about $75 right in the middle? So that would be the amount that they would raise. In this unit, they were talking about 10 units. But it was something that they had worked their life for to build and to have. And so she was OK with $75 more for the year. And then rent control comes. And the very next year, she was all, he's all, hey, how much do you want to go up this year? Because sometimes she wouldn't go up, he said. And then she goes, well, what is the law say? And the law says, oh, right now it's like 9.8%. And she goes, OK, all right, well, let's just do that. Because that's what the governor said. That's what rent control is. So now everybody got this huge increase. And I tell you, as a renter, when I was on Figaro Street for four years, when I started-- it was back in the day, right? But I first opened up the building in 1996. I was paying $800 for a two-better one-bath, right? It was a duplex. And when I moved out 12 years later, I was paying $1,200. And then the next house I was in, I was in for a little over 10 years. And I started out for a three-bedroom two-bath at $2,300. And when I moved out, I was paying $2,800. So it wasn't like these huge raise. Because most people, mom and pops, don't gouge. What they're trying to do is just make ends meet. And maybe put a little bit more for the mortgage to get the property paid off as soon as they can. And some of them have already paid them off. And they're just kind of living off the residual income that comes in as a result. So what happened is with this rent control, it just pushed everybody up. Everybody's trying to get to market value, especially apartment buildings. Their value is not based on their location. Like a house would be. It's based on how much is the property producing. It's a business, you know? So I think that kind of shot everybody in the foot. I understand the intent, but the result is not what the intent was. As far as what should we do? I think we should collaborate more with the city, with the county, possibly. I have a friend, like I said before, he makes $25,000 a year. But he owns a condo behind Costco. How did he get in? Well, there was an opportunity. They built these condos back then. They had low income, middle income, and then regular tiered income condos. And people moved in there and after I think 25 or 30 years, he can put it on the market for market value. But if he moves out prior to that, he has to sell it at what he got it for, you know? So I think that the county owns tons of property. I think they own more property than anybody in town, right? And so, you know, using county resources, you know, looking at grants, looking at, you know, either card or congressman to help, you know, supply some type of funding to get infrastructure built, you know, in Santa Barbara to create housing. And if we could do something, you know, everybody talks about apartment buildings. I'm thinking about more opportunity to own something because, you know, equities is where wealth is built. It's not built on rental. That's so many stuff away. So, you know, and everybody should have an opportunity to at one point own something. And if we get banks to jump in this equation where they can be the note, the carrier of the note so that more people have an opportunity to get in because it's less down, you know, there's programs what's 5% down based on the price of the house. There's a, there was government programs that will give you the down payment to get into a house. So there's stuff out there. The problem is in Santa Barbara, there's nothing available, you know. So I think, you know, one of the other issues too is corporate comes in and buys homes. And I've had, I have real estate friends who said, corporate comes in and buys the house's cash. You know, that also, you know, that means that house is now going to be a rental property forever, right? And so we've got to make sure that, you know, there's opportunities for, you know, locals to buy homes in town or to create, you know, I know that, you know, there's a whole, it's a whole can of worms on that one. But, you know, just giving more opportunities for locals to live. Also maybe prioritizing our first responders and maybe teachers in the area where they can, you know, they can build housing specifically for those people 'cause I know I was talking to firefighters recently and they said that out of, there was one company that only two members out of the entire station live locally. So that means if there was a mud slide or like a fire, like if carpenter really got shut off and Gavioda got shut off, there's only the firefighters at the station that are available because the other ones live out of town like you say your friends do, you know? So the idea is that we need to think first about, you know, what's, you know, the role of government is to, you know, number one is to protect its, its recidicence, you know? So we need to think about that. And then of course the educational side, making sure that our teachers have an opportunity to live locally too because you want to live by your teachers. You want to live by your, you know, my friends growing up, I had, you know, three or four officers who were buddies, you know, firefighting, the lady at the block, one guy, Herrera, she was like, she was like my hero. She would bring the fire truck on our block. We're like, yeah, you know? And you know, so having those relationships with neighbors and friends and seeing them grow up and into these, you know, heroes for us, you know, that's a big deal. So, you know, trying to solve, trying to find a solution for housing in Santa Barbara, it's not just today's issue. It's been the issue for the last, you know, 50 years, you know? So, you know, you know, my parents were, you know, fortunate enough, worked hard enough to get a house on the Mesa back in 1967, the year I was born, and for $14,000, you know? It's just amazing. You can't do that now, you know, you can go to a house, you know, with $100 a month, you know, for a mortgage, you know? And so, you know, we're never going to see those days again, but there should be opportunities for people that work hard, that save their money to get into homes. And I'm willing to work with people and to figure things out to try to create something that we get more opportunities like our friend and getting into a condo at low income, getting into a condo or a house at middle income. And, you know, of course, the high end, they're doing okay, but we just need to make more opportunities for people like you and me. - Yeah. And let's, you touched on it a second ago. Let's just spend real quick on it, 'cause I want to move on to more issues. But I think when people here, oh, for or not against a rent cap, they think a business owner, they think, oh, rich guy, right? You know, and you kind of mentioned it a little bit, but what is your housing situation? You've rented, you've moved around, you're back on the West side, but you've lived in other places. Can you just walk us through your struggle as somebody who has grown up in this community and owns a business, but still has trouble, you know, with the housing situation? Could you just explain how that's been like for you? - Well, you know, it's funny 'cause one of my students, he comes in the morning, he has a very successful IT company. Right? And, you know, you can't get more successful than that, it's a multi-million dollar company, you know? You know, he hires, you know, I mean, he has, you know, three, 400 employees, you know? But the thing is, is that he still rents. Why is he renting it, you know? And because he says it's just hard to get into the market. It's hard to put that money aside because we're, you know, even as a business owner, you know, I've said this before, most small business owners, there's three levels. You're either breaking even, you're losing money, or you're making money, right? And that's just it's in thirds, you know? And I've been in all three categories. Had great years when I was young 'cause I used to work 60 hours a week, you know? And, you know, just killing my body myself, you know? And I did some very well. And, you know, now I wanna spend time with my family and be at my girls, you know, my daughter played volleyball last night, it was there at the game, you know? Cheering her on. And, you know, so the thing is, you know, we prioritized it and get older, but we still want the opportunity to live in Santa Barbara. And so it's an ongoing thing. I think, you know, I, you know, I was renting and suddenly about the two-bedroom one bath, you know, of course, as my family grew, you know, we needed to get a two-bedroom and, I mean, a three-bedroom, you know, and then a four-bedroom. So, you know, you move around because you're trying to, you know, hopefully move yourself up, you know, like George Jefferson used to say, moving on up, you know, you know? You wanna move yourself your family up 'cause you don't wanna stay down, you know? So, you know, you wanna enjoy some of the finer things in life and hopefully you can move into a bigger house and with more amenities. And that's what we've done over the years. And, but unfortunately, you know, when I thought I had an opportunity to buy, you know, that COVID kicks in and sell all my savings and, you know, and put myself in serious debt during that time. So I wouldn't lose the business that I've had for, you know, over, you know, over 30 years. So, yeah, and even the fact that I moved from State Street, I had my business was on State Street for the first 15 years, I moved here. I was, you know, I owned it for five years on State Street, but moving to the West Side was a huge challenge because when I was on State Street, I had over 150 members at that time when I moved this dojo. And when I reopened here four months later, I was down to 25 members and those people weren't coming to the West Side because at the time it was, you know, it was horrible, you know? Matter of fact, within the first two months, it was a shooting across the street, you know? And so the thing is, is that we, you know, it's a process. You know, now I live on, you know, I live on the West Side. I live right down the block from where I work, you know? I do my morning workouts here, you know, what I call it, me time, you know? Me time is important because, you know, all day, all I do is work with kids and try to, you know, build their confidence and their strength. I work with adults and helping them to, you know, de-stress and, you know, to really, you know, see themselves from a different light, you know? And so I'm always putting all my energy out to them and I just need to have that morning time where I can have, you know, me time and just work out, sweat, and then just go, "Okay, I'm ready for the day," you know? So, you know, I'm just glad to be back in this area. And again, where I live now is, you know, I'm still looking for a better place. I just needed to get into Santa Barbara because if you don't, you know, I have tons of friends. Like you said, that have moved away and they can't get back. I have a friend who lives in Vegas right now. He's been trying to get back for the last 10 years and he just can't, you know, figure it out. So, you know, getting back, I think, is the first step and then working from there to be the next. - Okay. So, real quickly, I want to ask you about the sales tax and state street. There's a half-cent sales tax proposal on the November ballot. The city says we need it to continue to play for public safety, public services, housing, library, a number of civic things. What's your take on the half-cent sales tax proposal? - Well, I think, first of all, you know, that in business, like I said, I just, you know, I dug myself in the hole by trying to maintain my business. But that's because it was closed. You know, I was almost closed for almost two years. So, at that point, you know, it's either shut it down, sell it, or do something, you know, and no one's going to buy because it was no business, you know? So, but I had to figure out a way, you know, it's something that I could still, you know, get myself in debt and figure it out to dig my way out of it. With the city, they don't do that. You know, they overspend, they underestimate. There's no, you know, accountability for as far as how their spending goes. There's no one really breaking it down to say, okay, that went way over budget, you know? So, the problem is it's fiscal responsibility with our local government. And, you know, you can't run a business that way, you know? I mean, I had to survive to, you know, keep my business, my livelihood, but it's, they're responsible for our tax dollars. And if they misuse them, if they overspend, that's not our fault, the citizens, you know, especially on the Westside, we have the lowest income area, right in this, in this, I would say within the smile of where my business is. You know, they're struggling as it is. I have people pulling their kids out because they can't afford the monthly here. I have kids that I've had to let slide two in three months with no membership fees, you know? And I don't ever share that with anybody, but I just don't charge them because I want the kids to still be involved. And I said, you know what, we'll figure it off. You know, it's in God's hands and we're gonna, you know, he'll take care of everything, you know? And I've always, you know, lived by that rule. So, you know, I just try to do what I can. But the thing is, is that they have to be responsible for the money they get. And they promise, you know, oh, we're gonna build this and do this, and this new program for the library, and this for the police and for the fire, but there's no guarantee, nothing's earmarked. It's gonna, the extra money that they raise is gonna go to the general fund. And then they can suspend that as well. So I'm saying no on the tax because it hurts the people that are most vulnerable. That's the low income people on the Westside that are walking to the store because they don't have gas for their car to be spending. So they'll walk up here with the little cards. You know, I'm fighting for the people that, you know, that are barely making it through, check paycheck to paycheck and adding another half a cent cats isn't the answer. I think, you know, looking at the priorities for the city. I mean, obviously they're not doing any street work or sidewalk work or any infrastructure work on the Westside. So it's not like, hey, we're overspending over here. It's wherever they're putting it. So we need to prioritize, you know, the Westside, I don't know if you know this, we don't have a public library. We don't have a place where kids can go together to work on their education, why not? You know, we're just as important as Eastside, we're just as important as downtown. So, you know, that's one of my, you know, go-to projects is to get, if it's not a permanent facility, we don't, to get that library event on the Westside, you know, three, four days a week and have a place for them to park. So people know, hey, that's a resource for us. Those are simple things that can be taken care of. And unfortunately, you know, our incumbent just doesn't see and prioritize what's important, you know, and the important is what can we do for the community now? How can we gather together as a community to make us stronger? And it's not going to happen one at a time, it's going to happen as gathered as one voice, being the squeaky wheel like, you know, I've said before, we have to be the squeaky wheel. Otherwise, we're not going to get the grease and the grease is, you know, getting money spent and contributed into this area, but it's going to take a voice, our leadership, it's not going to take sitting back, it's going to take, you know, combining with other organizations to, you know, to help out in the process because I know the city strap, but I know there's, you know, Santa Barbara has tons of nonprofits that I've worked with before. They have tons of philanthropists and Santa Barbara that are willing to give. They just don't know where to give sometimes, you know. If you, you know, the Ben Page Center that I've been president of since 2000, 2020, it's complete, a complete renovation. Why? Because things weren't done, I got them done. And then now when we ask for money for new things, the new projects are just, the people are willing to give it because they know things will get done. They know the thing, the money will be set aside for something else or paid, you know, used for another project. We use it for what we ask for it. And the results are, and I don't know if you've been out there, lately, it's beautiful. We just did the paving in front. We had more handicapped spots in the front and the side of the building. And now we have a new project in the back of the Ben Page Center, which will be a multi-use basketball courts with pickleball courts, you know? So, you know, something that the community can use, not just the Page members, but the community can use to really get out there, so. - Yeah, I coached my son there. We got a few basketball trophies, pre-pandemic. He's 19 now, so I had to play back before the renovation, I guess. - Yeah, yeah. Well, you gotta go take a look. You know, two years ago when my daughter was in eighth grade, they had an undefeated championship season there. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - That's great. - We did it in both ways. We went undefeated one year and lost in the championship. And that's coaching right there. That was all me. Then we had another season where we just got better and better and then we ran the table and won the championship. And that was more rewarding than the other. - Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. When you come from, you know, as an athlete, you know, you know, one thing is winning, but when you work hard and you can see that the changes and you can, you can measure them by, you know, wins and losses, it's great and it's so rewarding. Those kids will never forget that time, you know? So thank you for being a part of that because you gave those kids some, you know, some, I always call it, you know, some liquid fuel for later on in their lives, you know, because as they go, yeah, oh no, I've done that. I can do it now, you know? So, you know, that's the, the idea is with sports and with working with youth is that you show them away and then they use that and it's a valuable lesson they use throughout their life, you know? - Yeah, that's great. And I never had those teams where you had the number one, you know, I always had a team of guys in the middle and but it's often a better team, you know, 'cause there are no super, super stars on that team. Hey, I wanna talk to you and Karate and your story 'cause it's amazing, but real quick, downtown, traffic, State Street, would you like to open up a few blocks back to cars, electric bikes, you just wanna spend a couple minutes on your views on State Street and what the plan would be if you're elected a council, what you would wanna do? - Well, I definitely wanna make it more accessible. I don't know what the answer is right now, but I think, you know, I got a call just a couple of days ago from a very popular restaurant that's down on the 500 block, which that's the golden block, right? That's why I worked, you know, I worked out for 15 years on State Street, but you have to balance her as a bartender and, you know, just, you know, so that 500 block is the golden block but he recently told me just a couple of days ago, he said that, you know, business is down 40%, 40%, you know? So, and he contributes that to the bicycle list that they're just racing down the street and making it difficult, you know? They're, you know, they're, they, as they ride by, they're yelling and screaming at people, but he's had people throw stuff on plates, you know, not necessarily him, but I had other people told me that people ride by and they throw stuff onto people's foods and they're sitting there and eating, you know? So, and, you know, my daughter, you know, she was, she's, you know, last summer, she was still an electric bike rider, so she was down there and she said that the kids were, you know, they were videoing each other, bumping into people on, on State Street, it was kind of like a funny thing for them, you know? - Like a TikTok thing or something, yeah? - Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, so, you know, he's not, the businesses are talking to him, he's not really 100% about opening up to cars, but he, I did mention how about, you know, a bus or a trolley or, you know? And he totally was in agreement with that. He realized that, you know, obviously people need to have some access, you know, whether it's better parking on the side streets, you know? So, you don't always have to go to the parking lot, you know? You know, I don't necessarily, like if you go to downtown Ventura, you know, in front of their, you know, their city hall and stuff, you know, or their angle of parking, you know, like they kind of tried to do out in Galita. I'm not really in favor of that, but, you know, at least have, you know, we have good parking structures. They're just kind of far away, you know? But if we make more parking available, maybe a one-way lane, but I'm definitely, whether we open the street or not, I think that, you know, having accessibility or having a combination of things is important. You know, getting taxis down to lower stage street at 1.30 at night, two o'clock in the morning. I think it's really crucial just for drunken drivers, you know, so we don't have more because what happens if they're not accessible, people just will jump in their car, you know? So, I think that's an important, you know, if you're gonna let people in, maybe start with that, you know? 'Cause that helps out the entire community, you know? And also the bars too, 'cause their liabilities, you know, is involved too. So, I think, I definitely, you know, as a kid, I used to ride my bike up and down stage street, you know? And I used to hang out and we used to laugh and see who's going, who was there. So, you know, I know that all the guys that I grew up, the people that I talked to and I asked this question all the time, "Hey, it wasn't last time "you went down stage street." They're like, "Ah, dude, I haven't been down "for a long time." They go, "Why?" They go, "Oh, it's just crazy." You know, you can't, you know, worried about getting run over. It's dirty, you know, you gotta worry about transients coming and yelling at you, you know? So, I think there has to be something done that's better, patrolling, you know, that means put some money into more police to make sure that they can do their job, you know, making sure the city's doing. Their job is keeping things clean because, you know, if you drive up from the beach, from the, from the war and you go under the freeway and you come up to the 400 block of, of stage street, it's horrible. You know, it looks like you're going into Little Tijuana, you know, or, you know, some third world country. And, you know, it's like, why is that? This is Santa Barbara, California. This is, you know, we have two of the five richest communities in the state and yet, you know, it looks like it's run down, you know, we need to, you know, focus on making that, that, you know, the crown jewel of the South Coast and really cleaning it up and making it nice and that'll draw more business in because they'll look at it as a place that our visitors want to go. Right now, you know, you go up state and you turn right or left, you know, it's like, you just took them off the main drag, you know, so I think there's something that we can do that, you know, having bikes that bikers there. I mean, look, we, on the farmer's new farmer's market, what are we doing? We're shutting down the main vein from west side to east side of Santa Barbara, right? Aside from the freeway, Korea Street. They're shutting it down, but it's a great event, you know, people are out there, they're shopping, you know, I think that's great, you know, state streets are already closed. They couldn't use state streets, but they should shut off a main street, right? Well, then why not open up a main street and then shut it down when we need it to be shut down, you know, maybe every evening, you know, during Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, shut it down. So it's a nice promenade, people go there. They know that's where they're going to gather. And then the rest of the time, you know, when business is happening, when people are at work, that people do their business, you know? So I think it's going to be a combination of talking to, you know, community, I know some people say, oh, you know, it's 100% this way, it's not. My daughters, both two years apart, they had a school project to walk down state street and talk to the businesses and ask them how they felt about state street being closed. And in both cases, one was like 52%, one was like 53%, where the business are split right down the middle. Restaurants want it open, restaurants on some bar want it open, retail wants, I mean, wants it closed and restaurant, I mean, businesses, retail businesses want it open. And you get a combination. There's some in there that are mixed, but I think it's just a figuring out what's best. But, you know, we can do it without spending a lot of money. We can open it up, even for one way, one way traffic, I would say going up, you know, and then on the evening, shut it down so the promenauts can have their success, you know. So it's gonna be, it's tricky, you know, but, you know, we just need to start moving forward and just going with what's not working now. - Yeah, great. There's a lot of nuance I hear to your conversation and I think for a lot of people in the real world, that's how they think, you know, it's not one or the other or they want to figure out a way it makes it work. And I like the idea of staggered times, you know, like it's open these times, it's closed these times. That way everybody gets to enjoy it a little bit depending on the day of the week. The electric bike thing is real. I mean, there's, I mean, you, they own State Street, for sure. I'm not sure if that was the original intention. But I got about 15 minutes more, Tony. I want to talk to you about a karate and wrestling and, you know, you have your dojo and, you know, you even train your political opponent, you know, and a lot of people have been trained under you. How did you get into karate and wrestling and teaching? Can you just sort of walk me through how that started for you? - Well, I'll tell you what, I had a cousin who was, he was like, he was mini Bruce Lee. He was the Mexican Bruce Lee. This guy was like ripped and he would do like, "Ah, you know, and I was about maybe seven or eight." And he used to, he had a little eight millimeter camera and he would set up everybody in the neighborhood in uniforms and he would do these crazy fight scenes, you know, like the old Kung Fu theater type stuff, you know? And, you know, we would twirl the new chucks, the new chucks, right? They're called new chaco, we're back to new chucks. We would just twirl these things and try to get really good at them, you know? And so I grew up just a really avid fan of, you know, of Kung Fu, the series and Bruce Lee and everything that was going on. And every year, the phone book would come out, remember the phone books, right? - Oh. - And find martial arts and I'd go down and I'm, "Mom, can we join this?" And she would look at me, she's like, "I don't know if it's like I really know this." You know, so it's like, you know, "Where are you gonna get the money?" You know, we're gonna get the money, you know, you're the youngest of 12, we're not gonna spend something on you when we're trying to put food on our plates, you know? So every year, though, I did it. And every year I asked the question, I used to ride my bike around to all the dojo, you know, boards, martial arts on Haley Street, which is no longer there. James, I'm Delevina, which is no longer there, you know, Chris Weedman's, which is no longer there. But I used to go to all these places, you know, and ride around and go, "Man, I wish I could do it." And they would invite me in, but I said no, my mom said no. And so, so as a result, you know, but I always had it, you know, I was, what do you call it, "Enthusiast." So I was practicing kicks, punches, you know? And I got into wrestling. Luckily, my brothers were wrestlers. So my brother, my brother Dan was, he was an alternate in the 84 Olympics for wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling. That's all upper body throws, you know? And so, you know, I had an opportunity to, you know, to train with him, you know? And he ended up my junior senior year. He was my, he was the assistant coach at Santa Barbara High, where I wrestled. And I went from, I was my sophomore year with my first year wrestling. I went my second year wrestling. I went from nobody, a third place or a league, to ranked fourth in the state, you know? So it was like a incredible, you know, increase the ability just by having my brother there and helping out, you know? So, so that's where the wrestling came in. I ended wrestling in college at Humboldt State University. You know, I was a varsity letter winner there. And I was my freshman year. It was the only freshman to qualify to the, to place in the NCAA Western Regionals that year. And so I was, you know, it was something that I really enjoyed. And then as a result though, my, you know, having elderly parents at the time, 'cause being like I said, there's a huge gap. And I think my parents were in their middle 40s when they had me. So by the time I'm 20 years old, they were in their, you know, late 60s. And, you know, they're having issues. So I had to come home and, and that's when I started working to, you know, to, you know, pay the mortgage and my mom's house to be able to sustain, you know, cat food there and I worked two jobs. And, but I did join a cry school when I was 18. I said, I'm going to do that first, you know? So I joined the cry school that I own now. I was able to train after a year. I was national champ in my division, Greenbelt division. And, and then I just, from that point on, I just, you know, didn't stop. I was something that I enjoyed. I was, I was good at it, you know, kind of like this race. I always went into every fight thinking that I was going to lose. I always went in with that, with that fear, that, you know, that gut wrenching feeling that this guy's going to beat me. He's bigger than me. I mean, I'm only five, eight, you know, I should show you the picture. I, I used to train with the Iceman Chuck Liddell, you know? - Oh, yeah, yeah. - He was my workout partner and, you know, seven time world champion, you know, later on in life. But, you know, Chuck Liddell and, you know, another guy, these guys were like six foot three. And, you know, these are my training partners every day. And every day I said, I don't know how I do it, you know? And I see pictures and I go, I don't know what made me, you know, how crazy I was to get out there and fight with these guys every day, you know? But, - Were you able to take Fidell down? - Well, I tell you what, I should show you, I have a little trophy up there up on my, it's like I have all these national championships. I have, you know, Greece championships, you know, a finalist in South American championships. I have all these trophies, but this little trophy up on top is my prized possession. And people say why? And I said, well, Chuck Liddell has one just like it, except his says second place. (laughing) So, you know, so that's, that's my bragging rights. But, you know, he, he's a, you know, he's a good friend of mine. He's, you know, he's a, he's also a supporter of mine too. He's, he's given me his endorsement, you know? So, you know, so the thing is, is that-- - You need to get that guy on video if he's in the worst game. - No, and he, we're planning on doing that soon. So, the thing is, is that, you know, growing up, it was, you know, always these challenges, but I've always been, you know, you've rise up to it and, you know, I went to Greece in 1993, competed for my system, but the U.S. national team was there. And I didn't know anything about them. So I'm like, okay, so we went. And I won the championship and the heavyweight division, you know? And so the coach walks up and says, "Hey, who do you train with and where are you from?" And, and so he appointed me to the team and then I got to represent the U.S., you know, and then I got to represent the U.S. from '93 to '97, you know? And I'm different teams, you know? So it's kind of an honor for me to be put there because I'm not the type of person that would go out and do it. The reason I didn't get into UFC and to mix martial arts is because, you know, I don't mind the fighting part. I don't mind getting out and fighting. I'm ready for any type of fight, you know? Whether it's, you know, it's like what we're doing now, you know, fighting for the West Side, or it's in the ring, trying to, you know, trying to, you know, go up against somebody. I'm ready for a fight any time. But I'm not good at this, I'm not good at, you know, promoting myself, I'm not good at, you know, and say, look at me, look at me, you know? I've always been, you know, really, you know, behind the scene type of guy. Although, you know, you know, I like to talk to people and, you know, and hear their stories and stuff. But, you know, my whole purpose is, you know, to help improve other people's lives, you know? Odd, like you said, Oscar trained with me. His mom brought him to me when he was younger. And, you know, he was having some issues at school. And so, they were asking me to kind of help them with this confidence, you know? And I did, you know, and most of these kids, that's what it's about. They don't bring me their kids to become great fighters. They bring me their kids because they want more discipline. They want more self-esteem. So, they believe in themselves, you know? They want, you know, that confidence that only comes by you seeing improvement in yourself. And that's what I do, you know? That's been my lifelong, you know, you know, it's funny, we were kids. We played and we'd like play like, oh, no, there's a crash. And I would run up, okay, I'm the medic, I'm the medic. And I would go and, you know, my brother's like, why are you always the medic? I don't know, it's just what I like to do, you know? So, it's always been in my nature to be a helper, you know, to try to help people get, you know, move forward. And so, I take that into this race, you know? And I'm just, you know, but I've taken into my life, you know? As far as, you know, sports, you know, karate, you know, I just have to do the nonprofit that I run here too, or although it's been, you know, since COVID, it's been difficult to find teachers. But, you know, I normally have a dance school here. You know, I have a ballet, you know, we opened up ballet, I think in 2011, we had a ballet program here that's, you know, it's a very successful program. They moved out here eventually, but I continue to have a ballet program here. Flamingo dancing has been done here for years and years and years. Kathy Kota, who, you know, recently passed away, she, you know, she was one of their, you know, her dad was in the first fiestos, you know, over a hundred years, or a hundred years ago, and she had her program here with the little kids and stuff. And so we've always been, you know, an arts community, you know, like a community center. Matter of fact, when I bought the building, the owner of the building was gonna sell it to somebody else. And he gave me a discount and he gave me, he helped carry the paper because he thought, you know what? I like your ideas and the ideas is like to allow, to underserved people an opportunity to experience the arts. And that's what I've been doing. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's great. What has competing, discipline, training, you're one of 12 kids in your family, you know, I get the sense, very strong sense, you're gritty, you're tough, you're a survivor. Like you said, you're not made for show, you're made for go, you just wanna do. What has karate, 'cause we all don't have that kind of a intense, you know, a focus on it throughout life, this is your life. What has being a teacher, a trainer, a sensei, what has that taught you about life and how you approach it? - Well, I think the biggest lesson is that, you know, we all have issues, you know, we all have our problems. You know, right now I have a couple of clients that are dealing with autism, you know, and I bring a half hour into their day of that. They're like, I slide, their eyes light up, the parents, you know, are so excited to see them doing stuff physically, 'cause we work right side, left side, which helps their, you know, dexterity, you know, so, you know, someone with autism who maybe won't have the same opportunities you and I would have to parents that are just trying to be stressed, you know, trying to find the button that makes them successful. And everybody's different, you know, some people are audio learners, some people are visual learners, some people have to read it to understand it, you know, so learning how to read the situation has probably been a life lesson for me, you know, that I'm able to, you know, even my relationship with my life is better, you know, we've been together for, you know, for 28 years, you know, so it's like, you know, having that relationship, having that ability to communicate is so important, you know, and I think, you know, the kids that I have here, I put them through them, it's not just the training, but the highest level is leadership training. We want them to become leaders, we want them to be the followers, we want them to be the generation that goes out there and has strength, has confidence in themselves through the stuff that they've done, that they've, it's not 'cause I'm telling them they're good, they can see where they're at, you know, and anywhere they end up it's gonna be higher than where they started, so that itself is just an amazing tool to have in your box, you know, to be able to show people how they can be successful, you know, and I think that's really the number one lesson that I have is that, you know, if you work hard and if you're consistent, you know, and if you have the right attitude and everything here is done on a positive, you know, it's like, no, we don't say no, they're like, yeah, oh, yeah, you know, I'm very, if you should watch one of my classes and when I'm done, I'm dripping a sweat because I'm so animated with these guys 'cause I need to have their attention and then we go, you know, so. - Yeah, you know, you're, we're gonna wrap up here in a second, I'm gonna give you sort of the last word here, but, you know, you're going up against a big challenge, you know, you got the Democratic Party, which was walking for your opponent, you know, and there's a lot of effort to keep him on the council and, you know, you recently got the firefighters endorsement, which is a big, big deal 'cause you took it from the incumbent, you know, he had it before and that just really doesn't happen. What did that endorsement mean to you to be supported by the firefighters? - Well, I think that was a, it was actually a shock. You know, when I left the meeting, that meeting, I was actually told that I wasn't gonna get it. I thought they said, you know, we like everything you said, you know, we understand because they had never looked at it from my perspective from like, this is point of view, how do we find the money? You know, what do we cut? Where do we go from here? You know, what's promised to you and what's reality? I had actually looked into their history, you know, and finding out that every time they were in a negotiation year that, that, that year, the city happened to be on a negative in their budget. You know, so I'm like, hey, is that, is that my chance or is that by design, you know? So I kind of, you know, I, and I told them, you know, that nothing is, you know, guaranteed because it's not earmarked for them. So I think when they got, when they heard my point of view, when I got the call, I was so surprised and they're like, yeah, Tony, we, we fought about it a little bit and we came to the realization that, you know, you're the guy that's gonna fight for us. And, and again, go, it's always come back to fighting, you know, whether it's with these or with this, you know, I'm gonna fight for them and all my first responders, you know, and I have a couple of officers that are giving me their endorsement, you know, they're coming out this week, you know, I have some, a lot of important people in town, you know, that, that are, you know, key figures in Santa Barbara that are gonna be endorsing me because they believe in, you know, where I'm going with this. And, you know, my vision, vision is important. And that's the thing about being an entrepreneur. You have a vision and then you have, you have the tools to put everything in motion and get to that point to make it a reality. And that's one advantage I have or my opponent is that, you know, you know, he's, he lives with the mom, you know, and there's nothing against that. I live with my mom too, you know, but the thing is, is that at some point you have to, you know, create your own life, your own opportunities, you know, and I don't even think his mom's in agreement with some of his policies, you know, because she's a, you know, she's a property owner, right? So the thing is, is that we just gotta see, you know, do you want more of the same, which is nothing getting done? Or do you want someone that's gonna fight for the community and get things on the, on the, on the books and some changes made that are substantial? You know, you know, the crosswalks would probably be number one so they could get these kids to school and home on, on the safe, in a safe manner. So, yeah. - Yeah, okay. We got one minute left, Tony. It's been a great conversation. I think we've gone over a lot of stuff. Any final words, anything you wanna say before we sign off here about you or your candidacy? - Well, like I said, you know, it's been, it's been a really interesting ride, you know, running for offices was like I said, never, you know, grew up thinking I was gonna be a politician at all. But the thing is, I know how to get things done. And so I have a list, a bullet point list of things we need to do, you know, again, you know, being able to, to work on public safety, number one, making sure that people feel safe, you know, they're walking around downtown or even, you know, on the West side, you know, having the infrastructure, money for the West side, you know, we're spending $12 million on the underpass of the freeway. We're presenting at $8 million of earmarked for Milpa Street for a mile worth of business district for sidewalks and street. But yet, you know, in front of Food Land, probably the busiest sidewalk on the West side, the bricks were bad, the lady fell her knee. And what did they do? They replaced it with black asphalt on a red bricks sidewalk. It's like, that's the type of care we're getting. My job would be to fight that that never happens again. We're gonna get that fixed properly, you know, up to, up keep the, you know, what we do have. And this gets some new things put in, new infrastructure to make this a good living environment for everybody on the West side. We need to have a voice, we need to be this squeaky will. And I'm the person that's you to bring everybody together, you know, so nimos huntos, and we'll make a change, you know. - Okay, Tony Macera, thanks a lot for your time. And appreciate you talking to me way back in whatever was July, August, you know, when you were first like, okay, I guess I'll run, you know, and appreciate, you know, all your time, you know, giving me for to share with people your thoughts on this campaign. So thanks a lot. - Great, thank you so much. - All right, take care.