By Leo Martinez April 1, 2015 Well, it’s finally over and in record time. District elections are now in place in Santa Barbara. Now the real work begins for the new districts and new councilmembers in tending to the business of making each neighborhood a better place for all. There are the pundits who say it is better to govern these [ More... ]
By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk News Editor | @magnoli | Published on 03.29.2015 After lengthy deliberations over how to divide city, council to pick final map Monday as required by settlement of California Voting Rights Act lawsuit Barry Cappello, lawyer for the plaintiffs in a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit against the City of Santa Barbara, leads City Council members [ More... ]
By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk News Editor | @magnoli | Published on 02.28.2015 12:26 p.m. Lawsuit settlement requires six separate City Council districts, two of which must have a majority of Latino eligible voters Now that the City of Santa Barbara has settled a lawsuit and agreed to start using district elections beginning in November, the City Council wants input on [ More... ]
Santa Barbara City Council members unanimously voted in closed session Tuesday afternoon to approve the partial settlement of a lawsuit that alleged the city was violating the California Voting Rights Act by holding at-large City Council elections.
The City of Santa Barbara agreed this last week to fundamentally change the way is holds elections. The city will now conduct “by-district” elections after settling a lawsuit that claimed the city was violating the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) by holding “at-large” elections. (Banales, et al. v. City of Santa Barbara. County of Santa Barbara, Case No. 1468167, July [ More... ]
Court Schedules April Trial for Santa Barbara District Elections Case By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk News Editor | @magnoli 01.28.2015 The question of whether Santa Barbara has violated the California Voting Rights Act by holding at-large City Council elections is scheduled to be heard by a Superior Court judge in April. Judge Donna Geck set an April 6 trial date [ More... ]
After months of discussion and failed promises by the Santa Barbara City Council to review/reform the current election system, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Santa Barbara demanding that district-based elections replace the current at-large voting system so that Latino voters would be properly represented on the city council. The lawsuit was filed by A. Barry Cappello on [ More... ]
By Jean Merl Los Angeles Times, July 29, 2014 Santa Barbara on Tuesday joined the ranks of California cities to be sued over their method of electing public officials. Five Spanish-surnamed registered voters in the city of more than 88,000 filed suit in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, claiming the city is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. [ More... ]
Santa Barbara, Calif.—After months of discussion and failed promises by the Santa Barbara City Council to review/reform the current election system, a lawsuit was filed today against the City of Santa Barbara demanding that district-based elections replace the current at-large voting system so that Latino voters would be properly represented on the city council. The lawsuit was filed by A. [ More... ]
