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The League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara County and the City of Carpinteria are so-sponsoring a Voter Education Forum on Tuesday, Aug. 2, to discuss the move to electing candidates by district instead of at large in the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria and the county’s school districts.
The forum, which was initiated by the City of Carpinteria, will be a 90-minute hybrid (Zoom and in-person) panel discussion at Carpinteria City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. It will also be livestreamed on the League’s Facebook page.
The mayors of Carpinteria, Goleta and Santa Barbara have confirmed their participation. Susan Salcido, the newly reelected Santa Barbara County superintendent of schools, will join them on the panel. Chris Carson, past president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, will moderate and discuss the California Voting Rights Act.
“The purpose of this engaging forum is to educate voters and describe the recent districting/redistricting processes that the cities and school districts have gone through, and what the impact will be on voters,” said Revae Moran, voter service director of the Santa Barbara League.
As an important part of the discussion, the panel will address the outcomes district elections sought to achieve, such as increased participation and diversity, as well as the concerns that have arisen, such as elected officials being too narrowly focused on their own districts.
“It is so exciting to create an opportunity to reflect on policy and its impacts as a community in this forum. All too often we track legislation but seldom have opportunities for discussion of their realities,” said Olivia Uribe Mutal, Carpinteria program manager.
The forum will be recorded by TVSB and simultaneous interpretation in Spanish will be provided. The video in English and Spanish will be available for later on the League’s website, lwvsantabarbara.org. The Zoom link is https://bit.ly/districtelectionpanel.
— Neil Hartstein
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