Measure P -- a proposed $198 million general obligation bond for building construction, facilities upgrades and infrastructure repairs on the campus of Santa Barbara City College -- has emerged as the most vigorously debated local issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Two weeks before Election Day, Newsmakers on Tuesday convened a debate featuring four players active in the campaign conversation, to argue critical educational, financial, governance, and political questions at stake in the controversy:
Team Yes-on-P...
Lanny Ebenstein, professor of economics and president of the Santa Barbara Taxpayers Association;
Wade Cowper, political and corporate communications consultant, local boy and City College alum.
...squared off for a robust discussion with...
Team No-on-P
Marsha Croninger, attorney and the longest-serving member of the City College Board of Trustees;
Dale Francisco, software engineer and former Santa Barbara City Council member, also an SBCC alum.
In an in-depth and detailed discussion, the two sides provided conflicting views and perspectives on key issues in the bond measure conflict -- from the long-term cost to taxpayers and the long-term needs of the college, to the changing nature of SBCC's student body and the candor - or not - of claims made during the campaign.
A must view for those who have not yet voted, it's all here, right now, on Newsmakers TV.
JR
Check out the Great Debate over Measure P via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast is here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs Newsmakers seven days a week, at 8 p.m. M-F., and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9, broadcasts the show at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
Chart above, presented to SBCC board June 27,2024, shows projected tax bills for Measure P at the tax rate of $8.50 per $100,000 of assessed value. Measure P bills are blue and grey; tax bills for Measure V, the 2008 SBCC general obligation bond, are in light green.
(Source: Raymond James & Associates).
Read more of our coverage of Measure P:
Image: New York Public Library.