• After a weeks-long impeachment inquiry, House Democrats voted yes on impeachment, making Donald Trump the third president placed under such scrutiny. U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) voted with his colleagues to impeach the president, accusing him of abuse of power. The nearly party-line vote was 230-197, with two Democrats voting no and one voting “present.” No Republicans voted to impeach their leader. Independent Justin Amash, who was a Republican until July, voted in favor of the measure. The House voted in favor of a second charge, obstruction of Congress, which passed 229-198. Carbajal has supported the inquiry since August. “While none of us came to Congress to impeach a president, the evidence against Donald Trump has become abundantly clear,” Carbajal said in a statement. “The president used the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in our elections and threaten our national security, all for his own political benefit. Moreover, he directed his administration to defy congressional subpoenas to try to block our investigation into his wrongdoing. I voted to impeach because all of us who hold public office take an oath to defend the Constitution—the president has abused this responsibility, but I refuse to do the same.” Trump is the third president to ever be formally impeached by the U.S. House, joining Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Rep. Carbajal’s top Republican rival for the 2020 election, Andy Caldwell, took the opportunity to scold the local congressman. “Salud should be ashamed,” Caldwell said in a release. “This impeachment is nothing more than D.C. politics—all partisan, all the time. Meanwhile he does nothing to solve the issues we’re facing here on the Central Coast.”
• Elsa Granados, a candidate for the Assembly District 37 seat, announced two endorsements on Dec. 19. Those endorsements come from the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee and the Democratic Women of Santa Barbara. Granados, who serves as the executive director of Standing Together to End Sexual Assault, is part of a crowded field of Democrats running for the seat that Monique Limón currently holds. The field of candidates includes Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo, who was endorsed by California State Controller Betty Yee; Jason Dominguez, a former United Nations legal officer who prosecuted war crimes at the Hague; Stephen Blum, a professor of education law and community college trustee; Steve Bennett, a 20-year Veteran of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors; Jonathan Abboud, a Santa Barbara City College trustee; and lone Republican Charles Cole.
• The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments and Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) helped to secure $10.3 million for improvements to Highway 46. “I am pleased to see that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) took the concerns of our community seriously. Pulling critical funding from the Highway 46 project would have caused serious issues for our community and resulted in more lives lost along Blood Alley,” Cunningham said in a statement. “This project is a priority for our region, and this serves as a valuable lesson that the Central Coast can achieve great things when we work together as a community.” Cunningham’s office made the announcement in a Dec. 17 news release.
• U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced his support for the next fiscal year’s appropriations package via Facebook. Carbajal, who voted yes on the bills, pointed to a handful of provisions he said will help constituents. He said the package will include funding for local universities, $25 million for Centers for Disease Control research into gun violence, and $425 million to support state and local elections security. He also said there would be $1.6 million for Cachuma Project’s collection and storage of floodwater from the Santa Ynez River.
This article appears in Dec 26, 2019 – Jan 2, 2020.
