Councilmember Shut Up During Budget Debate
Mayor Murillo Called ‘Petty Tyrant’ After Shutting Down Councilmember Dominguez
Anna Marie Gott — one of the City Council’s most pugnacious critics — was escorted out of council chambers by Sergeant James Ella on Tuesday after repeatedly shouting, “Cathy, you are a petty tyrant!” at Mayor Cathy Murillo. The council met to vote on adoption of the budget for fiscal year 2020, but before the vote, Murillo called a recess rather than allow Councilmember Jason Dominguez to speak a second time on the budget — an unprecedented move on Murillo’s part that sparked outrage from Dominguez and prompted Gott’s yelling.
“I ask everyone to re-watch today’s council
meeting, it can be found on the city website,” Dominguez said in an interview outside
the chamber. “The video shows an escalation of Mayor Murillo’s pattern of
stifling dissent. I was elected to stand up for the residents of Santa Barbara,
and I am beholden to the voters, not to City Hall’s special interests. I’m
pushing for policies that support everyday residents, we will not be silenced.”
(Note: the video posted online silences the part of the meeting at which Gott
shouts at Murillo.)
Following the recess, the budget was approved
6-1 with Dominguez the only councilmember in dissent. He said he couldn’t vote
yes on the budget because “we’re not doing enough for homelessness and
community development.” He mentioned a campaign in Ventura that discourages
giving money to panhandlers and said Santa Barbara should consider the same
before spending general fund dollars on homelessness. Councilmember Randy Rowse
told him he was aware of three similar programs attempted in Santa Barbara that
failed. It was when Dominguez attempted to respond to Rowse that Murillo shut
the meeting down.
