Santa Barbara City Council Slams George Buell and Welcomes the New Economic Czar
Jason Harris’s Debut Was Overshadowed by Very Angry Councilmembers and Landlords
Jason Harris may not be the second coming of Moses, but even if he were, it wouldn’t be enough. That much was clear from this week’s fraught Santa Barbara City Council meeting. Moses — we all know — famously parted the Red Sea. He had it considerably easier than Harris. Moses was merely leading his people out of bondage and into the Promised Land.
Harris’s challenge is to make State Street hum again.
He was hired amid much hewing and crying to be the city’s first economic development czar. Harris — who held a similar gig in Santa Monica for 10 years and one in Phoenix eight years before that — seemed a dream come true. But just days before his first day on the job, the COVID curtain fell and the lights went out all over the world.
