Wendy Sims-Moten
Candidate for Mayor, Santa Barbara · Executive Director
Wendy Sims-Moten is the executive director of First 5 Santa Barbara County, a nonprofit focused on early-childhood programs. She previously served eight years on the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Trustees, including through the COVID-19 pandemic and a potential teachers' strike, and worked on efforts to raise test scores among underperforming students and to improve equity across the district. She left the school board at the end of 2024.
Positions in brief
Her campaign has centered on her leadership experience and personal values, and she has acknowledged not yet having a detailed command of every issue facing the city.
In interviews, Sims-Moten has framed her candidacy around professional experience in educational leadership rather than a detailed policy platform on specific city issues, saying she wants to bring a "fresh perspective" to City Hall.
On the issues
- Housing & Homelessness
Says the lack of housing and resulting overcrowding especially harms children, and the city eventually needs to reach some stabilization on rent.
“I think about how does this overcrowding, how does this lack of housing, how does it impact our children?”
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Warns against continuing to raise taxes and fees on residents.
“I think people get taxed out … You keep going back to the same well, it will run dry.”
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Opposes switching city elections to ranked-choice voting and prefers keeping primary elections.
“we don't create systems that eliminate the voter's choice”
Source →
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