Jason Dominguez
Candidate for City Council Member, Santa Barbara, District 4 · Judge/Law Professor
Jason Dominguez is an attorney who previously served as a Santa Barbara city councilmember from 2015 to 2019, chairing the finance committee and working to cut spending and balance the budget. He has taught law at the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, worked as a criminal prosecutor and a Legal Aid attorney, served as a legal officer for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal, and serves as a tribal judge for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. He narrowly lost his 2019 re-election bid by eight votes.
Positions in brief
He has said he wants to focus on public safety, wildfire protection, and bike safety, and has proposed ranked-choice voting to reduce district-focused politics; he has also said he is skeptical of rent control.
In interviews, Dominguez has criticized the city's severance-package practices and said that as finance committee chair he cut wasteful spending and balanced the budget. He has proposed ranked-choice voting as a way to make councilmembers more focused on citywide interests than narrow district politics, and has expressed skepticism toward rent control while acknowledging it benefits current tenants.
On the issues
- Housing & Homelessness
Opposes the city's proposed rent stabilization ordinance, saying rent control hasn't worked well elsewhere, and would rather use direct subsidies or vouchers to help renters.
“I don't think it's worked in many places”
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Supports switching city elections to ranked-choice voting.
“Ranked-choice voting would definitely be a priority”
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Wants city departments to find budget savings and opposes heavy spending on outside consultants and severance packages for department heads.
“departments really reexamine their budgets and come up with 10 percent savings”
Source → - Public Safety & Policing
Wants stricter enforcement against dangerous e-bike riding in crowded areas like State Street.
“Riding an e-bike in a crowded area doing a wheelie is a nuisance. It's a crime.”
Source → - Infrastructure & Transportation
Proposes reopening State Street to vehicle traffic on a part-time basis.
“one week a month where it's open to cars”
Source → - Environment, Energy & Climate
Names wildfire protection as one of his top priorities if elected.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.