Nick Welsh
This story was originally published by the and is reproduced here in partnership with Edhat.
By Nick Welsh of The Independent
Rob Dayton, City Hall’s go-to guy in terms of transportation planning, traffic, electric bikes, parking, and increasingly the revitalization of State Street in times of the pandemic, has been out on paid administrative leave for the past two and a half months after filing a complaint about inquiries made by three members of the Santa Barbara City Council regarding his involvement in Believer’s Edge, an all-male Christian ministry he started.
Among the missions articulated on the Believer’s Edge home page is a stated interest in influencing the culture of Santa Barbara in a myriad of ways. “Believer’s Edge is a movement of men who are being activated into their calling and destiny within the marketplace community,” it reads. “We believe that each of us have a God-given assignment to influence the culture of Government, Business, Arts, Media, and Education within our own community.”
Dayton has made no secret of seeking a position of leadership in determining the future direction of State Street. In his complaint, he reportedly expressed concern that he has not been considered for such a position because of his religious views and involvement with Believer’s Edge.
These allegations have been the subject of an ongoing investigation within City Hall; because of the legal and political sensitivities involved, no one is willing to say anything on the record. Off the record, Dayton’s religious beliefs have long been well known throughout City Hall, and the position Dayton was reportedly seeking did not actually exist.
He had, however, applied for the job of community development director after George Buell resigned under pressure last year, but did not get the gig.
Dayton has long been one of City Hall’s most enthusiastic and creative proponents of change, especially on matters relating to alternative transportation. He was a major player in the post-pandemic redesign of State Street.
Within City Hall, Dayton’s high-profile posture within the community has rubbed some the wrong way, especially within the historical preservationist community and some members of the Historic Landmarks Commission. With the new 15-member State Street subcommittee just having been formed, Dayton’s absence will be acutely felt.
SBobserver – What other religions would you preclude from being employable in the public sector or do you refuse to take seriously?
Your irrelevant comments don’t become relevant by repeating them, Randy.
Religious people, dogmatic people, and cultists are all around and amongst us. They obtain positions of power and work to shape society the way they’d like to see it. Beware. The question is, did he do anything unethical or illegal? What were the city council members specific concerns? Was he any good at his job, and how did his religious views manifest in the workplace? Were the council members out of line, or just doing reasonable due diligence? Alas, we may never know, because it will all be considered a confidential personnel matter.
The group is similar to Isis.
I like Rob Dayton and have had only positive dealings with him. That said, after reading about this Believer’s Edge group, I would no longer want him making decisions for the city. As a woman, I would find it hard to interact with him without thinking in the back of my mind that he wants his guys to influence decisions and my opinion is worthless. Leave the church stuff at the church door. Or outside the work place. In your private life, do what you want but do not cross the line and bring that nonsense into the office.
I am no friend of organized religion (nor of dogma generally), but the First Amendment (together with the 14th Amendment which extends those rights to state governments) guarantees the right to freedom of religious expression as well as freedom of association. Joining the government and then writing theocratic laws is a violation of the separation of church and state, but members of a religious organization pledging to be activists in their community in line with their dogma is not only not a violation of the separation of church and state, it is protected by it, and plenty of other such organizations exist. I personally find an all-male Christian ministry rather creepy, but my personal opinion isn’t legally relevant and neither is anyone else’s. (Don’t expect me to agree with Randy Parks on anything else ever.)
Nothing worse than an evangelical. By far the worst people on earth. Arrogant, ignorant and astoundingly stupid…
Well, I looked at the most recent video on their site. Seems pretty innocuous, really, standard Christian mens’ group stuff. Not my cup of tea, but not subversive. What I found a little odd was their holding the movie Braveheart as a model of their purpose and intention. And they have the sword from the movie. Okay, bunch of medieval Scots fighting for independence from the Brits–that’s your model for how to be Christians in the 21st century? Seems a little juvenile. Unless I’m missing something, I don’t see anything added to that site in several years. The videos aren’t dated, but there’s no mention of Covid, and the most recent comments are from 2018 (so many happy birthdays). Are they even still meeting? I don’t know, looks like a tempest in a teapot.