Jerry Roberts
By Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers
Entrepreneur James Joyce III, founder of the “Coffee with a Black Guy” anti-racism project, confirmed on Sunday that he is running for mayor of Santa Barbara — saying his appreciable communication skills position him to provide fresh and unifying leadership at City Hall.
“Absolutely,” he said in a Newsmakers interview. “I’m running to be the mayor of Santa Barbara, to help us move forward in a better fashion.”
“I’m all in,” he added.
Joyce plans a formal announcement of candidacy this week.
Born and raised in Maryland, the 40-year old candidate graduated from Ohio University in journalism, then worked as a newspaper reporter for seven years, before losing his job amid industry-wide cutbacks in 2009. Moving to California, he worked for a time as an aide to then-Assemblyman Das Williams and moved on to become the longtime district director for Hannah Beth Jackson, when she served in the state Senate.
In 2016 he founded the “Coffee with a Black Guy” program, which brings together people from all parts of the community in a safe space for direct and frank conversations about race and racism.
Collectively, these experiences have equipped him, James said, with the personal, professional and political prowess and capabilities to use the mayor’s office as a listening platform and bully pulpit to help craft practical solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
“It’s mostly about building community — that’s what I’ve done, both on the legislative side and on the entrepreneurial side,” he said. “I’ve got a track record of listening to folks, both as a journalist and as a public servant, listening to folks who are entrusting me with their stories and figuring out how to help them along the way. And I think these are very transferrable skills to helping to lead a city.”
“And so it’s really an opportunity to bring all the stakeholders to the table and really communicate about, ‘okay, what are the problems, what are the challenges and how can we work collectively to solve the problems,'” he added.
State of play. Joyce is the second major challenger to emerge against Mayor Cathy Murillo, who is seeking re-election. Longtime Planning Commissioner Deborah Schwartz announced her candidacy on Newsmakers several weeks ago.
Murillo four years ago won the key endorsement of the county Democratic Party, but Joyce is politically well-connected from eight years working for Hannah-Beth and for then-Assemblyman Das Williams before that, and said he intends to seek the party’s support.
Under the city’s system of district elections, the mayor is the only elected official who runs citywide; despite this, the charter requires the mayor to capture only a plurality – not a majority — vote, so whoever finishes first in the field is the winner.
Murillo won last time with just 27 percent of the vote, and conventional wisdom says that the more candidates in the race, the more she benefits, given her proven political base.
“The past few years here in Santa Barbara have been riddled with disaster after disaster, challenge after challenge and we’ve kind of lost our footing a bit,” he said. “And we’ve seen how that plays out on State Street, in other elements of the business community, as well as in other social aspects.”
“We’ve got a great city. we’ve got a lot of great assets here in town,” he said. “We just need to line them up, connect the dots and start steering in the direction that can make us shine, to be the city we really are.”
Some key excerpts from the wide-ranging interview.
On growing up in Westminster, Maryland. “It’s a predominately white community, relatively conservative. During the time I grew up, my high school was riddled with a large heroin issue so there were a lot of my friends who either got hooked on that, OD’ed, different things like that…
“I wouldn’t say it was a tough upbringing, it was a fairly open and accepting community, It was a more agricultural community and so it may surprise folks to know that as a child I was a member of the 4H Club and I even was a director at 4H camp. So growing up in a rural environment, predominately white, it gave me a certain perspective and that’s what informs the work I’ve done and that has allowed me throughout my career to kind of be a conduit, a cultural conduit.
On running for mayor. “It’s going to be very difficult for me to enter a race for mayor and have race not be part of the conversation. Not because I bring it up, but because that’s the society that we live in. And the fact that…representation matters and (the late) Babatunde (Folalyemi) was the first African American city councilman and there haven’t been any since. So that is part of it.
There’s something very universal about the experience of Black Americans. We can look at all the advances that have been made in our country because of Black Americans – we got rid of slavery, a systemic institution because of the plight of Black Americans, civil rights became an issue where everybody’s rights were enhanced, because it started with a Black issue. Without making (the campaign) a Black issue, there’s something about that is transferrable and instructive for how we move forward into the future.
On providing leadership. “The powers (of the mayor) as they exist provide a bully pulpit to provide that vision and leadership that the city so desperately needs. It’s an issue of representation and when folks see something that they’re not used to, seeing it creates curiosity and excitement and how do we leverage that as something that can be useful for our city as a whole?
“We’ve had disaster after disaster — we need something to be excited about. We need something to energize us, and I think my candidacy is an opportunity, it is a vehicle and more….The more inclusive you make folks feel into this thing, the better this thing works for me.
“Everybody I’ve talked to is either excited about the candidacy or ‘can I vote now?’ There’s an energy to that. I’ve recognized, and members of the community have recognized, that I’ve accumulated a skill set that can be useful. Members of the community have come to me and said ‘we would like to see that skill set at a larger level.’ I thought about it, I reaaally considered it and I’m all in.”
On seeking the Democratic Party endorsement. “I’ve been in communication with party leadership about that endorsement process…and yes that’s something I’ll be pursuing. It’s an organization that has their ears open, just as other members of the community do about what I can bring and how that might align best with their interests and concerns.
“I definitely have Democratic principles however, I think that label can often be divisive. We have people in our community who won’t talk because of that label and so if there’s a way I can help navigate that, help improve those relationships, that will be better for our whole community. Because the superficial things that divide us are really inconsequential when we’re really looking at issues in trying to make us a city that really shines like we should.”
On working in journalism. “The way I looked at being a journalist is, you’re parachuting into this city and you’re having to learn about the good, bad and ugly right there as you hit the ground, And as I moved up in the journalism career, you move from market to market and so, each time I would go to a new community, how do I get acclimated and rooted into the values of this community, how do I know what stories this community wants to read and wants to know about? That’s a universal skill, particularly in working in public service.
“The gold star skill from journalism is having to recreate your core product every day.. When I go in in the morning, I either have to have my own idea or listen to what the editors say is the story of the day, I may or may not know about that thing so I have to get smart on it, do the research, talk to people, interview, gather all the information, go have lunch, come back and synthesize all of that information in an article that’s written at an eighth grade reading level and is engaging and is 100 percent accurate. I think when you have standards like that, day after day, it starts to kind of sharpen your skills a little bit and you start to be able to funnel out all the inconsequential things and focus on the things that matter. That’s a skill that’s extremely valuable as you move into public service.”
On being a Black reporter covering a white community. “That was the unwritten burden. My first job in Marian, Indiana, before I had my name published on a byline, I was in an article because myself and another African American reporter were hired at the same time. Before we even got to go through orientation the first day, we became a story. Why? Because the other reporter faced housing discrimination – she was trying to get a house for her family and the landlord said he wouldn’t rent to a black person and so that became a story .
“And so the burden of race has always been on my shoulders – that air of representation. When I went to the Ventura County Star as an intern in my last year of college, one of my assignments was to reach out to the local NAACP chapter and find out some information about what we should be covering – because they had nobody to reach out to that community to make those connections. So that was a large part of the work as a journalist.”
On founding Coffee with a Black Guy in 2016, following the widely-publicized killings of several Black men by white police officers. “There was such a reluctance, and somewhat of a complacency, to not have to address those issues here in our community. So I’m walking down State Street, I’m walking around and I see folks in my community actively not making eye contact because, I can only assume why.
On Mayor Cathy Murillo being called out at SB’s Black Lives Matter/Healing Justice protest. “There were some missteps made by the mayor in that incident, tapping into what I saw as a little bit of cultural incompetence, not really knowing the tune of what this thing really is locally and how that fits into the larger national picture. I think there were potential missteps there…
“I had nothing to do with the organization of (the demonstration). That was all Krystle (Farmer) and Simone (Akila) and the folks they surrounded themselves with. I was just there as a supportive community member and then they offered me an opportunity to speak because I had been working with an organization down in Ventura County, which actually had been working with a cousin of George Floyd.”
On the council’s efforts to meet the BLM demand for more civilian oversight of SB policing. “On the front of this process, it would have smart (to) male sure you put some money behind marketing it and making sure that there are individuals in the community that know this is an opportunity. There were a lot of folks who felt left out…
“Moving forward into the citizens review committee is a collaborative effort. Making sure that the folks who had hurt feelings throughout that process feel welcome to the conversation. And again that early, front-end outreach – the more outreach you do the more diverse applicants you’re likely to get. How does the community, short of council meetings, really get to engage and have their voices heard?”
“Do I have a totally cooked idea on what we need to do to try to solve the problem? Absolutely not. But I can guarantee you one thing – all the elements that we need to solve that problem are right here in Santa Barbara.”
If I were Mayor of SB, ya know who my city-council would be?…
This comment board!.
You seem to be the only transparent group of citizens who have followed our many vicissitudes with any type of dialog..even when in disagreement.
Sign of a good politician, try to offend as few people as possible.
Maryland is a state, not a city.
Doesn’t our little plurality contest call out for Ranked Choice Voting? Where you get to rank your choices and if your #1 doesn’t win they give your vote to your #2? That way the person with the most and highest ranked votes wins. Quite a few cities have adopted it. None of these narrow split vote victories.
https://www.fairvote.org/where_is_ranked_choice_voting_used
First of all-Has the Great Black Hope ever taken part in any aspect of the city’s political spectrum? Has he attended City Council and Board meetings? What experience sdoes he have in running anything.
Is there any good reason to press race as an issue in our local politics? Does our police force use tactics that are racially biased. We have very few black peopel living here and a large Hispanic/Mexican population. I have lived here 52 years and am convinced that our mayor, city council and police force is as far from racist as any can be.
There is nothing that this guy or any other person who sits in the mayor’s chair or on the council can do about the high cost of housing here. It is as result of market pressures. People who can afford to live here ciontinue to move here, many leaving large cities in Southern California. Look at the median price of homes here and in Montecito. They have gone up, up and away. Housing prices in the USA are up over 300% (much more here) in the last 40 years while real wages are up about 16%. How does he propse to fix this problem? How long has he lived in Santa Basrbara and where does he live? If you cannot afford to live her or anywhere else, you must move.
Do we reaslly need a super liberal mayor? Cathy has been mayor through the worst internal crisis in our country in the last 100 years and she has done as well as any elected official with the chalanges of the Pandemic. The worst is still ahead of us?
To Mr. Joyce I say-You got any specific ideas to help our city, then put your cards on the table. Political smooth talk is worthless. And-Leave racial turmoil out of our election. We do fine without it. The fact that so many of our dark people are lower paid workers and cannot afford to live here is not a racial issue-it is an economic issue. Thousands have had little or no schooling and have no skills. They only qualify forlower paying menial labor jobs. This is not a racial issue! It is an issue of a lack of education!
Oops, sounds like you could benefit from a coffee meeting with this guy
Yes, I am an older than old white guy. I am concerened about the constant injection of race into our politics at a drumbeat. The violence that came about through BLM demonstrations, alongh with criminal activity, though they might not be attributed to many in the demonstrations, they will continue to move many in the white an dnon black population to the right and into the arms of Trump or Trumpism. You cannot ignore the fact that 58% of all whites and 75 million Americans voted for Trump. Democrats won by a narrow margin and the Republican party is not eager to dump Trump with his 75 million followers. Race is not a factor in local politics and it should stay that way.
It feels like he is missing steps that he should take before running for Mayor… young and inexperienced, not from SB or here all that long respectively, being a business owner is great but his resume doesn’t seem to fit. Agree that he should run for City Council and show is who he is. It feels like he is aiming for the BLM vote, and while I agree that BLM is important, it’s not a viable platform here like in so many other areas. Marilla is a joke but I don’t think demanding her to kneel was acceptable.
Am happy to give him a fair hearing, but get nervous when I hear nebulous phrases like this: “… “cultural conduit,” he told us that he would use his “skill set” as a facilitator and consensus builder…”
Just what exactly is a ‘cultural conduit,’ ‘facilitator,’ and ‘consensus builder’?
Please define and give real world examples. I do wish you good luck.
Interesting you say race is not a factor when you immediately refer to the candidate as the “Great Black Hope”. You then attack him for lack of political experience despite him having more actual experience than your boy Trump did when he ran. I suspect you don’t see race as a factor here because you’re unable to, for whatever reason, accept that people who are different than you have different experiences than you. Also, your claim that people are flocking to Trump doesn’t hold water in a county where he won a smaller % than he did the previous election and that % is under 33%.
‘cultural conduit’ = One with the ability to “move the needle in order facilitate a paradigm shift”
‘facilitator’ = One capable of “taking it to the next level and maximize results”
‘consensus builder’ = One who is able to “incentivize people to buy-in to synergistic change”
The political equivalent of psychobabble. I’m rolling in the aisle!
Finally! A quality candidate with a real shot of beating lackluster Murillo. He has my vote and here’s hoping others feel the same and the split difference doesn’t go to Cathy.
Um i must have missed the section discussing his actual experience in “leadership” roles – clearly he has an ego that believes he can become mayor of a city he moved to a from the east coast a decade ago, and oust the first Latina mayor. Will he and Schwartz split the votes of the bitter, pro-developer freebies, anti-Cathy factions who will blather endlessly about “leadership” while offering little substance?
I am willing to give him a chance…new ideas..
For all of you that distrust people from the east coast…
Former Mayor, Helene Schneider, was from New York…served 2 terms here…
Yes, she did pay her dues by working her way up in the community…
We need leadership…be open minded.
Great, qualifications are
1) came from Maryland……a POS city that is in ruins and led by corrupt politicians
2). worked for Das Williams….need anyone say more.
Coffee with a Black Guy…talk about identity politics – UGH!
He’s fluent in modern politics, which made 95% of this interview vague platitudes. I like his emphasis on listening and unity as an alternative to ego-based leadership. Yet the fact that someone who got here 10 years ago thinks they can be mayor shows plenty of ego and unrealistic expectations beneath the surface.
Santa Barbara needs someone experienced with business and housing. Problems in these issue areas threaten to irreparably damage the city and businesses/tenants and small landlords are both suffering. We’ve had enough political machine hacks who think they can magically bring people together to talk about solving problems without taking concrete action. SB has had years of that already. Time for some expertise and work.
I agree, race is no longer a factor in our truly colorblind society because studies show that all races/ethnicities/genders have equal representation in community housing, higher education, average salaries, political positions, CEO positions, and total wealth. Not. Eyeroll.
Weren’t you not too long ago railing against people running for office who had no connection or understanding of office? This guy didn’t say anything of any note (let alone tangible) in this article. I’m all for getting rid of Murillo… but what’s this guy bringing to the table again? And to be honest… one of the only things Murillo did that impressed me was to not kneel to the mob that demanded she take a knee. Caving to a mob is a never the answer…
Oh this is great news! James is super qualified. During the Thomas disasters, he was our go-to guy for information, and he knew what everyone was supposed to be doing: feds, state, cities, county, etc. A far better response than above-my-paygrade Cathy who insisted on being inaugurated the morning the 1/9 debris flow hit (super insensitive), and has been AWOL in the pandemic. James is articulate, savvy, knows how to pull the levers of government, and can work across any and all lines. As for identity politics, Cathy doesn’t speak Spanish and drapes herself in Latina status. Ask Latinos around here – we never saw her be active in the Latino community before she decided to run for City Council, and then all of a sudden she’s a Latina. Nice branding, but fake. I’d much rather have a man of integrity and action like James than a pretender like her. Admit it, she blew the Black Lives Matter moment, and it was her shining star opportunity to be the social justice warrior she’s been pretending to be. She behaved that day like a racist white woman. Shameful. You may think, what does that matter here? There’s hardly a big black community here. It goes to the question of representation. Are you a mayor for all the people? Cathy sure hasn’t been. The attempt to sell out to developers is seen for what it is – pandering. Let’s get some real talent in here that can really move the needle on the implosion of State St, the pandemic, and homelessness. Go James!
A candidate who has been working towards UNITY and COMMUNITY ! How refreshing 🙂 “I am looking for what unites me with people…. and NOT what divides me from them”. 🙂
sounds like a staffer or a wanta be future staffer
Cathy is a nightmare but JJ doesn’t seem very qualified either. Hoping for someone with more experience and local ties will step up to represent the city as a whole.