Three Debates. One Community. Local Media at Work.

Over three evenings this September, TV Santa Barbara turned its Salinas Street studios into a home for local civic conversation.

TVSB hosted and professionally produced three hour-long Santa Barbara City Council debates, bringing candidates together for substantive conversations about the issues shaping our community and making those conversations available to everyone.

It was a significant production effort, but also an important community service.

Each debate gave candidates something increasingly valuable in today’s media environment: time.

Time to explain a position. Time to answer a follow-up question. Time to respond directly to another candidate. And time for Santa Barbara residents to hear different perspectives and reach their own conclusions.

Three Districts. Three Conversations.

The debates brought together candidates seeking to represent Santa Barbara City Council Districts 4, 5 and 6.

Moderated by local journalists Josh Molina of Santa Barbara Talks and Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers with JR, the hour-long conversations explored city finances, housing and rent stabilization, State Street, public safety, wildfire preparedness, climate resilience and other issues that will help shape Santa Barbara’s future.

Rather than relying on short responses or tightly edited clips, the format included opening statements, moderator questions and candidate-to-candidate exchanges.

TV Santa Barbara provided the studio, professional production equipment, crew, recording and distribution as a community service.

Why Community Media Matters

For more than 50 years, TV Santa Barbara has created opportunities for people in our community to be heard.

That mission takes on particular importance during a local election.

The decisions made by our City Council affect the streets we travel, the neighborhoods we live in, the businesses we support and the services our community relies upon. Yet local elections don’t always receive the depth of media coverage their impact warrants.

Community media can help fill that space.

We can provide the professional facilities and production resources needed to bring people together. We can preserve important local conversations rather than allowing them to disappear after a single evening. And we can distribute them across television and digital platforms so residents can watch when and where it works for them.

More Than a Studio

These debates also demonstrate what TV Santa Barbara is becoming as we enter our next 50 years.

We are a place where media is created, but our role extends beyond cameras and studios.

TVSB is a community resource where local organizations, journalists, nonprofits, educators, residents and civic leaders can come together to share ideas and participate in conversations about the community we call home.

Sometimes that means teaching someone how to use a camera.

Sometimes it means helping a nonprofit tell its story.

And sometimes it means turning our entire studio over to a local election and giving candidates an uninterrupted hour to talk about Santa Barbara’s future.

All of it serves the same purpose: connecting our community through local voices and shared experiences.

The Conversation Continues

The three City Council debates are part of TV Santa Barbara’s broader 2026 election coverage, which has included long-form candidate interviews, the Santa Barbara Mayoral Debate and additional community election forums.

Together, these programs represent hours of locally produced civic media available to Santa Barbara residents on television and across TVSB’s digital platforms.

For us, that’s what community media looks like.

Local voices. Meaningful conversations. Accessible to everyone.

TV Santa Barbara | Powering Community Storytelling