S.B. City Council District 6 Candidate Forum

Join the Santa Barbara Independent for a forum on Monday, September 21 at 5:30pm with the candidates running for the District 6 seat for Santa Barbara City Council. This forum will be held at the Lobero Theatre Courtyard Patio. 

We host these forums each election season to help our readers get to know all the candidates better. This discussion will be moderated by news reporter Ryan P. Cruz, and will include the candidates Anabella Lehne, Alexander Stoeber, Gabe Escobedo, and Jason Carlton.

Please reserve your space with our free tickets. We are collecting questions for candidates before the forum, please enter yours at this link here.

Live translation services will be available at the forum. This forum will be livestreamed to our Youtube Channel and will be recorded and posted to our website for anyone who is unable to attend the forum in person.

Meet Your Candidates for District 6:

Jason Carlton -

Jason Carlton is a married business owner with one child and is a 30-year resident. Santa Barbara needs his skill set. Working the trades has given him insight into proper infrastructure management.  We need a balanced budget not endless construction projects.  Elect Jason and we'll build a better Santa Barbara.

 

Alexander Stoeber -

 

Alexander Stoeber is a small-business owner, UCSB political science graduate, and renter who experienced childhood homelessness. He is endorsed by the Police Officers Association and Chamber of Commerce. His priorities are homes people can afford, a thriving downtown, and dependable public safety.

 

Gabe Escobedo -

Gabe Escobedo is running for Santa Barbara City Council to make the city more affordable, responsive, and vibrant. His campaign is focused on housing local workers can afford, supporting small businesses, improving city services, strengthening downtown, protecting neighborhood character, and making City Hall work better for all Santa Barbara residents.

 

Anabella Lehne -

Anabella Lehne is a lifelong Santa Barbara resident, daughter of immigrants, UCSB graduate, and full-time Loan Signing Agent working with escrow offices at major title companies throughout Santa Barbara and nationwide. With 25 years of experience in finance, her professional background also spans Social Services, education, legal studies, and small-business ownership. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Anabella attended local schools before earning a double major in Law & Society and Spanish from UC Santa Barbara. She later attended law school for two years, stepping away to become a full-time caregiver for her father while he battled stage-four lymphoma.

Anabella worked for Santa Barbara County Social Services and spent five years as a classroom teacher. During her years in education, she also used her professional certifications to provide free courses to the community. She taught children age-appropriate empowerment and personal-safety skills designed to help protect them from abuse, while also educating adults on child-abuse awareness and prevention. Her community courses also included personal development and helping undocumented individuals and families organize important documents in preparation for the possibility of deportation.

Her commitment to Santa Barbara has extended beyond her professional work. Anabella has organized community events bringing families, children, and their pets together. She has volunteered with Star King Parent-Child Workshop, served as team manager for the Santa Barbara Royals varsity hockey team at Ice in Paradise, and recently became a member of Santa Barbara–Puerto Vallarta Sister Cities. Today, Anabella is a small-business owner and works full-time as a Loan Signing Agent, facilitating real estate loan transactions with escrow professionals locally and nationwide. Her work builds on 25 years of experience in finance and has given her firsthand exposure to the financial and housing transactions that affect homeowners, buyers, sellers, tenants, and families throughout the community.

As the daughter of hardworking immigrants, Anabella grew up understanding the value of hard work, opportunity, responsibility, and giving back. Santa Barbara is the community that educated her, shaped her career, and gave her family opportunities to build a life here. Anabella is running for District 6 with a focus on fiscal responsibility and transparency, housing and affordability, public safety, and economic vitality. For her, serving on City Council is not a stepping stone to another political office. It is an opportunity to continue giving back to the community she has always called home and to bring her professional experience, community involvement, and independent perspective to City Hall.