Snapshot: Bob Hansen
Age: 56
Occupation: Unemployed
Background: Homeless advocate, teacher

LD: Why do you want to be on the City Council?

BH: I would like to be a voice for the people that are unhoused in Santa Barbara. Help people that have been badmouthed by the people in the press. It’s disgrace what’s happening in our country. … Let’s try to help these people.

Some examples, the work wall on Yananoli Street, we should have like they have in Malibu, an office when a person comes back after they’ve had someone work.

… Most shelters turn out to be minimum-security programs. Basically why would I would like to be on City Council is to represent those people … really try to be an example in the nation.

LD: How many homeless do you think there are in Santa Barbara?

BH: Way over what we really think. My guess would probably be 5,000 around. The visible ones would probably be about 1,000.

Now that rents are going up, people can’t even afford, making $8 an hour, either doubling up and barely making it that way. Some people are living out of a car. What’s going to be the end result? … There are so many big houses in Santa Barbara that could house more people. We should try to come up with other ideas. Shared housing. Having places where people can stay. The shelter is only open Dec. 1 – April 1. It doesn’t have lockers …just the size you would see when you were going to high school. They don’t have washers and dryers to wash your clothes … we really need to get the homeless involved. They should be helping at the shelter but they don’t do that.

Over at the Fellowship Club there are a lot of people helping each other. Still this whole thing we need to do it nationally. Like Earth Day started here in Santa Barbara. We need to be an example like Earth Day.

… Things have gotten better but things have gotten worse too. … Really homeless people don’t have any rights. (When ) you step into a shelter, your rights are really gone.

LD: Other than the homeless, what issues would be your priorities if elected?

BH: … The restrooms downtown. In San Francisco they have coin-operated restrooms, self-washing restrooms, looks nice right on the street. Why can’t we have those?

Another thing is if you don’t have a restroom people have to go into a restaurant. In the night scene on lower State Street there are lines, people urinating in parking lots in stairwells, around the corners. The courts make a big joke about it. They do bring in some Porta-potties on Friday and Saturday nights but there are no signs like there are in other communities.

LD: What about your views on spending?

BH: I think right now our tourist trade is booming. There should be more for the people here…We need to think out of the box and come up with ideas. They talk about having the Internet, people could check in with each other to do car pools. Do rideshare. Anything and everything. The city has money to do that. That could be toward the community, not toward the tourist industry. It’s going to flourish forever. But you have people complaining because of taking in $9 million instead of $10 million.

I think the whole thing is crazy, basically money rules the world and Santa Barbara and the people down at the bottom get the shaft. …People really don’t care as long as they’re making money.

We’re spending $87 billion over in Iraq. We should be flying international distress signals … we need healthcare, we need education; let’s get something going over here. … There isn’t a national agenda of kind of really helping people. … Sometimes it takes a while. Like quitting smoking. It’s hard to get into housing and pay the rent. We got to show that we care. If something’s broken we don’t throw it away we do the best we can.

LD: What about neighborhood compatibility?

BH: The community really needs to decide what we all want to do. Is it going to be just another Beverly Hills? … I would like to see the community get involved in the whole debate of is this what we want instead of 50 years from now when it’s all done.

LD: What are your feelings about growth in the community?

BH: I think it needs to be balanced. There are some people in this town that are rich and some are poor. … Like the bigger houses that are already here, maybe try to get some zoning so that we can share them.

LD: Which current or former city council member do you admire the most?

BH: Gerry DeWitt, I loved him and wish he had run for mayor last time. I think he had a conscience and stood up for a lot of different things. He was a great city council person and would be a good mayor. Babatunde is kind of like that now.