Hello Santa Barbara City College!

My name is Jonathan Abboud, I am your newly elected Area 6 Trustee. I would like to take this time to introduce myself and make myself available to each and every one of you as Trustee. I am 22 years old, live in Isla Vista graduated from UC Santa Barbara in Political Science, and served as Associated Students President last year.

I hope to serve you all diligently the next four years and as a member of the same generation as many SBCC students I will strongly represent our generation’s outlook and views on the Board.

On December 4, 2014 The Channels published a profile piece about me; I would like to thank the staff for dedicating space for students to learn more about their elected officials. However, I believe one of the comments made in the article, that I do not identify as a Democrat, doesn’t accurately represent my views and I would like to clarify what I in fact meant.

I am a Democrat, I’ve campaigned for Democratic candidates and propositions in the 2012 and 2014 elections, and I have the upmost respect for our local Democratic officials the rest of the Santa Barbara Democratic Party. However, my opinion is the Democratic Party has failed on multiple accounts to properly represent and champion progressive politics in the United States Federal Government and the State of California. Examples are Health Care Reform nationally failing to fund higher education statewide.

I was not as clear as I could’ve been with my statements, they were not in the slightest directed at individuals who identify as Democrats or our Santa Barbara Democratic Party, because I know many are just as disappointed as I am with the party not being the shining beacon on progressive policies as it was in the past. This is why it was such a pleasure to work at a grassroots level with all of them in the past election and to earn their endorsement.

Thank you and I look forward to being a part of the SBCC community. Please do not hesitate to contact me at 310-734-9791 or [email protected].