The Rising Santa Barbara Current

By Jim Buckley

(Jim was the founder of Montecito Journal and was its editor/publisher from the weekly’s inaugural issue in August 1995 until selling the paper to a group of Montecito residents in December 2019. He then served as Santa Barbara News-Press’s chief political columnist for three years until its much-lamented closure. He now serves as Editor-in-Chief of Santa Barbara Current. He can be reached via jimb.substack.com)

Welcome to Santa Barbara Current

Ever since the demise of the News-Press in July of this year, we of a libertarian, conservative, and (dare I say?) common-sense bent have had nowhere to share our opinions and/or observations.

That is, until now.

What you see in front of you is the very first issue of Santa Barbara Current, a brand-new online publication that will feature an amalgam of the finest Santa Barbara News-Press columnists as well as regular (and frequent) installments of common-sense editorializing by invited guests.

The Santa Barbara Current Team

Publisher James Fenkner began his professional writing career in finance, initially at Fidelity Investment in Boston and later as chief strategist for Troika Dialog, which at that time was Eastern Europe’s largest independent investment bank.   

By 2009, James and his wife, Tanya, moved to Santa Barbara, purchasing a fixer-upper on the Mesa and a rental on West Beach. Their dream was to breathe fresh air, swim, play fetch with their Labrador on the beach, and raise their four daughters steeped in love and to embrace the core values of America. 

James is a board member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Los Angeles and a founding board member of Fair Education Santa Barbara, which advocates for higher educational outcomes and provides homeschool scholarships to low-income families. He received an MA in Economics from Tufts University.

And, perhaps most importantly, he still mows his own lawn.

Public education has been Christy Lozano’s passion, love, and career for the last 20 years. During her tenure, she has been a Physical Education, World History, Science, and Leadership teacher. She has also served as Department Chair, Union Representative, Teacher-In-Charge, Head Coach of the Girls Soccer Program, and advocate for youth.

Christy taught high school for nine years, junior high for five, and spent six years as a teacher at the elementary school level, which she particularly loved. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a master’s degree in art with an emphasis in educational leadership and an administrative services credential from Cal Lutheran University.

Christy is also a United States Air Force Veteran and proudly served our country in wartime during the events of 9/11 where she served domestically at LAX and overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of a Medical Evacuation Squadron.

Most recently, Christy took her advocacy to the political realm, where she ran for Goleta Union School Board and pursued a run for Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, a position that had not had a challenger since before President Ronald Reagan was elected, 40 years ago. While she did not prevail at the ballot box, she continues to pursue her dream of impacting the education system in a positive way.  

“Did You Know” columnist Bonnie Donovan was born at St. Francis Hospital over six decades ago. She admits to having a passionate love affair with the City of Santa Barbara and vows she “will fight for it” if you are up to no good. She says all are welcome in her city, but simply requests that you “don't bring where you came from with you and try to mold Santa Barbara to it.” Her opinion piece appeared in the Sunday edition of the News-Press above the fold, on the right-hand corner of the front page, and hers were probably the most popular opinion pieces of all the columnists; she inevitably took both a positive and combative position on all things Santa Barbara.

An Edition-a-Day

Now that you’ve met the team, you should relax, wait, and enjoy the ride. You should also receive your first installment from SBCurrent.com tomorrow (Thursday) and perhaps one a day for the foreseeable future. And, lucky you, we’ll be bringing all your favorites from the News-Press and elsewhere, such as Dale Francisco, Brent Zepke, Robert Eringer, Andy Caldwell, Henry Schulte, and many other familiar names.