Santa Barbara’s local election — for three City Council seats and an important ballot initiative — is set for its thrilling conclusion this Tuesday, November 6. Here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: The Important Blog Official Endorsements.

The complex range of issues facing Santa Barbara might surprise visitors to this beautiful part of the world. Santa Barbara can be paradise when you come visit for a weekend, but for those of us who live here, it’s an American city with problems just like any other. Poverty, and especially the gap between wealthy and not so wealthy affects us. Finding affordable housing is often literally impossible for working people in Santa Barbara. We’ve got serious environmental issues to consider — issues that take on special significance because we want to preserve our city’s natural beauty. Traffic is a big problem in this “sleepy” town of nearly 90 thousand residents. Disaster preparedness, schools, crime, taxes — the list of questions and concerns for Santa Barbara really does look just like those in most American cities.

There are two people running for reelection to the City Council that have shown they understand these issues and can take decisive action to improve Santa Barbara. Helene Schneider and Das Williams.

Helene has demonstrated dedication to making real reforms and has engaged even in the nitty-gritty when necessary to make complex reforms work. It would be hard to imagine the City Council functioning without her insights and advocacy for improving Santa Barbara.

Das has similarly shown his commitment to making Santa Barbara a better place for everyone — not just those of us fortunate enough to be wealthy. He’s worked to protect neighborhoods from “McMansionization,” he’s made clear progress on cleaning up Arroyo Burro (crucial for cleaning up our water), and he’s been at the forefront for speaking up for improved transportation to reduce traffic.

I’m throwing my full and enthusiastic Important Endorsement behind both of these fantastic city councilmembers.

On Measure A — the ballot initiative for Santa Barbara — a YES vote is extremely important. This measure will move Santa Barbara’s local elections (like this one) from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. In other words, local elections will have significantly higher turnout because they’ll match up with national and state elections. Imagine how many more people would vote in the Santa Barbara election in 2008 as opposed to 2007. In the process, the city will save millions of dollars (by holding just one election instead of two). Opponents of Measure A suggest that higher turnout is bad for democracy. That just doesn’t make sense. Measure A is a simple, easy, and cheap way to improve our democracy. Important Endorsement: Yes on A.

We’ll have the Important Endorsement for the President of the United States next week.