As of Wednesday morning on Nov. 6, Jett Black-Maertz is in the lead for the Board of Trustees election Area 3 Santa Barbara district based on a 67.01 % vote, according to unofficial results from the County of Santa Barbara of election division.
Maertz-Black stepped up as Santa Barbara representative, with a precincts reported tally vote of 63.37%. Opponent Sebastian Aldana Jr. has a current tally vote of 35.68%
“I am confident in this election, as well as excited and grateful,” black said. “I’m honestly more focused on the presidential election as of now.”
Replacing past member Veronica Gallardo’s chair, Black-Maertz has goals of establishing a connection with City College, which includes solidifying stabilization specifically at board meetings.
“I am very grateful for the Democratic Party and Democratic Women’s Group,” Black-Maertz said. “I am excited to bring a new era to City College.”
Not only was she surrounded by the Democratic Women’s Group, but Maertz-Black was also alongside her husband, Brian Black, beginning the night at the BierGarten and making their way toward the Soho Restaurant and Music Club around 8:30 p.m.
Opponent Sebastian Aldana Jr. spent the night at Sazon Latino & Catering celebrating alongside City Council District 3 candidate Tony Becerra.
Acknowledging the possible defeat, Aldana expressed his best wishes for his opponent and her career ahead.
“I wish her all the best,” Aldana said.
Aldana originally with the hopes of bringing hands-on vocational trade classes and change for student housing mentioned his mindset around the race and his outlook on the results.
“I think we [his campaign] need to learn to win but we also need to learn how to lose,” Aldana said.
Highlighting a need for community engagement and collaboration, mentioned the importance of working within the best interest of the students.
“Bottom line, let’s just do what’s right for the community and for the students,” Aldana said.
The official poll results will be published and updated when released. Date and time is currently not solidified.
Correction: Nov. 6, 2024
A previous version of this story misspelled Jett Black-Meretz name. In addition to this, a previous version of this story misspelled Sebastian Aldana’s name. The channels regrets this error.
