About Us

Marianne Partridge

Marianne Partridge is the Editor in Chief and cofounder of the Santa Barbara Independent, which published its first issue on Thanksgiving Day in 1986. Since then, she has been thankful every day for the amazing staff that has helped build this publication, both in print and online. Before moving to Santa Barbara in 1980, Partridge was Editor in Chief of the Village Voice and Senior Editor of Rolling Stone magazine, where she also served as bureau chief in New York and Los Angeles.

Nick Welsh

Nick Welsh moved to Santa Barbara from Seattle — by way of Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. — on April Fool's Day in 1983. He expected to stay one year and then move up the journalistic food chain. Then life happened; then Santa Barbara happened; then the Santa Barbara Independent happened. Then love happened. Since then, he's written enough to forget more than he ever knew about a wide range of subjects that fall under the militantly parochial rubric of “local news.” Had Welsh followed his ambitions instead of his dreams, no doubt he'd be just another unemployed reporter. Instead, he's still cranking it out.

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Matt Kettmann

A fifth-generation Californian originally from San Jose, Matt Kettmann started at the Independent in 1999, working as a proofreader, news reporter, and pop culture editor before becoming senior editor in 2006, when he directed the development of Independent.com. He's also a writer-at-large for Wine Enthusiast, reviewing the wines and covering the culture of the Central Coast and Southern California, and has written about a variety of topics for the New York Times, TIME magazine, Smithsonian, and other publications large and small. He’s the author of Vines & Vision: The Winemakers of Santa Barbara County, which was published in 2020. The UCSB grad has tracked down stories in Bolivia, Belize, Costa Rica, Uganda, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, France, Spain, Mexico, and the war-torn, now-extinct Nagorno-Karabakh Republic between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a 2004 adventure that helped launch his wine writing career. He co-founded the New Noise Santa Barbara Music Festival (2009-2016), and currently serves on the boards and/or committees of Notes for Notes, the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience, the Chrisman California Islands Center, and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

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Tyler Hayden

Tyler Hayden started at the Independent as an intern in the spring of 2009 while studying English and editing at UCSB. He was hired as an associate editor that fall and became the newsroom head honcho soon after. Since then, he's spent his days editing and writing stories, wrangling interns, and helping manage Independent.com. Tyler regularly contributes to a number of local and national news organizations — with his work appearing in the Los Angeles Times, Audubon magazine, and Vice — and he has received multiple awards from Editor & Publisher, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, most recently for his coverage of Bellosguardo and Dormzilla.

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Leslie Dinaberg

Leslie Dinaberg is the Arts, Culture, and Community Editor for the Independent, where she oversees the Arts Life, Food & Drink, and Living sections and helps cover arts, culture, and lifestyle stories, writing for print and online while helping manage Independent.com, the Indy Today newsletter, and several niche newsletters — including ON Culture, her own bimonthly newsletter. She grew up in Santa Barbara and was the Managing Editor of Santa Barbara SEASONS magazine for more than a decade. She has contributed to many national and regional publications and served as Editor-in-Chief of Touring & Tasting Magazine, Executive Editor of SAM (Sales, Advertising and Marketing) Magazine, Managing Editor of Hispanic Business Magazine, and Managing Editor of UC Santa Barbara Magazine.

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Jackson Friedman

Jackson Friedman is the Associate Editor of the Santa Barbara Independent. Born in Santa Barbara and raised in Carpinteria, he received his BA with highest honors in English and professional writing and editing from UCSB in 2009 before being hired by the Independent as a copy editor in 2010. Since then, he has served as Copy Chief and now spends his time overseeing the news department, editing news and cover stories, and writing for print and online while helping manage Independent.com and the Indy Today newsletter.

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Jean Yamamura

A transplant from Ventura County, Jean Yamamura arrived on the Independent's doorstep in 1996, joining the paper that had been a tonic at lunchtime every Thursday for years. Between then and graduation from UCSB in comparative literature in 1982, she had worked in publishing, with a sideways slide into the law for a time. The past decades have been spent raising children, chickens, and dogs, and copy editing, managing the opinions page, and news reporting.

Terry Ortega

Terry Ortega has been the queen of the calendar, the empress of events, the harbinger of happenings, and the guru of the guides (wedding, summer camp, Fiesta, ’Tis the Season) at the Independent for the past 10 years. As an eighth-generation Santa Barbaran and having been lucky enough to travel to many amazing destinations as a former travel consultant and dedicated wanderer, Terry is uniquely qualified to say that Santa Barbara is not only a special city to its locals but also a fascinating and breathtaking destination for those who visit. Her favorite offerings are those that inform the community about services and experiences available to make their lives easier, as well as activities that show off Santa Barbara culture, arts, music, and, her personal favorite, the theater.

Ryan P. Cruz

Ryan P. Cruz is a homegrown journalist, born and raised in Santa Barbara. After editing Santa Barbara City College’s student newspaper, The Channels, he joined the Independent as a news reporter in 2021, covering all angles of his hometown from City Hall to crime to the housing crisis. In addition to hard news, he has a personal passion for writing about sports, food, and the arts, and as a first-generation Mexican-American, his work also highlights voices from marginalized communities, sharing stories from those who are often left out of the conversation. He also works as Sports Editor for Coastal View News in Carpinteria and as an arts writing fellow for the Central Coast–based Lum Art Magazine.

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Callie Fausey

Callie Fausey first started reading the Independent while attending Santa Barbara Senior High School, prompted by the pile of issues her dad would hoard on their living room coffee table. After receiving her BA with honors in media studies from the University of San Francisco in 2022, Callie returned home to Santa Barbara and began an internship writing for the Independent's Arts and Culture section. From there, she was hired as a staff news reporter and has enthusiastically taken on the role, motivated by her love of writing and the Santa Barbara community (and fueling her dad's newspaper collection).

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Lola Watts

Lola Watts is a recent UC Santa Barbara honors graduate with a BA in English and a specialization in creative writing. She has written articles in the past for UCSB’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Nexus, along with freelancing for the Sacramento-based publication Capitol Weekly, covering political news across California, and is currently writing a creative thesis about the Korean-American experience, Indigenous traditions, the natural world, and the feminine energy. She began her career with the Independent in 2022, writing for the arts and entertainment section and covering local concerts, art exhibits, and more. Soon after, she began to intern under the calendar department and has continued on to work as Calendar Assistant, managing event listings, helping to create “The Week” pages for print (which details every week’s best local events), and more.

Tessa Reeg

Tessa Reeg is the Copy Chief of the Independent. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Tessa attended UCSB and graduated in 2018 with a BA in English and a minor in professional writing and editing. She started at the Independent as copy editor in 2018 and became the chief in 2022, overseeing the copy department while editing stories for print, web, newsletters, and social media, as well as editing the bimonthly newsletter All Booked and occasionally writing and reporting.

Nathan Vived

Nathan Vived is a part of the copy team and has recently cross-pollinated to the web team. He earned his BA in English literature in 2021 and a minor in professional editing. In 2022, he earned his master’s in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh. Nathan spends his time bouncing between the copy team for the print issue and building/editing the stories that go up on the Independent’s website.

Ava Talehakimi

Ava Talehakimi has been part of the Independent team since 2018. Originally from Los Angeles, she moved to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB and never left. She lives with her black cat, Amira, and a ridiculous amount of houseplants. She enjoys books, art, trivia nights, and sunset bluff walks.

Xavier Pereyra

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Xavier Pereyra started at the Independent in early 2022 as a graphic designer before moving to his current role as Art Director. Xavier graduated from San Jose State with a BA in Design Studies with an emphasis in graphic design. In his spare time, you can find him coaching youth football or enjoying food at any of Santa Barbara’s great restaurants. His work can be seen throughout the Independent’s weekly print issues.

Jill Critelli

Jillian (“Jill”) Mamey Critelli hails from Glendale, California, and is a fine artist, photographer, and graphic designer. A “Jill-of-all-trades,” she has worked in the cultural nonprofit field and consulted in areas ranging from the arts to youth development to politics and seismology. In her spare time, she collaborates with her husband and creative partner, Mike, co-hosting a radio show on UCSB’s KCSB-FM, plus art projects galore! She attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, for photography, earned a BFA in Fine Art Media from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and received her MA in Organizational Leadership from Woodbury University in Burbank. Jill now resides in the Goodland, enjoying the simple pleasures of camping, dancing, and hanging out with her house mascot dog, Daisy.

Bianca Castro

Meet Bianca Castro, your local Santa Barbarian with a passion for branding and digital marketing. She has a degree in business administration and a knack for advertising and graphic design. When she's not busy crafting captivating campaigns, you'll find her exploring the scenic trails, spiking volleyballs at East Beach, or lending a helping hand at the nonprofit Alpha Resource Center.

Don Brubaker

Originally from Camarillo, Don Brubaker has considered Santa Barbara home since receiving a BA in anthropology from Westmont College in 2015. After a variety of jobs that familiarized him with the city and its many denizens, Don became the Independent’s Web Content Manager in August 2022. In addition to maintaining Independent.com and the Independent’s social media presence, Don has enjoyed contributing his written words to worthy causes like Burger Week and Burrito Week. When he isn’t online, he can most easily be found performing as a musician around town.

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Gail Arnold

Gail Arnold grew up in Connecticut and spent several years working as an attorney doing international trade litigation in Washington, D.C. In 2011, she moved to Santa Barbara and became active with various nonprofits. Since 2016, she has enjoyed writing about nonprofits for the Independent, sharing with readers how nonprofits serve the needs of the community.

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Starshine Roshell

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Josef Woodard

Josef Woodard has been an arts journalist/critic (covering music, film, and art) for many years. He has written for the Independent since its launch and has also contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, DownBeat, and many other publications, and has three published books out — two jazz books, on Charles Lloyd and Charlie Haden, and a satirical romance novel, Ladies Who Lunch. He is also a musician and recording artist.

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Victor Bryant

Victor Bryant has been covering sports in the Santa Barbara area for 15 years. He started at the Independent in 2018. Victor received his BA in communications from UCSB with a minor in sports management in 2011 and was an intern for longtime UCSB Sports Information Director Bill Mahoney. He has contributed to the Associated Press, UCSB’s alumni magazine, and many other publications. Victor grew up in Canton, Ohio, as well as Mission Viejo, California, and is a lifelong sports enthusiast.

Brandi Rivera

Brandi Rivera started with the Independent in March 2008. She has served as the company's CFO and Business Manager, and in August 2017, she became the Independent's first female Publisher. A Santa Barbara "local" by way of UCSB, where she earned both her bachelor’s and Human Resource Management certification, Brandi appreciates how involved the Independent is in the community. The staff is like a giant family to her, and she feels like it is her duty to preserve the role of the Independent in the Santa Barbara community for years to come. Brandi completed her MBA from Pepperdine University in December 2017. In January 2018, she and her husband, Victor, welcomed their first son, Elijah, into the world, followed by twins Amaya and William in 2022. In her ever-dwindling spare time, she enjoys reading and rooting for her favorite sports teams.

Richelle Boyd

Richelle Boyd works on Independent events and special projects as the Marketing and Promotions Administrator. She focuses on audience engagement online and with staff, and also writes for the Independent. Richelle graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2023 with a bachelor’s in English and a minor in journalism through UCSB’s Professional Writing program. She has previously written articles for UCSB’s Humanities and Fine Arts page. She has also done foreign reporting with Berlin Beyond Borders, and her writing can be found on their Medium.com page. When she is not writing, Richelle likes to go thrift shopping and cook new recipes she finds. She is an active reader and movie watcher, as well as a fan of classic art and going to museums.

Tobi Feldman

Tobi Feldman, Accounting Administrator, manages the payroll as well as Accounts Receivable/Billing. She previously worked in international real estate brokerage, management, sales, and marketing. Now, she enjoys overseeing investments for the Independent family. She believes in giving back to the community and is an active board member of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board and a previous board member of the Hope School District Educational Foundation. In her spare time, she can be found on the golf course learning this very challenging sport, or volunteering for the arts.

Tanya Spears Guiliacci

A Santa Barbara native, Tanya began working at the Independent in 1988 at the spry age of 19. Previously, she supported residents at several local rest homes, being a natural caregiver. She is a proud mother of two adult daughters, with one grandson and another on the way, and is extremely proud to say that her own mother is in the S.B. Women’s Softball Hall of Fame! Tanya, a darn good player herself and fierce competitor, retired from softball after 25 years due to constant injuries. Once feared by fellow competitors, she coached the now-retired Independent Angry Poodles softball team (hopefully coming out of retirement soon!). Tanya is the Office Manager, the “voice” of the Independent: nurse, confidante, therapist, muscle, bouncer, enforcer. “To truly write and tell you what the Independent means to me — to grow up alongside the Independent, you’d be reading a novel. I’ve learned so much, gained an incredible amount of knowledge. Lucky to have met Barack Obama and his wife when he was senator, Coretta Scott King, Tina Turner, etc. Most importantly, working for a paper that is by the community, for the community — my community. I can’t express my gratitude.”

Erin Lynch

Erin is a recent UCSB alum and a transplant native to the Santa Barbara community. She believes that Santa Barbara is best described as a hidden gem beneath the ocean: On the surface, it's a beautiful oasis of mountain and sea for tourists to enjoy, but let the locals take you freediving below, and you'll find an endless treasure trove of lively entertainment, diverse marine life, and a passionate community. When she's not attached at the hip to the Independent’s Publisher, Brandi Rivera, you can find Erin on State Street enjoying local music, performing comedy, and paddleboarding in the harbor.

Sarah Sinclair

With more than 30 years of experience in local media and tech sectors, Sarah Sinclair describes her role as Advertising Director at the Independent as “the best job in the best community in the world.” In addition to leading the award-winning advertising sales team, Sarah serves as editor of the Independent’s real estate section and writes the “Make Myself at Home” column and a Sunday real estate newsletter, The Home Page. Her professional drive is matched by her passion in the nonprofit arena, currently serving on the board of directors for Jodi House, Santa Barbara New House, Santa Barbara’s Downtown Organization, and the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Sarah enjoys travel, baseball, photography, and daily beach walks with her dog, Scout.

Camille Cimini Fruin

With more than half of Camille Cimini-Fruin’s life spent selling marketing for the Independent, working at the paper has become part of her identity. She is so proud to work with the incredibly talented writers and wonderful staff, along with the diverse issues and events the paper covers for the community every day. Working with a great variety of clients on their marketing, from retail to restaurants, venues, and many nonprofits, is very gratifying and gives her work true meaning every day. “It feels great when you tell someone where you work and their reply is, ‘I love the Independent!’” she says. While the Independent family has been a great joy in Camille’s life, her personal life is grand too. She is married to K-LITE morning radio host Gary Fruin, and they have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two granddaughters, all incredible humans. What more could she ask for?

Suzanne Cloutier

Tonea Songer

Tonea has been with the Independent for more than a decade and loves every minute of being part of the sales team. Born in L.A. and raised in Huntington Beach, when she came to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB in 1992, she knew she’d never leave. After graduating with a BA in legal studies and sociology, she worked for a cluster of local radio stations before beginning her sales career as a territory rep for popular hair-care brands. But after 12 years of driving the state of California, it was time for a change, and she landed on the Independent’s doorstep in January 2013. When she’s not consulting with businesses around town as to why they should advertise, she can be found walking Shoreline Park or State Street, enjoying a good game, and on the lookout for the best salad in town!

Remzi Gokmen

Hailing from Ohio, Remzi found his passion for journalism and community engagement while studying in Santa Barbara. With a background in sales, Remzi initially joined the Independent's sales team in 2012, where he quickly became an integral part of the organization until 2015. After exploring new opportunities elsewhere, Remzi couldn't resist the allure of Santa Barbara and the Independent's vibrant community, prompting his return to the sales team in 2019. In addition to his sales responsibilities, Remzi also takes on the crucial role of managing obituaries, ensuring that each tribute reflects the dignity and respect deserving of every individual's memory. Outside of work, Remzi is an avid sports enthusiast, always eager to discuss his Buckeyes, Browns, Guardians, and Cavs. He’s a dog lover who enjoys the company of his beloved jindo mix, Lucy.

Graham Brown

With more than 20 years of public relations, marketing, and media experience, Graham brings her unique set of skills to the Digital Marketing Specialist position at the Independent. Graham was raised in Santa Barbara and attended local schools, including Santa Barbara High School and Santa Barbara City College, before transferring to UCSB, where she majored in communication. She is an active community volunteer, having sat on the board of the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse/Fighting Back Media Task Force, the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara, and the American Red Cross Central California Region. She resides in Santa Barbara with her husband, two children, and rescue pup, Sammy.

Bryce Eller

Growing up in Mammoth Lakes and living a life dedicated to skiing, Bryce traded the mountains for the beach in the fall of 2022. After graduating from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and a five-year stint in the world of micro mobility, Bryce joined the Independent in the hopes of further solidifying his place in the amazing community he now calls home. He is a lover of cooking, surfing, skiing, biking and dogs.