They hear their share of criticism, and then some. But they are always ready to serve.
Plenty of hot topics pop up every day. From the ambulance contract to renewing Sable Oil production to salary increases to reducing cannabis odor to pushing for affordable housing and on and on.
The five elected supervisors regularly consider and make decisions about a range of significant issues affecting residents of Santa Barbara County.
“I want people to know that we at the Board of Supervisors understand how hard it is to live here,” said Laura Capps, board chair. “We all work together to make it better for everyone.”
Capps’ primary focus is making housing better and more affordable, especially workforce housing. She looked around for good examples and did her homework.
She thinks Cottage Hospital is an excellent model of taking responsibility for building their own workforce housing. So, she met with them to learn more about how they did it.
“Employers know how hard it is to hire and retain employees in Santa Barbara,” Capps said. “Employees know how hard it is to find adequate housing here.”
Taking a page out of the Cottage playbook, Capps wants to build workforce housing on unused and underutilized county-owned property and land.
She offers the idea of building affordable housing as a way for the county to meet the needs of residents and to fulfill their obligation to the state.
“I want to make government work for people,” Capps said. “When it doesn’t work as it should, we rely on processes not results. I am results-oriented. I look for ways to make it easy to do the right thing.”
Many people think Laura Capps became interested in the political arena because her parents were U.S. House representatives. But she entered politics before they did.
She points out that throughout her childhood her father Walter Capps was a UCSB professor and her mother Lois Capps was a school nurse.
They did talk about issues affecting local individuals as she was growing up. Laura Capps was born just a few years after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. As a result, she became very interested in environmental issues like taking care of the ocean.
Of course, Sable Offshore Oil’s proposal to reactivate Exxon’s massive oil production facility off the Gaviota Coast is a big concern.
At a recent Board of Supervisors hearing, Capps voted against transferring the necessary permits from Exxon over to Sable to restart the pipeline. She cited public safety, environmental and financial viability concerns as reasons for her vote.
Capps first ran for student government at Roosevelt Elementary School, so she could do her part in making things better for others. She encourages young people to get involved in local government by joining some of the many commissions or boards or by volunteering on a campaign.
In 2022, Capps was elected to serve District 2.
“The needs of my district, from the beautiful Stearns Wharf to Isla Vista, are varied,” Capps said. “City College and UC Santa Barbara represent the future of our economic engine. And Isla Vista, with a low-income population as dense as San Francisco, is really a microcosm of Santa Barbara.
“As a supervisor, I look at the needs of the entire county. But I also work closely with my colleagues on issues that are more pertinent to their district.
“I receive 30-40 messages daily about issues such as housing, homelessness, even pickle ball. I try to connect people to the appropriate county resources.
“We are fortunate to have a really great collaborative board of supervisors and hardworking county staff,” she said.
Capps said she has been motivated by how much impact the county can have on people’s daily lives.
For example, she recently received a call from a woman voicing concerns about fire danger in a dry creek bed behind her house. Capps’ office arranged for the Fire Department to clear out all the dry brush.
The woman called Capps later to thank her and say she sleeps better at night.
Capps has devoted her career to public service, serving as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, a communications director on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, an advisor to Sen. Edward Kennedy, and part of Vice President Al Gore’s climate change organization.
She previously served on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women, as president of the Community Environmental Council, and on the Board of Trustees for her alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley.
Capps has served in elected office since 2016, when she became a member of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board.
She was elected as a Santa Barbara County supervisor in the June 7, 2022 primary election and was sworn in on Dec. 6, 2022. Her 4-year term formally started January 2023.
Born at Cottage Hospital, Capps has a master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
“We are always on,” Capps said. “If there is a fire or eviction or crisis, even during Christmas, we are working with responders and conveying information to our constituents.”