Montecito, The Das, and a New Kid in Town

For the first 11 years my family owned our home in Montecito this town was represented on the Board of Supervisors by then Supervisor, now Congressman, Salud Carbajal. Carbajal was and is a politician with the soul of a civil servant who prioritizes constituent services. Which is one of the reasons the MJ supported his candidacy to represent the 24th Congressional District in Congress.

What I didn’t realize was, with the election of Das Williams in June of 2016, our community would be left largely without an advocate on our County’s Board of Supervisors. Since Williams was elected as the 1st District Supervisor, I’ve been surprised by Williams’ downright lack of support for the interests of this district and its residents. But when the NY Times wrote a recent piece entitled “What is it about Montecito?” I nearly fell off my chair when I read Williams’ quote when he said it was “good” that Montecito’s property values were going down. 

Examples of low hanging fruit of Williams’ underrepresentation of our community’s interests can be seen in his handling of the cannabis permitting process in Carp, and in Williams’ opposition  to SBCAG’s decision to award 1.1 million dollars for the City of Santa Barbara to do master planning around the La Cumbre Plaza properties which was to include up to 2,000 housing units. The money was instead spent on other projects that finished in the need scoring process behind the City of Santa Barbara; and of course, there’s the aftermath of the 2018 debris flow in Montecito, about which I can speak firsthand. I can say, unequivocally, that Williams has been neither particularly helpful in coming up with innovative strategies to address Montecito’s serious resiliency challenges, nor supportive of our hard-fought homegrown efforts. The removal of the ring nets is just one glaring example. 

Williams is now talking about starting a special flood control district in Montecito, which is important. But the reality is this will depend on a supermajority of the vote in Montecito in 2026. And I fear that Williams being associated with this in our community will hurt its chances of passage.

That said, Williams will likely get reelected to the Board of Supervisors in March. And from there, all indications are that he plans to run for the State Senate in 2028 when Monique Limón terms out. He already set up a Das Williams for State Senate Committee in 2020 and will, in all likelihood, do so again. Probably soon. Williams is the consummate career politician, and we are a stone on which he is stepping.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with ambition. Politicians need ambition to succeed, and at its best it’s mined on behalf of constituents. But in this case, it’s clear to those paying attention that Williams’ ambition represents more of a commitment to self-service than to public service. He doesn’t love Montecito. I’m not even sure he likes it. 

In a town that elected such devoted public servants as Harriet Miller, Tom Rogers, Naomi Schwartz, Salud Carbajal, and Hal Conklin, how have we fallen so far?

One answer is party politics, which when corrupted, systematically rewards its own. And Williams has been particularly adept at milking this perversion. 

Consider the fact that Williams’ Chief of staff is Darcel Elliott, who also happens to be the local Democratic Party Chair. So, no surprise that the Party endorsed Williams for Supervisor before his opponent, Roy Lee, an elected member of the Carpinteria City Council, even got into the race. Some might say that this is because Roy is a relative newcomer to Democratic Party politics, but what about four years ago, when now 2nd District County Supervisor, Laura Capps, challenged Williams for the 1st District Supervisor seat, and was also not interviewed by the local Democratic Party for a possible endorsement? 

Many of us rely on party endorsements to help decide for whom to vote. But do these endorsements correlate with our interests? Suffice to say that with the party’s endorsement comes money, exposure, and the perceived credibility that candidates need to get elected. Which may explain why so many of our elected officials, even those we hold in high regard, will endorse Williams, even if they don’t believe he’s doing a good job. The fact is, they must fall into lock step with the party, or it will cost them dearly. They will endorse Williams not because they believe in him, but because if they don’t, it’s political suicide. But sit down with one of them for a beer, even better two or three, and I suspect they will tell you, as several have me, that they have no choice. As one local leader told me recently, confidentially, of course: “Das is a guy who’s never picked up a tab in his life. The round is always on us.” 

I also think it’s worth mentioning that none of Santa Barbara’s women’s political organizations are endorsing Williams. Not the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee, nor Democratic Women of Santa Barbara. 

I have nothing against Williams personally. But I do not believe that he represents the 1st District in the way we deserve. Our other choice is a man named Roy Lee, who currently serves as a member of Carpinteria’s City Council. I sat down with Mr. Lee to see if he has what it takes to represent our community on the Board of Supervisors. And I believe he does. Is he a bit green? Yes. Is he a charismatic, practiced politician? No. But maybe that’s just what we need. A true civil servant who wants to make things better for our community. One with pure intentions and a work ethic that will benefit us. Someone who can say the word Montecito without rolling his eyes. Who will show up for something that isn’t a photo op. 

Roy Lee immigrated with his family from Taiwan to Santa Barbara as a young child in 1986. His parents worked hard running small businesses, experiences Lee credits with instilling within him a strong work ethic. Lee attended local schools before graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 2006. Outside his role on the City Council, Lee works at the family-owned Uncle Chen’s Restaurant in Carp started by his parents in the 1990s. He believes that it is this connection with his local community that keeps him “grounded and focused on what’s important.” 

After six years on the City Council, Lee says he feels ready to bring his business background and small-town governing approach to the county. “The best government is local government,” says Lee. “My priority is preserving what we love, our open space, our agriculture, while allowing carefully planned workforce housing consistent with community needs.” Lee contrasts this vision with Williams, whom he believes pushes overly dense luxury development without adequate local input or infrastructure upgrades.

Top of Lee’s policy priorities is reforming the county’s approach to cannabis zoning and regulation. Lee blames current county leadership for allowing cannabis growing operations near schools in Carpinteria without the public’s input, which he finds “upsetting,” as it directly impacts local youth, including his own children.

Lee advocates for more inclusive community planning processes to allocate affordable housing where appropriate. Doing so, according to Lee, would provide local teachers, firefighters, and other essential workers the ability to live in the district without a degraded quality of life.

Roy Lee believes Montecito, Carpinteria, and Santa Barbara share a common appreciation for preserving natural beauty and small-town feel. With deep local ties and a decade engaging community needs through local office and small business, Lee thinks he has what it takes to provide responsive, commonsense leadership as our next Supervisor. And I say, what do we have to lose by giving him a chance to prove it? Seems not much.