The First Two Months with Roy Lee

In the annals of Cinderella stories, this was a good one. When Roy Lee decided to throw his hat in the ring against (former) First District County Supervisor Das Williams, naysayers abounded. He lacks the experience, the political savvy, and the familiarity with the Montecito community – were just some of the charges leveled his way.Well, just two months into Lee’s first term as 1^st District County Supervisor, I’m going out on a limb to say that he’s exceeding the expectations of many. 

As a Board of Supervisor newbie, the past two months have held real tests for Lee, so I sat down with him to examine the results of those tests; and to get his assessment on how he scored, what he’s thinking, how he’s feeling, and what he sees coming down the pike. 

Lee is nothing if not eager to connect with his constituents in order to grow and deepen his ties to this community, as well as his understanding of its needs. To that end, he’s agreed to sit down for a monthly conversation with the Journal as one way to keep us all informed on County issues that most impact our lives. This is the first of those conversations:

Gwyn Lurie (GL). Supervisor Lee, you’ve been in office for two months. How’s it going? 

Roy Lee (RL). I love it. It has been a fantastic experience. There’s a learning curve, but I felt that with Wade and Daisy and Aida and Warren beside me, and having great support from other Supervisors and staff, it’s going very well. I love coming to the office every day, just being here and getting things done and listening to all the issues and helping find solutions. It’s so awesome.

GL. In the first two months, you’ve had some big tests for any politician. Let’s start with the most recent. The red flag warning issue for Hot Springs that you all voted on this week. The Hot Springs Trail has been an important and controversial issue for Montecito. And it’s one of those issues that revealed some of the easy assumptions that people make about Montecito that get conveniently reduced to a “privilege versus other people” kind of thing. But really there was a lot more to it, which I came to understand through my conversations with the Montecito Fire Chief and others in the community about the real dangers of having too many people, some not necessarily well-intentioned or reckless, up on the trail, particularly on high-fire or flood-risk-days. Can you tell us about this issue, why you voted the way you did, and how you feel about the outcome?

RL. When I came to the office and started relearning about this Hot Springs Trail issue, it wasn’t about the successful, hardworking, wealthy people versus everybody else, it was about fire safety and protection of the community. So, when working with Fire Chief Neels, he talked about people going up there and finding campfires and people staying overnight. Putting myself in the firefighter’s position, I’d feel scared and vulnerable, especially with what’s happening in Los Angeles and our disasters here. People have PTSD. They want to feel safe. So, when we took the steps to ensure that we can do many phases of protection with the Hot Springs Trail, starting with red flag warning days and enforcement of that, it made people happy. They felt that we were listening and taking actions to resolve that. And going forward, there’s more things happening. 

GL. What has the community response been?

RL. People are saying, “Thank you so much for finally doing what needs to be done.” And people in that neighborhood, feel like, “Okay, the county is really listening to us now and they’re working with us to resolve these negative issues that have been plaguing us for so long.”

GL. So let’s go back just a week, which was kind of landmark day at the County, with more people packing the room over the transferring of title for an attempt to reactivate the Exxon/Sable Pipeline than I’ve ever seen. This ended in a two-two vote. So, a tie. Which at least slows down Exxon’s ability to transfer title to Sable. What are your thoughts?

RL. So a two-two, by legal terms, I think, is a no action. So after the vote, both the EDC and the oil people came out smiling, and everybody’s clapping because like, okay, I guess we did something right, because both sides were happy. From the oil people’s perspective, it will revert back to the County Planning Commission’s decision, which is a three-one, but from the EDC side, it means no action. It means no transfer of the permit titles to Sable (as of yet).

My understanding of this is they’re trying to restart a pipeline that’s corroded, and they’re wrapping tape around it to fix it. This is a 100-plus mile pipeline. Let’s say a best-case scenario, it doesn’t leak at the coastline, it could leak somewhere else, such as Buellton, next to waterways, creeks. If that happens, that would be another huge devastation that most people don’t think about.

GL. So, devastation environmentally, that will leave the taxpayers holding the bag in terms of the cost of cleanup and remediation. 

RL. Yes. And I was crystal clear. The water was not muddy. I knew exactly what my district and the community wanted, and I said, “Nobody ever met here and ever said, ‘We want oil’ or ‘go oil.’ Nobody in my district told me they supported that. 

GL. Then after a very long day on that, the supervisors were asked to vote on a long-coming raise to their own salary. And from what I understand, none of the Supervisors liked being in the position of voting on their own salary. Can you talk about that, because I know prior to that vote, you felt, as a new member of the board, uncomfortable with that? 

RL. It was a very awkward conversation because I was the new guy who was less than 60 days into the job, and here I am having to decide on my own salary, which is a big one. So previously on the city council, I always voted against increasing salary. And six months ago, the council decided four to one to increase their salary by 300%. And I voted against that because, at the time, I felt it was improper. So, coming in, I was like, “No, no, no, this is not right.” But at the current moment, I feel it was best for me, what I’m comfortable with, is to abstain, take myself out of the conversation and let the other Supervisors decide.

Because I didn’t want to disrespect other supervisors because they made such great points. By voting yes, you get it out of our hands and will never have to be discussed again.

GL. And they had to fiercely defend the amount of work they do, right, because of some false reports on how many days of work or hours a day a County Supervisor works, whether or not it’s a full-time job? 

And I thought Suzanne Cohen, from Dem Women, made a great point which is we don’t want this to only be a job that rich people or people who want to take an oath of poverty can do. It seems to me it’s important to open the door to anyone who is interested in public service, regardless of whether they’re independently wealthy.

RL. All great points on both sides, but Andy Caldwell really missed the point when he said that we’re part-time, because we take this job home with us. It stays with us on the weekends, 24/7 always thinking about what we’re doing for the following week.

GL. So, you got a free lunch; you got to abstain, and you got the raise. So what are you going to do with the money?

RL. I’ll ask my wife. My wife will know exactly what to do.

GL. Okay. Okay. Well, I’m glad if this makes it easier for your family to support your work in this. For whatever it’s worth, it feels good and right to me. So, let’s also talk about that cannabis odor issue you had to vote on in your very first meeting. How did you feel about that conversation?

RL. I was very pleased, because to have it so soon into my first term was like, “Great, let’s get this done.” So on March 14th, it’s coming before the Board again, in a special meeting. So, we vote in two meetings. One is next Friday, March 14^th – a special meeting to discuss cannabis in the Carpinteria Valley at Carp’s City Hall, where we’ll invite the community to come out and tell us what they want from us and how we can make those policies better. Then, on March 18^th, the Board will talk about what we’re doing with the ordinance. Such as mandating carbon scrubbers, the threshold for odors, so all that is coming into that conversation on the 18^th before the board.

GL. Did you call for that special meeting?

RL. It was Supervisor Capps’ idea. She wanted to take government to the areas that are being impacted. She came to me to ask me what I thought, because this is in my district. And I was like, “I fully support it. It’s a great idea.” So we’re doing it.

GL. Great. And what else do you see on the horizon? Can you give us a little teaser?

RL. April 1^st, we are talking about the expansion of the jail beds. That will be a big conversation because it’s a high-dollar amount. And I believe we are working on a great solution that will really address the needs and wants of mental health and addiction, really solving the issues and not just creating this revolving door that we see so much of.

I think a lot of groups and people are coming together to figure out this jail expansion that’s much needed. We’re thinking more about reform, too, justice reform and how we treat people, and not just throw them in a cell and give them three meals a day. I think there’s much more that we can be doing. We’re meeting with all kinds of stakeholders across the spectrum, just trying to get as much input as possible from people as we can as we move forward in the process.

And then, further down the road, we’ll be working on more ministerial permitting, streamlining the permitting process with the Planning and Development Department. That’s on the long-range calendar for us. And we’ve got the workforce housing study up on April 8th, and that gives the board a great opportunity to talk about housing solutions in the county.

GL. Is there anything we should know about the Miramar expansion? What should this community be expecting, and when, in terms of work on that property?

RL. Concerning the Miramar, there’s an appeal going on before the Coastal Commission, and I think once they resolve that, work will begin.

GL. Will there be an effort to stagger the projects so that it isn’t everything all together all at once?

RL. That’s a good question I need to follow up on. I don’t have an answer right now.

GL. All right, because given all of the construction in Montecito, I think this community would appreciate really looking at traffic patterns because there’s nary a street that doesn’t have a detour sign right now, and with the expanding of the freeway and all the other construction, it’s created real traffic problems. 

RL. I’m glad you brought it up, and we will talk to some people about addressing that.

GL. I know this community would appreciate it. Is there anything else you like our readers to know?

RL. I just want people to know that I’m very excited to get to know the community much more and look forward to accomplishing many things in our community, and that we’re working hard for them and will continue to do so. And I want to encourage people to reach out to me if they do have issues and concerns that I can help address.

GL. Great. And where’s the best place for them to reach out, besides Wade’s home?

RL. They can always reach me at roylee@countyofsb.org.

GL. Great. Thank you very much for this conversation.

RL. Thanks to you, Gwyn.