Roy Lee Takes Oath of Office as First District Supervisor
In its first meeting of 2025, and its 125th convening, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors inducted into office three supervisors in an hour and half ceremony with much pomp and circumstance.
Newly elected to the BOS is Roy Lee, First District, and taking their second and third terms respectively are Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, and Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann. Current supervisors are Second District Supervisor Laura Capps, and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino.
The induction ceremony was held prior to the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting. Presiding and welcoming attendees was 2024 BOS Chair Lavagnino,who said, “Welcome to 125th convening of the BOS, and to a celebration of democracy as we install the 2024-elected BOS.”
The program commenced with the Presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance by the SBC Fire Department Honor Guard. They were followed by the invocation by Anthony Rodriguez fromLady of Guadalupe Church. Rodriguez shared about his experiences as a person who was told he would not amount to much and proved them wrong. He asked for blessings on the BOS and their work.
County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato led the Oath of Office for Lee, Nelson, and Hartmann, and the meeting was officially called to order. Lavagnino led nomination and vote for the 2025 BOS Chair, which unanimously went to Capps. Capps then led the nomination and vote for BOS Vice Chair, which just as unanimously went to Nelson.
It was time to pass the Gavel from Lavagnino to Capps. Capps accepted and said, “I don’t plan on using this much but if I do it will be in the spirit of those who paved the way for a woman like me to hold this office, and for generations of women who never had the opportunity.”
In his outgoing speech as Chair, Lavagnino said he wanted to focus on thanking the admin staff whose work supports the BOS in every way, from agendas to meeting broadcasts.
Capps provided her BOS Chair speech in a poignant and uplifting fashion, clearly following in the footprints of her mother, Congresswoman Lois Capps, who was present. Cogent points she made were, “To know me is to know I love Santa Barbara. And my determining factor for making changes and rules is their impact on our children. For 2025 my priority number one is on workforce housing that can be made at the place of work. Housing costs impact the workforce in Santa Barbara, and their ability to stay employed here. We need to continue to make use of vacant parking lots and other unused government land for housing. My other priority is on cannabis regulations. We need to stop the burden of its governance on the residents and make the rules and regulations for it at the government level. We know what works on the cannabis issues, and we need to enforce it.” She concluded saying, “Trust in government begins at the local level. We need to focus on results, not rules and regulations.”
Hartmann, after providing her thank-yous to her family and team, spoke about why she serves as a Supervisor, stating, “We do this to be part of the organization that affects people’s everyday lives.” She mentioned her support of the BOS in their spirit of collaboration over the issues they are presented. Nelson’s statements included his thanks to God, family, and his children. He firmly stated that despite news to the contrary, there was much work done by the BOS on city infrastructure and the homeless issues, which will continue to be his top priorities.
Lee’s speech was succinct, thanking his wife, family and friends who have supported him. Lee adding, “I am honored and humbled to have your trust and confidence in me to be in this position to be working for you. I plan to serve all residents in the county with transparency, dedication, honesty, and integrity. I will emphasize listening and valuing diverse perspectives. My key priorities for my term are cannabis policy reform, creating real affordable housing solutions for our local workforce, provide our workers with higher paying careers, and focus on our quality of life, how can we make our county a better place to live. I look forward to working with the BOS and everybody to achieve these goals. Thank you.”
The celebratory program had a poetry reading by McKenna Hall,a La Colina Jr. High School student who read her poem titled, “How Cool are You.” The music performance was by the La Colina Jr. High School Jazz Band Directed by Stephen Hughes.They played “The Lady Knows her Cheese” and “Lucky Seven.”
The keynote address was by Gwyn Lurie,Co-Founder of The Giving List/The Giving List Women and CEO of The Montecito Journal Media Group. Her 10-minute speech detailed her thoughts on the art of compromise and importance of local government, as well as the “unexpected value of the inexperienced [referencing Roy Lee].”
Noted attendees were the SBC Sheriffs Bill Brown, Richard Brittingham,and Brad Welch, and officers James Carovano and Oscar Covarrubias there to protect the scene. Also SBC Fire Department Chief Mark Hartwig, Jack Lorenz of Dignity Moves; former SBC BOS Susan Rose; City of Goleta Manager Robert Nisbet and Councilmember James Kyriaco, former School Board member Kate Ford, SBCC Trustee John Abboud.
Click here for video of Gwyn Lurie’s speech and other moments from the ceremony.