Farewell to Doreen Farr
Third District Supervisor Respected on Both Sides of the Aisle
Retiring 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr (pictured) was attending a contentious public meeting in the Santa Ynez Valley when her former nemesis Steve Pappas leaned in and hugged her. “I bet you’re glad you don’t have to deal with this anymore,” he joked. To the extent that Farr has had a tough tenure, Pappas played a big role. When she won her first election in 2008, he sued her, alleging voter registration fraud. Three years and a half million dollars later, she finally won.
On the Board of Supervisors, Farr has represented a vast, complicated district that spans Isla Vista, the Gaviota Coast, and Santa Ynez. The 3rd District supervisor must work with three sovereign entities — UCSB, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the Chumash. It is a wonder anyone would want the job. More than 100 people packed her retirement party last week, including her four fellow supervisors, who teased her for her excessive use of sticky notes and love of maple bars.
Unassuming, serious, and congenial, Farr emerged as a community activist involved in land-use issues. She impressed with quiet grace and diligence, and became known for hearing everyone out. Conservative commenter Andy Caldwell dismissed her fellow liberal supervisors Janet Wolf and Salud Carbajal as “knee-jerk” and “calculating,” respectively, but called Farr “judicious.” Likewise, Republican Karen Jones, an unrestrained 3rd District supervisorial candidate in the last primary, added, “I write to politicians enough to know what a canned response is, and she doesn’t write those.” She continued, “I am not a hugger, but if I were, I would have hugged her.”
