Ann Louise Bardach may be world famous as an investigative reporter, but in Santa Barbara County she’s emerged as a high-octane political pot-stirrer, far more inclined to use vinegar than honey to catch the proverbial flies. In recent months, Bardach teamed up with anti-cannabis crusaders in the Carpinteria Valley; this Tuesday, she served notice on the Board of Supervisors that the disparate pockets of discontent over Santa Barbara’s booming cannabis industry have joined forces to create a new countywide organization, the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, with activists from all five of the county’s supervisorial districts.
In remarks seemingly engineered to offend and annoy the pro-cannabis board majority, Bardach suggested the county’s cannabis ordinance “may well have been†written by the cannabis lobby itself. “One cannot help but think about the takeover of the EPA by coal lobbyists, stripping back the most basic protections against air and water pollution,†she said. “That’s the way residents, avocado growers, vintners, and businesses have come to feel about this board.â€
While Bardach’s rhetorical broadsides cause opponents ​— ​and even some supporters ​— ​to wince, her involvement clearly has impact. Two months ago, Bardach actively sought to recruit Santa Barbara School Board President Laura Capps to challenge 1st District Supervisor Das Williams in his reelection bid a year from now, so outraged was Bardach by Williams’s energetic support for the cannabis industry. Williams was counseled by close advisors to meet with Bardach. He did so, but she remains decidedly unmollified. Capps, for the record, has indicated absolutely no interest in challenging Williams, a fellow Democrat and incumbent. The new anti-cannabis coalition ​— ​for which Bardach functions as the keynote speaker ​— ​has adopted a broader, countywide attack to change Santa Barbara’s cannabis ordinance to restrict cultivation on parcels zoned for large-scale agriculture. The key issue is odor.