The Das v. Laura Debate: Politically Blunt or Naïve?

First, I want to offer a shout-out of
gratitude to our local media and civic organizations for a series of public
debates between 1st District county supervisor candidates Das Williams and
Laura Capps. It’s great to see a responsible and independent Fourth Estate
performing its civic duty in greater Santa Barbara. I want to especially thank
journalist Jerry Roberts for
posting his interview with the two online.

I’ve discerned that Supervisor Williams’s
advocates want to talk about everything but the “giant spliff” in the
room. Marijuana, with its law enforcement, economic, scientific, cultural, and
social effects, has seemingly overtaken Santa Barbara County in just two years.
Instead of addressing this, Williams’s advocates want us to focus on his image
as an experienced incumbent with a long record of accomplishments, and to
regard Laura Capps as a newcomer without experience who might not even be a
serious candidate. However, an examination of the factual record, particularly
the incumbent’s record since the cannabis sativa behemoth blew in, belies this
scenario.

Both the incumbent and the challenger
are experienced public servants who grew up steeped in local politics. One
gained experience over 17 years in the rough-and-tumble of city, state, and
county offices. The other practically had progressive politics served nightly
on her dinner plate, received a top education at Berkeley and at the London
School of Economics, and finally spent a decade crafting legislation at the
highest levels of the federal government, in both the executive and legislative
branches.