First District County Supervisor Das Williams — running for reelection in a bitter, narrow battle against challenger Laura Capps — spoke alongside his supporters Thursday morning in a show against Capps’s most recent political onslaught suggesting he is beholden to the oil industry.
“I never thought that I would see the day where Das Wiliams is being attacked for being in the pocket of Big Oil,” said Katie Davis, chair of the Santa Barbara Sierra Club, which endorsed Williams. Davis was one of three environmentalists who spoke in support of Williams above an abandoned oil well at Lookout Park in Summerland.
“Let’s be clear,” Davis continued. “The oil industry is targeting this region. So it was a surprise to many of us fighting this oil takeover when Laura Capps decided she was going to run against enviro standard-bearer Das Williams because it detracts resources away from the key 3rd District, which is a swing district we knew would be targeted by oil.”