A Broken System

While I don’t agree with the specific policy changes endorsed by Laura Capps’ plan to reform campaign contribution spending rules in Santa Barbara County, I agree with her assertion that current rules encourage political corruption. Das Williams exemplifies the broken campaign finance system we have.

In
one of many examples of conflict of interest, as reported by Jerry Roberts in
the August 12 edition of the Santa Barbara Independent, Das Williams
accepted over $30,000 in donations from cannabis growers while he was
responsible for writing the regulations for cannabis cultivation. When the
cannabis industry generated $6.7 million last year, $1.3 million more in tax
revenue than the county supervisors had initially budgeted, Das Williams felt
entitled to spend the surplus immediately.

All
four of his colleagues, including fellow Democrats Gregg Hart and Joan Hartmann,
refused to indulge Das Williams’s desired spending spree outside of the annual budget
deliberations which don’t begin until April 2020. The discourse became so
heated Chair Steve Lavagnino had to call for a “time out” when Das Williams
became unhinged.