Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps invites members of the Isla Vista and UCSB communities to join her on Feb. 16 for the first of monthly open office events called Coffee with Capps.
Participants can sip free coffee from Caje Isla Vista and meet with Capps, 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Isla Vista Community Center, 976 Embarcadero del Mar.
“UCSB and Isla Vista have a special place in my heart,” Capps said. “My father was a professor here, and even has a park named after him in Isla Vista. I am grateful for the opportunity to have them in District 2.
“Meeting people where they are at, especially in this vibrant community, is our District 2 team’s approach to government. I look forward to meeting folks.”
Capps career has been in public service, serving as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton; a communications director on former senator and Secretary of State John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign; an advisor in the U.S. Senate to Sen. Edward Kennedy; and part of Vice President Al Gore’s climate change organization.
For several years, Capps was an instructor for the UC Washington D.C. Center, teaching classes on Congress and campaigns. She served as UC Berkeley’s director of Government Affairs and as a UC Berkeley trustee.
For the past six years, Capps was on the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Trustees, where she led the charge from the board to create a more sustainably powered school district.
Capps’ father Walter Capps and her mother Lois Capps were members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Before their time in elected office, Walter Capps was a professor at UCSB for 30 years; and Lois Capps was a nurse.
Born at Cottage Hospital, Laura Capps spent her early years in Goleta before her family moved to Santa Barbara. She holds a masters degree from the London School of Economics.
She previously served on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women, was
president of the Community Environmental Council, and was on the Board of Trustees for her alma mater UC Berkeley.