Noozhawk invited Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors candidates to answer questions about important local issues.
The June 2 primary election includes the Fifth District, representing northern Santa Maria, Guadalupe and Tanglewood; and the Second District, representing the Eastern Goleta Valley, Isla Vista, UC Santa Barbara, and portions of Goleta and Santa Barbara.
Two candidates are running for the Second District seat, including incumbent Laura Capps and Elijah Mack.
Both candidates submitted responses to Noozhawk’s Q&A.
Read Laura Capps’ responses below.
Read Elijah Mack’s responses here.
Laura Capps
Question: What do you think are the three most pressing issues the county faces over the next five years? How would you address these issues?
Capps: No. 1 is affordability. Santa Barbara is one of the most expensive counties in the United States, yet it also has one of the highest poverty rates in the state — driven by soaring housing costs. The gap between cost and income defines our region’s biggest challenge.
I’m proud to have the endorsement of Salud Carbajal, Monique Limón, and Gregg Hart,
who share my commitment to addressing it. We agree: the lack of affordable housing
sits at the center of nearly every challenge our community faces.
Too many people can’t afford to live where they work, leading to long commutes that
strain families and worsen climate impacts. The need is clear: housing people can
actually afford.
That has been my top priority. Over the past three years, I have worked with county
staff to:
- Turn underutilized public land into affordable housing, with hundreds of units now in development.
- Address our homeless challenges, by playing a pivotal role in bringing an innovative Dignity Moves project to fruition on underutilized county land.
- Secure commitments that nearly half of new housing in my district will be affordable or moderate income, including the largest affordable housing project in county history.
Going forward, I will fight to ensure these projects are built and remain truly affordable,
because delivering housing for working families is the only way to bring costs down.
No. 2 is climate and energy. We must accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels while preserving open space and protecting the environment that defines Santa Barbara County.
With Supervisor Joan Hartmann and community partners, I helped lead the historic
phase-out of onshore oil and gas operations and a ban on new projects. I will continue this work while ensuring workers have pathways to good-paying jobs.
I championed a major expansion of solar energy on county facilities, doubling capacity and saving taxpayers $60 million. I will continue to look for opportunities to expand renewable energy — moves that are both fiscally responsible and environmentally sound.
Endorsed by the Sierra Club, I have stood up to the oil industry and will continue to fight for the health of our coastline. I worked with partners to preserve our cherished coastal lands and habitat by permanently protecting 36 acres of More Mesa from development, and I will continue to defend open space.
No. 3 is public safety. As natural disasters grow more severe, we must stay vigilant.
I championed the modernization of our 9-1-1 system. I led an eight-point Bluff Safety Plan to try to prevent tragedies in Isla Vista. I helped expand wildfire prevention programs and early warning systems.
Going forward, I will build on this progress to protect lives and support our first
responders. I am proud to have the support of the Santa Barbara County Firefighters
Association.
Question: The current board is developing an oil and gas phaseout plan. Do you support this phaseout; why or why not?
Capps: Yes — I strongly support the phaseout of onshore oil and gas operations; I joined Supervisor Hartmann to help lead the charge to make it a reality.
This is about protecting public health, reducing wildfire risk, and addressing the real
costs of the climate crisis. For decades, Santa Barbara County has felt the impacts of
fossil fuel dependence, and continuing this path is neither sustainable nor fiscally
responsible.
The decision was grounded in science, economic reality, and broad community support.
The stakes are clear. Santa Barbara County is among the highest in the nation for
wildfire risk, and we have seen the consequences firsthand — from the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flows, causing more than $2.2 billion in damage and 23 lives lost, to the
Refugio Oil Spill, which devastated our coastline and cost roughly $330 million.
Meanwhile, oil companies extracted over $500 million in profits from our county in
recent years.
At the same time, oil and gas make up a very small share of our local economy,
contributing about 0.2% of county revenues and less than 1% of jobs, while climate-
related damages continue to grow.
How this transition is implemented matters. I am committed to ensuring it is thoughtful, legally sound, and fiscally responsible, with clear pathways for workers into good-paying clean energy jobs.
This is both an environmental necessity and an opportunity to build a safer, more
resilient future.
Question: What do you think is the county’s role facilitating and building new housing for local residents?
Capps: When faced with a housing affordability crisis, the government cannot sit on the sidelines — especially when it is sitting on valuable public assets. The county needs to
put real skin in the game.
We are in a full-blown housing crisis. Since the pandemic, rents and home prices have risen sharply while wages have not kept pace. The City of Santa Barbara is now among the most expensive small cities in the country for rents, and Santa Barbara County is one of the most expensive counties in the nation. Today, more than 40% of household incomes fall below what it actually costs to live here.
That starts with using the tools only the government has: its land. Santa Barbara County owns more than 6,000 acres, including vacant lots, shuttered buildings, and underused sites. These are opportunities to meet our most urgent need — affordable housing.
In my first term, I turned this idea into action, with 320 units on county-owned land now in development. It is a start, but we must go further. The federal, state, and other
jurisdictions should join us.
Using public land allows us to prioritize affordability by removing land costs, create
workforce housing so people can live where they work, and protect open space by
building where it makes the most sense.
The bottom line is this: the county must be a partner, not just a regulator. By putting public land to work, we can build housing that is affordable, sustainable, and truly
serves the people who keep this community running.
Question: What are the biggest infrastructure spending needs in your district over the next five years?
Capps: I am proud to have helped deliver more than $25 million dollars in infrastructure investments across the district over the past three years — projects that strengthen
resilience, improve quality of life, and prepare our communities for the future.
From more than $3 million in improvements at Goleta Beach, to a $15.3-million Isla
Vista microgrid to keep power on during emergencies, to $6.5 million to complete the Modoc Bike Path and $425,000 to improve safety on Cathedral Oaks (Road) —these investments are making our communities safer, more connected, and more resilient.
But the work ahead will be even more consequential. Over the next five years, our most significant infrastructure demands will be driven by growth — especially new housing in
the Eastern Goleta Valley. That growth will place added pressure on roads, water
systems, emergency services, and overall quality of life.
I have the support of Mayor Paula Perotte and am already working with the City of Goleta, neighbors, and community partners to anticipate these impacts, including investments in traffic flow, water infrastructure, and essential services. I also recognize that this area is carrying a disproportionate share of new growth, which is why I opposed the state-mandated housing plan in the form it was proposed locally. We have a responsibility to plan, not react after the fact.
While we anticipate these pressures, at the same time, we must invest in climate-resilient infrastructure. Our region faces high wildfire risk and increasing threats from extreme storms and coastal impacts.
I was born in Goleta and raised in Santa Barbara, and I am deeply committed to this community’s future — one that depends on strong, safe, forward-looking infrastructure.
Question: How should the county respond to federal immigration enforcement operations affecting local communities?
Capps: The county has a responsibility to protect our community when federal immigration enforcement actions cause daily trauma. I have taken the lead in helping the county draw a line in the sand against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions that destabilize our community. That does not mean these challenges will disappear, but it does mean we must not give in to fear or allow harm to go unchecked.
Across Santa Barbara County, we have seen the real impacts of aggressive
enforcement — families living in fear, parents afraid to take their children to school, workers avoiding public spaces, people skipping medical care, and businesses losing customers. These actions are destabilizing our community and making us less safe.
I have taken action by:
- Leading a unanimous board resolution in support of our immigrant community — the first of its kind in our region.
- Updating the county’s legislative platform to require law enforcement to clearly identify themselves during operations.
- Securing unanimous support of $240,000 for mental health services through the Immigrant Legal Defense Center.
Recently, Supervisor Roy Lee and I advanced a three-part approach that passed the board:
- Protecting county property from being used as staging grounds for immigration enforcement without legal authority
- Safeguarding elections through outreach, education, and voter protection efforts
- Evaluating the county’s authority to limit or prohibit new immigration detention facilities
At its core, this is about ensuring Santa Barbara County remains a place where people feel safe, public spaces are trusted, and everyone can fully participate in community life.
I am deeply committed to a fair, orderly, and humane system. I was born and raised here; I have a deep reverence, respect and love for the fact that Santa Barbara County is a county of immigrants.
These answers have been lightly edited for style and formatting.
More Election Coverage
Noozhawk’s Q&As with Fifth District Supervisor candidates were published Tuesday and can be read here.
Read more about local candidates and issues in Noozhawk’s Elections section.
