Carpinteria City Councilman Roy Lee pulls no punches in this episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.

Lee, an underdog candidate for First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor, says the incumbent, Das Williams, is “two-faced” and not truthful.

“Das is one of the worst-kind of career politicians, ones beholden by special interests, especially the cannabis industry, and out-of-town developers,” Lee says. “He constantly does not represent the community.”

Lee, the owner of Uncle Chen’s restaurant in Carpinteria since 1991, has served two terms on the City Council. He is running as somewhat of an “I’m not Das” candidate, playing off Williams’ reputation as being politically focused and career-driven.

“In Carpinteria, we have interactions with Das, and 99.9% of the time it has been negative,” Lee says. “He constantly puts us down, talks negatively about our community, and yet lives in Carpinteria. For me it’s time for a change.”

Lee is a significant underdog in the contest.

Although Williams recently did not gain the endorsements of the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee and Democratic Women of Santa Barbara Santa Barbara County, he is widely popular with the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party and his chief of staff, Darcel Elliott is the volunteer chair of the party. The Party brings significant volunteer resources to its endorsed candidates.

Williams’ District Representative Spencer Brandt is also his campaign manager, and is taking a leave of absence from the county job.

Williams has served in office for 20 years, as a member of the Santa Barbara City Council, California State Assembly, and Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Williams has $225,000 in the bank from campaign contributions.

Lee has $17,000 in the bank.

In this podcast conversation with Molina and Jerry Roberts, host of Newsmakers with JR, Lee criticizes Williams for leading the effort to craft a cannabis ordinance to benefit growers; by not supporting efforts to keep the ring nets in the Montecito creeks; and supporting a 173-unit housing development near the city of Carpinteria.

Lee said with that development, Williams “basically kicked us out of the room and out of the conversation.”

“In my interactions with Das, he has always been professional, smiling, agreeing with everything you do, but when it comes to action-time, he’s a two-face,” Lee said. “He does the opposite of what he promises, constantly over and over.”

Lee blasted Williams for not requiring carbon scrubbers to reduce the odor of cannabis farms in the Carpinteria Valley.

Lee said he smells cannabis everywhere and that the smell “has made a joke of our community.”

Vote-by-mail ballots go out next Monday for the March 5 primary election. County supervisor seats and other local races are on the ballot.

Williams is set to appear on an upcoming episode of Santa Barbara Talks. For a 2023 podcast interview with Williams, click here.

Josh Molina is a journalist and reporter at Noozhawk.com. Santa Barbara Talks is an independently owned podcast. Molina uses his 20-plus years of journalism experience to create dynamic conversations with people in the community about the issues of education, housing, transportation, business, culture and politics. Consider a contribution by visiting Molina’s website.