Elijah Mack calls himself a “localist” who would listen to the people and avoid partisan agendas if elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Laura Capps says county government is compassionate, effective and accountable, has developed affordable housing, and that she is “just getting started.”
The two met Thursday night at a forum held by the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara.
Capps, who was elected in 2022, touted Santa Barbara County’s record on housing, the environment and protecting immigrants. Mack said he wants to “radically foster local business,” restore the community’s traditions and festivities, preserve the natural environment, ensure that locals can afford to remain locals and minimize “how deeply the county digs into your wallets.”
About 50 people attended the two-hour event at the Goleta Union School District board room. Mack, who ran unsuccessfully against state Sen. Monique Limón as a 19-year-old in 2024, is running for political office again against the widely popular, deeply entrenched Capps, this time for the Second District Santa Barbara County Supervisor’s seat.
The two answered a wide array of questions, ranging from housing and the environment to ICE and disaster preparedness.
Both candidates agreed that neighborhood raids by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement should stop.
“Anyone who lives an upright life, who lives in our society, who lives in our communities, who is a beneficial neighbor, is a citizen of my community in my mind, regardless of whether they have had the opportunity to, or made the poor decision to, not pursue American citizenship,” Mack said.
He said he would like to see ICE agree to no longer engage in neighborhood raids if law enforcement cooperated with their efforts to apprehend convicted, violent felons who are in the country illegally.
Capps said she has taken the lead in efforts to battle ICE.
“We are not powerless when it comes to ICE, even though they have run roughshod over our Constitution, roughshod over our local laws and put this community in fear,” Capps said.
She pointed to the Board of Supervisors recently voting to restrict ICE from enforcement actions on county property.
“(People) need to know that if they are going to a clinic, or if they are going to an establishment that is county, they are not going to be confronted by ICE,” Capps said. “We are making county buildings protected.”
Mack said the biggest challenge facing the county is housing.
“The lack of viable housing for multigenerational locals and the working middle-class,” he said.
He said the county should “cut the needless, subjective criterion for permission to develop in the area,” including cutting fees and offering incentives to developers to build “locals-first, middle-class housing.”
Capps agreed that housing is the largest challenge facing the county, and said it has been working to improve affordability.
“We’re building thousands of new affordable units,” she said.
Capps said she has led efforts to convert underutilized county land into housing. Santa Barbara County, she said, has identified 6,000 acres of land that could be turned into affordable, workforce housing.
“In my mind, the government can’t just talk about the affordability crisis; we have to put our own skin in the game,” she said.
Regarding disaster preparedness, Capps said the county has worked to improve 911 response times. She touted the work that firefighters do.
“They are there when you need them. Wether it’s a heart attack, a kid who has fallen, they are there,” Capps said. “They are in Isla Vista helping those students.”
Mack said he would like to redirect county funding from legal battles to environmental hazard preparedness regarding oil infrastructure. He said he wants to “preserve our wilderness,” and continue to maintain and improve infrastructure in Montecito, “preventing mudslides and things of that nature.”
Mack, 21, said he is set to graduate from college in a couple of weeks. He portrayed himself as an outsider to local government, dissatisfied with Capps’ performance, and as someone who would listen to the general public.
He said he has talked to local farmers at the farmers market, and local businesses and developers to “pass a bundle of legislation that comes from their own concerns.” He said he wants to rely on the general public as much as he can.
“I even would like to run polls for my district to determine my vote on highly contentious issues,” Mack said.
He said he is a proponent of regenerative agriculture.
Capps, 53, is a former member of the Santa Barbara Unified School District board of trustees. Sh said she has strong partnerships on the Board of Supervisors.
She noted that she has partnered with Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, whom she described as “the most conservative” of her colleagues.
“We’ve partnered on things together like permitting reform, cutting red tape, cannabis reform,” Capps said. “We think alike about a lot on things that are not necessarily partisan.”
She said she is proud of the way that the Board of Supervisors conducts itself and works together.
“I do come in with an open mind to a lot of issues,” Capps said. “While I am fiercely representing my district, I want the others to support my projects.”
The event was recorded by TV Santa Barbara for later broadcast on television and YouTube.
