Retired land use attorney Steven Amerikaner is headed to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, where he’ll fill the First District seat recently vacated by longtime Commissioner Michael Cooney, who served on the panel for more than 20 years.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the appointment on Tuesday.
Nominated by Supervisor Roy Lee, Amerikaner retired from practicing law in 2021 after specializing in land development and land use for 46 years. He served as Santa Barbara city attorney through most of the 1980s.
“We’ve lived in Montecito since 1982, and I have a longstanding interest in ensuring that the county’s land use policies and decisions are fair, efficient, and help to achieve results that serve the entire community,” Amerikaner told the supervisors in his application.
Amerikaner echoed those sentiments and told the News-Press this week he looked forward to ensuring commission meetings—which often turn on complex bureaucratic nuance—are transparent and clear.
“He has done such an amazing job,” Lee said Tuesday, adding Amerikaner brings expertise and respect.
Lee previously appointed Amerikaner to the Montecito Planning Commission in January of 2025. Amerikaner recently resigned that position to serve on the county panel. He’ll be replaced by Dante Di Loreto, executive producer of the TV shows Glee and American Horror Story, who the supervisors also appointed on Tuesday.
Cooney, an attorney, left the county commission in late April.
“There have been so many good experiences,” Cooney said on his last day, noting he remained on the panel for a year at Lee’s request, after Lee won Lee won election in November 2024 and took office two months later. “It’s been a pleasure to extend the year, and this year has been like all the rest—full of interesting and worthwhile matters. I will be forever grateful.”
The First District includes most of the unincorporated areas of Cuyama, Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito, Santa Barbara, and the San Marcos Foothills as well as portions of the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria.
