We
were 40-plus-year residents of Montecito, and we have seen our share of county supervisors.
We have enjoyed some exceptionally able and committed representatives along the
way, and we are happy to affirm that Das Williams has been as good as the best
of them.
It
isn't just that he and his staff rose to the challenge of two unprecedented
natural disasters one after another. It isn't just that Das went above and
beyond to help with the recovery, from still-ongoing services to disaster
victims to creative policies to help faster rebuilding and to prevent future
debris flows. It's that Das exhibits a sincerity and cut-to-the-chase desire to
make things work. This comes before self-promotion or grandstanding: He is a
straight shooter who will tell you the truth in the service of the best
policies, even if it might lose him votes. And it means that he will listen
thoughtfully to both sides, and work for solutions for all.
This
attitude is why Das has worked well "across the aisle" on our
otherwise divided Board of Supervisors. He recognizes that local government is
about getting things done, regardless of partisan differences. It also means
that Das has worked proactively with "both sides" around cannabis
issues. As a Carpinteria resident, he lives both sides: recognizing the
economic opportunity that cannabis presents and working to address the
challenges that these changes have brought.