Bob Nelson: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Santa Barbara County
By James Fenkner, CFA
Bob Nelson, the lone Republican supervisor from Santa Barbara County’s Fourth District, strode into a packed room of the Santa Barbara Republican Club this past Saturday, armed with a pastor’s kid humility and a businessman’s pragmatism. Representing 90,000 people across sprawling unincorporated areas like Orcutt and Vandenburg Space Force Base, Nelson, 46, is no stranger to the weight of responsibility. “I’m the mayor, city council, and city manager for these communities,” he declares. The secret to his success? “There’s no limit to what a man can do if he doesn’t care who gets the credit,” he says channeling Harry Truman (and Ronald Reagan, I should add).
In a nod to Clint Eastwood, Nelson frames his talk around “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” of county governance, weaving his personal story–born to an Army chaplain in Santa Cruz, raised by a single mom in Santa Maria after his father’s death at age nine–into a narrative of principle and service. A former high school teacher, water polo coach, and entrepreneur who once owned 19 apartment units, Nelson’s path to his current supervisor roll was sparked the night Obamacare passed. His wife Jamie turned to him and asked, “How does this happen?”
After responding that evil triumphs when good men do nothing, his wife replied, “Well, you're a good man, you know a lot of this stuff, you should get involved.” His retort: “Be careful what you ask for…” Now, as county supervisor, he’s tackling homelessness, high fees, and contentious issues like cooperation with ICE, all while navigating a very progressive-leaning board.
The Good: Fiscal Wins and Homelessness Progress
Nelson touts Santa Barbara County’s financial health as a bright spot. “How many of you have heard the county is going bankrupt?” he asks the crowd as hands shot up throughout the room. “That’s incorrect,” he replies. With a $1.69 billion budget, the county has bolstered reserves to $200 million and is five years from paying off its pension debt, according to Nelson. Over the past decade, the county has halted the decline of county roads and parks. “We’ve arrested that drop,” Nelson says, crediting his predecessor Peter Adam’s fiscal hawkishness.
On homelessness, Nelson sees a “math problem” he’s helped solve. In his district, he championed a 90-unit tiny homes project, enabling enforcement in the Santa Maria riverbed, once home to 300 homeless encampments. “We had fires twice a week, crimes, stolen property,” he says. Now, only two people remain, and a recent count showed a 34% drop in homelessness in his district–the only district in Santa Barbara County to see a decline. “The district I represent (which also has the highest percentage of Republican voters) was the only one where homelessness actually went down,” he notes.
The Bad: Bureaucratic Bloat and Policy Missteps
But not all is rosy. Nelson decries the county’s permitting process, where staff charge $300 an hour to review plans, often dragging projects out. One property owner faced a $20,000 bill and a 20-page rejection letter after a nine-week wait. “The [staff] returned a 20-page letter saying they couldn’t do it and handed the [property owner] a $20,000 bill,” Nelson fumes. He has advocated a 50-50 fee split between applicants and taxpayers to incentivize efficiency. “Basic economics–the county needs skin in the game,” he says.
He also criticizes the county’s electrification mandates. ‘I've got staff that has to drive out down Paradise Road, where there's no cell phone reception in an electric car,” he says, calling the push to eliminate natural gas “foolhardy,” given brownouts and costlier electricity.
The Ugly: Oil Bans, ICE, and $26 Wages
Nelson’s sharpest barbs targeted what he calls “performative politics” from the progressive board majority. The county’s move to end oil production, he argued, threatens jobs in his oil-town district of Orcutt. “The oil business is head-of-household jobs,” he says, noting that 85% of onshore production is in his backyard. “It’s hypocritical to ban what we all use.”
He also slammed the county’s refusal to cooperate with ICE, citing California’s SB 54 law, which bars local law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration agents. “We release (criminal illegals) to the parking lot where ICE has to arrest them,” he says. “It’s disruptive and wrong.”
The proposed $26 minimum wage for agricultural workers draws his ire as well. A UCSD study warns it would wipe out strawberries, lettuce, and cauliflower in the county. “(Artificially) high wages risks putting our agriculture out of business,” Nelson says. “I want to make people’s lives better.. but I’m not signing up for economic martyrdom.”
Not everyone in the crowd applauded. One Isla Vista landlord questioned a rental inspection ordinance Nelson backed. “I voted for it as a pilot to address slum conditions,” Nelson explains, stressing his early engagement with landlords, many of whom didn’t show up. “If you’re not at the table, you’re what’s for dinner,” he replies.
The Road Ahead
Nelson’s blend of conservative principles and pragmatic compromise makes him a rare bird in Santa Barbara’s progressive nest. “I’m a supervisor who’s a Republican, not the Republican supervisor,” he insists, and urges the crowd to build bridges with progressives. “Nobody ever changed a religion by being browbeaten, and nobody’s gonna change politics that way either.” As he eyes a future with lower fees and smarter policies, Nelson’s fight is clear: balance service with sanity, even when the odds–and the board–lean far left.
To listen to Supervisor Bob Nelson’s full one hour presentation, click here.
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If only we could elect a couple more like him down here in South County perhaps we’d be able to straighten things out
Great introduction to this important local political voice. And good to learn the uphill fiscal battle prior supervisor Peter Adam waged, is still being carried out with some positive results. Now we just need two other county supervisors who honor this same fiscally solvent dedication and keep paring down the county's prior billion dollar infrastructure and unfunded pension back logs
I urged new county supervisor Roy Lee to use Bob Nelson for mentoring, while Lee was getting his feet wet in his newly elected supervisor position. And to please avoid Laura Capps for that same mentoring role. Didn't happen, but you can't win them all. At least I tried.