Greetings. I’m your average Santa Barbara neighbor, volunteerist, and localist, running for Santa Barbara County Supervisor. I’m running because our district deserves leadership that works towards encouraging local business, preserving our environmental and cultural heritage, bringing political decision-making closer to residents, and minimizing how deeply the county government must dig into the wallets of its citizens.
My opponent, Laura Capps, made her way onto the Board of Supervisors the same way she has obtained every political office she hasn’t lost her bid for: by waltzing in unopposed, thanks to her belonging to the famed Capps political family.
Now, I’ll be honest, it seems as though Ms. Capps has been working hard (hard enough, apparently, that she deemed herself deserving of a $56,000 pay raise in 2025), and the results of her efforts speak for themselves: housing prices that lock out middle-class wage earners, and performative environmental policies that drag taxpayers into massive legal battles.
On Housing
Working families, young couples starting out, and middle-class residents, are squeezed out of acquiring any of the moderate-priced housing aimed at them. Median home prices hover around $2.3 million, while typical household incomes sit near $100,000.
Rent eats up about half of what people bring home (double what it was thirty years ago). First-time buyers are now pushing forty (30 years ago, the average age of a first-time homebuyer was 29), and it’s no wonder family formation is slowing. Speaking from my own experience, I can also note that I am one of perhaps three individuals in my social group growing up who has managed to stick around in Santa Barbara; we’ve lost so many young locals by making it nearly impossible for them to obtain housing or start a business.
The County and City of Santa Barbara have layered on endless barriers to new construction and even simple renovations, not only grinding the development of housing to a near-halt, but also hindering private renovation and the development of new businesses and storefronts.
Accessory dwelling units (those backyard homes or garage conversions that could house teachers, nurses, and young families) face a thicket of regulations that can’t be mitigated by banning vacation units and hoping that their owners will just decide to become full-time landlords. Coastal development permits on bluff-top lots can run north of $18,000 just to start. Impact fees, plan-check charges, and utility hookups pile on thousands upon thousands more. The permitting process drags on and on with subjective design reviews, and let’s not forget the overpowered public appeals process; one neighbor’s objection to a property improvement that doesn’t tangibly affect them in any way, shape, or form, can stall a project for months or kill it on sight.
While there have been a small number of recent tweaks to streamline minor permits, they’re far too little, far too late under the current Board. The outcome? Santa Barbara is increasingly becoming a city and county where only subsidized or luxury housing is viable, profitable, and worth the risks involved from investors. Thus, Santa Barbara is becoming a place where, if you’d like to live here comfortably, you must be either a millionaire, or alternatively, be receiving government support.
If elected, I will advocate for sweeping reforms to clear bureaucratic underbrush: simple and objective standards for ADUs and new builds, minimal fees instead of revenue grabs, and limits on appeals that don’t involve genuine safety issues or violations of neighboring property rights.
My dream is to see a drastic uptick in the availability and prioritization of traditionally styled, elegant housing that fits our neighborhoods (think Craftsman and Spanish Revival duplexes, bungalow and courtyard apartments, cozy infill units, etc. aimed at locals, the middle and working class, and young people/young families first and foremost).
On Oil
Next, consider our approach to offshore oil. I care deeply about our coastline. I’m an environmentalist, an advocate for regenerative agriculture, ecosystem preservation, and the development of more localized and sustainable economies. That’s why I support real stewardship, not performative gestures promulgated by feckless politicians such as Capps, who has steered our county towards a costly legal war with Sable Offshore over the restart of platforms and pipelines on federal waters (that is, waters that are outside of County jurisdiction in the first place…).
Closed-door sessions, lawsuits, and appeals do nothing but eat up staff time and taxpayer dollars while producing no measurable environmental gain. Meanwhile, we’re missing out on county revenue from properly regulated production.
By refusing to utilize our county’s onshore transport infrastructure (some of the most highly regulated and closely monitored oil infrastructure in the U.S.), and demanding that operators barge oil away instead of using said infrastructure, is neither safer, nor fiscally responsible. Our pipelines and facilities operate under increasingly strict standards, and can be monitored by our County far more effectively than tankers off our coast. Using these responsibly would generate jobs, bring in millions in tax dollars for local services, and reduce the very spill and seepage risks that come with repeated barge traffic or leaving offshore infrastructure idle.
Capps’ seemingly absolute rejection of oil extraction and processing plays well in the local news media but weakens our economy and our ability to fund genuine conservation. We must also ask where a mindset like hers will lead us. Realizing that oil remains a constant, should we, as a County, seek to essentially offshore oil extraction and processing to other counties, states, or even other countries with poorer environmental and safety regulations than we insist upon?
Voters in Hope Ranch, Goleta, Noleta, Isla Vista, The Mesa, and the West Side have a clear choice to make in the June 2nd Primary; We can keep doubling down on policies that sound compassionate but deliver unaffordability, political inefficiency, and higher paychecks for the bureaucrats and politicians overseeing it all. Or, we can choose practical, optimistic leadership that can oversee the building of elegant homes for middle-income families, foster local businesses, and secure real environmental and economic wins.
I’m Elijah Mack and I’m running to deliver that future, confident that together, we can re-orient our County Government towards what really matters: the wellbeing of our local economies, our environment, our communities, and the families, students, workers, and entrepreneurs who call this county their home.
Community Calendar:
Got a Santa Barbara event for our community calendar? Fenkner@sbcurrent.com