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Laura Capps talks about the issues KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESSLaura Capps, a member of the Santa Barbara Unified School District board, is seeking the Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by Gregg Hart, who’s running for Assembly.
Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series about candidates in this year’s electoral races and their views on the issues.
Tackling poverty is among the top goals by Laura Capps, who’s running for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
Ms. Capps is seeking the 2nd District seat, which includes the Santa Barbara area. Its current occupant, Gregg Hart, has decided against seeking re-election and is running instead for the new 37th Assembly seat.
Ms. Capps discussed Santa Barbara County issues during a recent interview.
“We are tied for first in the state for having the highest poverty rate,” Ms. Capps told the News-Press. “It shouldn’t be that way. There are a lot of good people and programs trying to alleviate poverty. We can do more.
“I have the experience in the field of accessing state and federal dollars to help people who are struggling,” Ms. Capps said.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District board member said she sees the impact of poverty on a daily basis on children and noted that 13% of the district’s students are experiencing homelesness.
She added that poverty is connected with other issues, such as the high cost of housing and the traffic on freeways because people can’t afford to live in the communities where they work.
Ms. Capps, who recently toured homeless encampments with a Santa Barbara County employee, said she favors looking at other jurisdictions and borrowing their best practices in dealing with homelesness. She cited the work by DignityMoves in creating interim housing in Santa Barbara.
On economic issues, Ms. Capp said she favors “smart growth” for the county. “We have to look across the county to see where development makes sense. There are certainly some areas where we can have more housing and bring down the costs. We need more housing for workers.”
She said she favors streamlining the process to reduce costs for developers and that she would be a pro-business supervisor.
“Born and raised here, I know many of the businesses,” she said. “I grew up, going to McConnell’s Ice Cream, riding my bike down State Street. I understand the challenges of the market, combined with high rents.”
During the News-Press interview, Ms. Capps addressed other issues such as COVID-19.
“The pandemic is here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future,” she said. “As I’ve tried to do on the school board, I want to follow the science and communicate decisions as clearly as possible.
“Every single person has been affected by this pandemic,” Ms. Capps said. “Some have been affected in extreme ways with having had COVID themselves or having lost loved ones. Everyone has suffered to some degree.
“As the county government, we need to be as nimble and responsive to changing data and protocols from the state,” she said.
Ms. Capps said the goal is to keep people safe. She said she supports mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics. “We need vaccinations where people are.
“I’m an advocate of vaccinations at schools,” Ms. Capps said, noting their accessibility in neighborhoods.
Ms. Capps, a White House speech writer during the Clinton administration and founder of the Capstone public affairs company, said her experience in communications and public affairs would be a plus in communicating with the public.
She is the daughter of two Santa Barbara Democrats — the late U.S. Rep. Walter Capps and former U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. She said she learned a lot from her parents before their work in Washington, D.C.
“My dad ran for Congress when I was 22,” Ms. Capps said. “My dad was a (UCSB) professor, and my mom was a school nurse. It was ingrained in me that living in a community, you have a responsibility to lend a hand to help your neighbor and dedicate your time to the betterment of others.”
Ms. Capps, the single mother of a 10-year-old boy, said she has no plans to run for Congress and likes the kind of public service work that she could do on the Board of Supervisors.
Ms. Capps has received endorsements from U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley; Joan Hartmann, the chair of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and others.
email: dmason@newspress.com
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