Das Williams: The Best Candidate

I’m voting to re-elect Das Williams as county supervisor because I believe he is the best candidate for the job. Das has taken a tough stance on cannabis which I appreciate. In my opinion, it is the biggest issue within our community. We know prohibition of cannabis won’t work and would only drive it underground. Unregulated cannabis is dangerous for our community, public health and safety.

Das led the vote to limit the total number of acres that can be cultivated for cannabis. Thanks to him, cannabis can only represent a maximum of 1,575 acres county-wide. For comparison,16,166 acres of wine grapes were harvested in 2018 county-wide (according to the County’s Ag Production Report).

Das also made a motion to mandate all existing growers in Carpinteria to install best available odor control technology. He supported increasing resources for the Sheriff’s cannabis enforcement teams. In fact, the cannabis enforcement budget for this year is $2.8 million dollars. (This is paid for by cannabis tax revenues.) And since 2018, the County has taken 58 enforcement actions, and confiscated $227.9 million of illicit plants.

Das’s opponent, Laura Capps, doesn’t have any experience on this complicated issue. Her answer is to regulate local cannabis farming to the point of creating a de facto ban. All of Santa Barbara County, as well as the State of California, needs cannabis tax dollars.

This new industry needs to be regulated but it is not that simple. The county has been developing rules/standards since 2016 and held over 60 public meetings.

I’d rather have a Supervisor like Das, who understands that we need tough oversight. Vote Das Williams for County Supervisor on March 3.