3rd District candidate David Smyser

 

Make no mistake about it. David Smyser wants you to know that he’s agriculture oriented.

The 53-year-old lawyer running for the 3rd District supervisor’s seat, dressed in a casual, western-cut blue-and-white shirt, Levis, cowboy boots, and a white cowboy hat, discussed the issues important to him and to the constituents of the district on a recent afternoon.

He said he doesn’t believe that allowing some development in Naples will lead to widespread development there, and he favors giving the Chumash their own seat on the county’s association of governments.

Originally from Junction City, Kan., and a farming family, Smyser attended college at the University of Maryland, where he earned a degree in agriculture.  A Masters degree from National University, and later a law degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego, put him in the legal profession specializing in land use issues and mediation.

 

Smyser came to the Santa Ynez Valley 11 years ago, and eventually began working for current 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone as chief staff assistant after serving as mayor of the City of Solvang. 

Firestone appointed Smyser to the county planning commission in June 2006, a position from which he resigned last September. 

Smyser stressed his experience in land use issues, as an attorney, and as an elected and appointed representative in the 3rd District, which he said qualified him as the best candidate to represent the diverse population of the district. 

Foremost of the issues that will impact the county will be the economics of running a government in times of declining revenues, Smyser said. “There’s going to be impacts on the valley…and we’ll see in the next couple of years.” 

Smyser also said that there were three prongs of revenue for the county: retail sales taxes, hotel taxes, and property taxes.  The county had been relying on increasing property values to generate ever-larger tax receipts, but with the drop in values in the wake of the collapse of the housing market, the revenue stream is being throttled.

 

“We have been less diligent on the tourist derived taxes…We have to foster tourist trade,” said Smyser, adding that tourism brings “revenue without residents.”

Asked about press reports of donations to his campaign from what appear to be out-of-town interests, Smyser said that all contributions made to his campaign are from individuals who have residential or business interests in the Santa Barbara area.

“Backroom politics do not exist in local government,” Smyser said. The process in land use decisions is a public one, and elected officials cannot even give their opinion before a land use issue comes before them, he said.

On development pressure from the property owners at Naples and how it impacts the urban creep towards Gaviota, Smyser said that he’s a surfer and marvels at the Gaviota Coast as much as anyone and will strive to keep it as it is today.  He did, however, discuss the development process with the Naples property owner, he said, adding that there is a lot of information most people didn’t know. He said he sees no “domino effect”  shaping the coastline’s development.

 

“Naples is distinctly different due to it’s litigious history…through a memorandum of understanding the owners are hoping to gain recognition for the development property rights on that piece,” Smyser said about the piece of property west of Goleta.

Smyser served on the jail overcrowding task force for three years, and during that time the group met at the jail in Santa Barbara.  Smyser noted the insufficiencies in the current facility and asserted that about one quarter of inmates at the jail were there for mental illness and drug additions.  Smyser said also that “facilities that address that problem are the county’s job.” He said he agreed with Sheriff Brown’s decision to go forward, but that he wondered, “How is he going to fund it?”

When asked about the fit between Isla Vista and the more conservative North County, Smyser said at a recent candidate’s forum, “We need to be serious about redistricting,” and that he would be in favor of moving Isla Vista to the second district.

“I think that students in Isla Vista would rather have their voices heard on State Street” than in the rural North County said Smyser.

 

Smyser said that he “would seek a dialog with respect” in dealings with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and their casino in Santa Ynez, and that he would communicate in an open and direct manner with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency. Smyser said he advoctaes creating a seat on the Santa Barbara CountyAssociation of Governments for the tribe.

On growth, Smyser said that “North County shouldn’t be the dumping ground for South County. We’re in need of a comprehensive solution.”

Workforce housing needs to be created for the high dollar jobs that are to be attracted to Goleta, Smyser said. Too many people have been priced out of the local housing market — one of the reasons, he said, for the decline of big employers in the region such as Delco Systems and Applied Magnetics.

“We need smart growth,” Smyser said. Smyser and his wife, Sandra, have been married since 1978.

They have three children, all young adults:  Daughter Kate, 24, is a West Point Graduate and is a Captain in the U.S. Army; elder son Joe is doing graduate work in public health at UC Berkley; their younger son, Timothy, is 19.