Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr Comments on Challenge to her Election

Community News from Friends of Doreen Farr

Today Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr issued the following statement about the lawsuit Steve Pappas has brought against her:

"In response to numerous calls and emails that I have received about this lawsuit, I would like to clear up any possible confusion about what has happened, and why I am confident that the will of the voters will not be overturned by this suit.

In November 2008 3rd District Supervisor's race, I won by more than 800 votes, about 52% to Steve Pappas' 48%. Rather than concede, Mr. Pappas has so far paid over $11,000 for a recount of only the votes cast in all 18 UCSB and Isla Vista precincts. The recount resulted in his gaining one vote. On January 6, I was sworn in and seated as the 3rd District Supervisor.

On January 7th, Mr. Pappas filed an amended suit against me personally, seeking to invalidate the majority of more than 9,700 votes cast solely in UCSB and Isla Vista precincts and seeking to declare him the winner. Mr. Pappas has publicly stated that my campaign did nothing wrong, but that election laws require him to file against me, even for actions he alleges were done by others.

I'm committed to ensuring that this suit does not disenfranchise legitimate voters nor create divisiveness among 3rd District residents. At the same time I'm determined that Mr. Pappas' lawsuit will not distract me from addressing the issues and challenges facing all the residents of the 3rd District and Santa Barbara County.

I also want to express my confidence in Joe Holland, Clerk-Recorder, Assessor and Elections Chief as well as the integrity of the voter registration and elections process. Mr. Holland was elected by the voters, and has demonstrated the high degree of professionalism and independence that voters have a right to expect. It's most unfortunate that in these difficult economic times, substantial Santa Barbara County staff time and resources must be spent on Mr. Pappas' lawsuit.

I'm confident that the court will uphold the actions of our county's elections officials, the rights of the voters, and the results of the 2008 election."

Pappas Lawsuit Explained....

Mea culpa -- I had a really bad day for typos yesterday. Let's see if I do better today :) -- Sara

There are a few things about the Pappas lawsuit over the Third Supervisorial District election which bother me but I'm not so sure I've been able to communicate them effectively in prior posts. The following is a list published over at Black Box Voting which succinctly states what is problematic with the lawsuit from a small-d democratic point of view:

(1) Candidate Steve Pappas proposes to eliminate the votes of entire precincts based on the contention that a few voters were ineligible. This would set a horrific precedent. Of course, you can't purge just the votes of any voters found to be ineligible, because votes are anonymous. Therefore this candidate proposes purging ALL the votes in certain precincts, eligible and ineligible, which would not only wrongfully disenfranchise legitimate voters, but would set a precedent that could allow tampering with elections by injecting a few ineligible voters in key precincts as "poison pills."

(2) This lawsuit illustrates how the Help America Vote Act can be used against voters. This kind of litigation imposes what is probably an unsustainable burden of diligence on poll workers and election officials to research every voter registration and voter who shows up to vote.

(3) Alleges "potentially improper" registrations. We don't want ineligible people voting, but we certainly don't want registering to vote to cause voter intimidation through personal investigations or harassment.

Whether Democrat or Republican, at least some of the above should bother you. Would you want your vote invalidated because of a few bad registrations for instance? Do we want county employees spending time on this so far after the fact? Finally, aren't "improper" registrations more relative to the intent of the person registering than whether the registrar signed the card as well? Maybe....but are we willing to throw away votes based more on the precinct one votes in (that happens to be filled with liberal students) than on someone's ability and intent to vote? I don't think so....

Note to Steve Pappas: Nothing Changes on New Year's Day.

First of all, Happy New Year to you all. I was thinking of taking a BlogaHoliday today but this news is too rich to pass up.

In an end of the year move sure to rankle taxpayer advocates, Steve Pappas is asking Superior Court to contest the November 4th Third District election. Interestingly enough, the only place the story seems to be available is over at the Santa Ynez Journal -- home of his uber-supporter Nancy Crawford Hall. A relatively even piece written by SYVJ Staff writer Leah Etling tells us the story, including a quote from Doreen Farr, but also strangely includes a full copy of Pappas' press release afterwards. Objective enough?

Pappas has already cost the Elections Office a good amount of time and money in asking for a recount for which he only gained one vote.

What's different this time? In this action, he is saying that a very specific group of voters were improperly registered and therefore their votes should not be counted. If you know anything about 3rd District politics, you are probably shaking your head right now in understanding as it is often "those damned students" who take the brunt of the losing side's ire in 3rd District contests. According to Pappas, some registration cards were turned in late, improperly filled out and represented re-registrations. There are also rules around turning in registration cards within a certain amount of days and not holding on to the cards. He also points to a Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”) which requires that a person's ID be cleared through something called the Calvalidator system -- I'll have to do some research on that as I've never heard of it.

Not being a constitutional lawyer, I'm not sure what the opposing side arguments will be other than despite any timing issues with registration cards, for instance, voters registered to vote expect to be able to vote on election day. I'm not clear a court would take that right away from them on a technicality. This effort also seems so student-centered when there were plenty of registrations accepted in Goleta and the Santa Ynez Valley during a major election as well.

Why Pappas would invest so much in a losing battle seems only centered on the fact he has a financial backer willing to spend the money. Although it seems that he has convinced himself that he is championing democracy, it's hard to think that this effort will get very far.

The Pappas-Farr Race is Not THAT Close!

I saw over at The Indy that Steve Pappas' $100,000 supporter thinks he was "acorned". Now that the Chicago organization has become an verb, I'm afraid it will forever be in the right wing lexicon right next to socialism.

Nancy Crawford-Hall, owner of the Santa Ynez Valley Journal, seems to think supervisorial candidate Steve Pappas came a lot closer to beating Doreen Farr than it looks on paper. With a 2.27% spread with 35,621 votes, I would be hard pressed to say he has a chance of surpassing Farr. 51% to 48% races generally do not get recounted and Pappas has apparently caused $6-7,000 of the Elections Division time up to this point. To be fair, the Elections Division didn't have to do the work but probably made a good decision in doing so as there were some questions worth answering.

This is a waste, however, of taxpayer money. Bully on Pappas for looking for integrity in the voting process but it looks as if County Clerk-Recorder Joe Holland is doing his job. A machine count which would be conducted today or tomorrow would be significantly more expensive. If there is one, Pappas and Crawford-Hall should be ready to pay for it.

Dr. Dave Endorses Pappas

From a press release -- an announcement from Dr. Dave Bearman. -- Sara

Ever since the closely fought Wallace-Chamberlin race in 1992, the 3rd District has been very evenly divided. This divisiveness has not been good for County government or appreciated by the voters of the 3rd District. In fact, the incumbent Brooks Firestone ran as a uniter. Unfortunately like George Bush, Firestone turned out to be a divider. The voters’ displeasure in his perceived failure to act even-handedly was reflected by the 3rd place showing of Firestone’s hand-picked candidate, David Smyzer in this year’s 3rd District primary.

There are many reasons to support Steve Pappas for 3rd District Supervisor. Not the least of which is that he is a true independent (he is registered as Decline To State). He will make decisions on what is best for all of us in Santa Barbara County, not what is best for North County or South County, or the Republicans or the Democrats. An added bonus is that of the two candidates for this office, he has the most experience in elected office(6 ) years to (0 ) and has the most business experience.

We are all Santa Barbara County residents. Pappas being an independent allows him to act in the best interest of Santa Barbara County without hewing to any particular party line. The vast majority in the 3rd District want to see open space preserved. They want ag zoned lands to remain ag zoned. They want Ag to prosper and want what development does occur, to occur in urban settings supported by adequate infrastructure. So does Steve Pappas. He is not tied to special interests. As our Supervisor Steve Pappas will be the more effective in representing the whole of Santa Barbara County and the Third District.

Santa Barbarans want a County that supports business while requiring these businesses to act responsibly, not leak oil over pristine land, tear up scenic freeways, or bully politicians with plans for building mega resorts. Steve’s work in fighting development in the Santa Ynez Valley, his experience in public office and business acumen, give him the tools to effectively protect the environment without creating a hostile business environment. Steve Pappas will implement safeguards that both protect the beauty of Santa Barbara’s unique natural gifts while not unduly hamstring business.

Steve Pappas has stood up to developers. He worked creatively to prevent a 15 acre farm in Los Olivos from being turned into 150 condos. He has tried to work with the Chumash to hold them accountable for the environmental impacts of their development and to require them to act at least as responsibly as a normal developer.

We need someone who has the savvy and experience right now to use every avenue to fight the Naples development and development on the Bishop Ranch. Steve Pappas is that person.

A person with the business experience of Steve Pappas has a much better chance of working out a transfer of development rights (TDR) arrangement than the relatively inexperienced Doreen Farr. Her own supporters, in their campaign material, have damned her with feint praise. They characterized her as a nice lady who is a hard worker and is willing to learn. That is all well and good, but we should demand a candidate with a solid track record of experience and results in work ,community activism and public office.

Of the 5 candidates who ran in the primary there was no argument that Farr had the least elective office experience, whereas Victoria Pointer and myself had the most, followed by Steve Pappas. Pappas can hit the ground running. He is in a unique position to represent the best interests of both the Santa Ynez Valley and the Goleta Valley. The Independents said we need someone who can communicate with the ranchers. Pappas has strong backing from this element of the electorate.

While Farr has some impressive endorsements, it is not they who will be serving us as Supervisor. Let’s look at Ms. Farr’s track record. According to her campaign material, she served on the Planning Commission for 2_ years, was active in PANA and before that got a stop sign put up. That’s about it, folks. Just because an ad shows her standing next to Lois Capps, no one is confused that Farr is Capps.

• Goleta Decision
The policy decisions Doreen Farr made as a community activist are cause for concern about her judgment. Farr has made some poor public policy decisions and has yet to publicly acknowledge these errors in judgment. She supported the city of a third of Goleta even though the County’s fiscal analysis and the LAFCO required independent fiscal analysis of this truncated city of Goleta pointed to a high potential for a financially marginal city. Farr still insists she made the right decision.

• Revenue Neutrality Agreement
When asked about the Revenue Neutrality Agreement (RNA) Doreen Farr has consistently said she had no hand in developing what has been deemed the worst RNA in the state. Somehow she thinks that excuses her support of the city of Goleta at the time of its formation. The fiscal underpinnings of a city are one of the most important aspects to consider in forming a new city. Goleta’s political leaders are now clamoring for a dramatic revision of that RNA. In my mind Farr should have been aware of the fiscal implications of the RNA before throwing her support to the boundaries of the current city of Goleta.

• Isla Vista Governance
Her position on Isla Vista governance is hard to comprehend. Her supervisorial campaign literature says she supports some vague sort of self-government for Isla Vista. What does she mean by that? Most analysts believe that a freestanding city of Isla Vista would be even less financially viable than the present abbreviated city of Goleta.

When there was a real chance to give Isla Vista self-government and have it be a part of Goleta, Farr opposed IV’s inclusion in the city. This is even though the independent fiscal analysis showed a city of Goleta including Isla Vista would have had 14 million more dollars in surplus at the end of 10 years than a city with the boundaries approved by LAFCO. And this is not counting the 25 million dollars Goleta West bank account, plus the 1.5 million per year in ad valorem property tax which goes to the Goleta West Sanitary District. The city of Goleta would have gained these assets if the Goleta Now proponents had included Isla Vista within their boundry. This would have allowed this larger city to absorb the functions of the sanitary district and dissolve the Goleta West Sanitary District.

• The Environment
Farr and many of her supporters made a flawed fiscal, political and environmental decision in choosing the current boundaries for what is now the city of Goleta. The Goleta Now organization correctly reasoned that support for their new city would go down in Goleta if they included Isla Vista. What they did not calculate was that the overwhelming support out of I.V. would have led to an even larger favorable vote than the current city received. More importantly this larger city of Goleta would have been more financially viable and have been more environmentally conscious than what we got. We would not be facing the prospect of 900, 1200, 3000 – who knows how many – new houses on the Bishop Ranch and the rezoning of other ag lands within Goleta.

Steve Pappas, Victoria Pointer and I represent the emerging less partisan trend in government. We must move away from confrontation between Republicans on the right and Democrats on the left and look to leadership in the middle, a leader who has the best interests of the people at heart, rather than the interests of one political party or another. If that’s what you want, Steve Pappas is your man.

I support Steve Pappas for Third District Supervisor. I urge Third District voters to study the two candidates. After doing so, I believe most of you will join me in going to the polls to vote for Steve Pappas for Third District Supervisor.

Peace,



David Bearman, M.D. (Dr. Dave)

Community Post: Choice Words at The Indie

I was a little surprised myself at Mollie Vandor's choice of words in describing Third District candidate David Smyser -- an avid reader sent this community post. -- Sara

===========Community Post==============

In her (usually) weekly opinion column "Eye on Isla Vista" featured at the Santa Barbara Independent web site, Mollie Vandor profiles the five candidates for Third District County Supervisor, up for election on June 3rd, with the top two placeholders to be in the County runoff election in November.

Vandor offers this succinct description of candidate David Smyser from Colorado... uh, I mean Solvang:

"[He] has spent the last few years of his political career as --for lack of a better term-- Brooks Firestone’s bitch.

He was Planning Commissioner and Chief of Staff for the outgoing 3rd District Supervisor, and since Brooksie’s reign included crackdowns on I.V.’s Halloween celebration, his record of choosing big business over environmental concerns and his well-known waffling when it comes to tenants’ and students’ rights, that does not bode well for Smyser. Especially since he has said he plans to continue the work of his predecessor. He also got busted allegedly accepting donations from development interests."

Is Smyser his metaphorical Bitch? Discuss.

PR: Firefighters Endorse Farr

The Professional Firefighters of Santa Barbara County IAFF Local 2046 are proud to join the growing list of supporters of Doreen Farr for 3rd District Supervisor. We believe that Doreen’s experience as a planning commissioner, consultant and businesswoman, combined with her 15 years of service to the County as a community and neighborhood leader makes her the most qualified choice for the County Board of Supervisors. Her thorough knowledge of county and regional issues and commitment to public safety were important to our diverse board and membership in making our selection.

“Doreen impressed our Executive Board with her knowledge of the importance of disaster preparedness. As someone who was evacuated twice for fires while living is Santa Barbara County, Doreen will bring real life experience when making land use decisions that impact public safety.” stated Local President Rob Heckman. “Her commitment to public safety, disaster planning, combined with her deep roots in the community made her the obvious choice to our members.”

The more than 220 professional firefighters who make up the Santa Barbara County Firefighters Association are your friends and neighbors. We are Republicans, Independents, Green Party members and Democrats. We are families concerned about neighborhoods and affordable housing. We care about the economic growth of our community and keeping our high quality of life. We are parents, surfers, hikers and divers, who want to instill in our children and our community a sense of ownership and responsibility about our environment. We are public safety professionals who, on a daily basis, are in contact with the people of the 3rd District and understand their interest in a safe and responsible community.

Protecting life, property and the environment are the highest priorities for firefighters and we are proud to support Doreen Farr for 3rd District Supervisor. Doreen is the one candidate we know has the experience and leadership ability to prioritize these essential 3rd District community needs.

Treat Your County Well! Dr. Dave Gets Crosby Endorsement

I know. People will talk. Two posts in one week on Dr. Dave? Still, I received a press release yesterday from Dr. Dave Bearman announcing the support of David Crosby. Doreen Farr isn't mentioned at all in the release -- as if it is a two person race! I also have to wonder whether the Crosby endorsement helps or hinders Dr. Dave in the Valley. Here's part of the release:

International music superstar David Crosby has endorsed Dr. David Bearman for 3rd district Supervisor on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.

Crosby, a Santa Barbara native and longtime resident of the Santa Ynez Valley, said "Fighting excessive development in the 3rd district means more than preserving quaint tourist attractions. It's part of a greater struggle to preserve the delicate environmental equilibrium of this area. I believe strongly that Dr. Dave is the candidate who will rein in the developers and preserve our shoreline, hills, streams and bountiful pastures." Crosby added that after considering the field of candidates, he decided that Bearman was the candidate who will draw the student and independent voters necessary to defeat David Smyzer, a pro-growth candidate appearing to favor the fast growth, environmentally damaging developers.