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

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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.

Dr. Dave Launches First Salvo in 3rd District Race

"Mr. Smyser has some 'splaining' to do!", says Dr. Dave Bearman in an April Fool's Day shot over the bough on the 3rd District Supervisorial race. Saying David Smyser has a "lack of curiosity about the affiliations of his mystery campaign donors", Dr. Dave points to a Santa Ynez Journal article which questions several donations from businesses with apparently no connection to Santa Barbara County. Here's what the good doctor says about it:

So far Smyser has raised $55,000 in campaign donations with over half coming from outside Santa Barbara County. The questions originally arose from a total of $20,000 in contributions from four San Francisco sources, three of whom remain unidentified and are not listed in the California Corporate Record. Currently Smyser only vaguely claims he did not know the identity of his three mystery donors and didn't care to originally find out who they might be. But Dr. Bearman says Smyser has an obligation to investigate or, at least, be curious about his own large campaign donors.

Apparently, many of the donors have associations with Bacara developer Alvin Dworman and Bacara President B.J. Hoppe.

In true Dr. Dave fashion, he brought up a few more issues about growth and "instant cities" in his rather long press release -- the most relevant secondary issue being:

"For some reason, long needed community general plans for the Lompoc, Santa Ynez and Orcutt areas remain delayed and unfunded by the County and that needs to be changed. The people of Santa Barbara County must be allowed to have a voice in their own future. As I was quoted in the Santa Ynez Valley Journal,' Mr. Smyser has some 'splaining' to do.'"

It's hard to fault Dr. Dave for asking these questions for a race that is hardly on the radar for most voters. Mixing Goleta anti-growth politics with 3rd District electioneering may or may not work for Dr. Dave considering the ease at which the Goleta Council saw new faces in the last election. Still, it has been a formula that worked for years -- at least until Brooks Firestone was elected. It's also hard to fault Dr. Dave for trying to distinguish himself from the pack of candidates where he has been seen as a spoiler to Doreen Farr's candidacy. Perhaps the most important aspect of this issue is whether or not Smyser will have the money and stature in the race to at least gain a run off with another candidate. If these donations are indicative of what's to come, he certainly will have the funds to do so.