A Teacher Endorses Das
As someone who has lived in Santa Barbara County’s 1st District for some 50 years, and spent 35 of that teaching high school here, I’ve watched local politicians come and go. Generally, we’ve been well-served and thoughtfully represented by our public servants, but one who has stood out as particularly skilled and passionate about protecting this community and bettering the lives of the broadest spectrum of the region’s residents has been Das Williams.
Perhaps not incidentally, I’ve paid attention to Das’s career from the start, since I remember his rather serious presence in the front row of a 10th-grade English class at Dos Pueblos High School about 30 years ago. I believe he took a not entirely direct path from there through SBCC, a degree in political science from UC Berkeley, work as legislative aide to Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, and eventually a master’s in Environmental Science & Management from UCSB’s Bren School. The kid has done well for himself!
And he’s done especially well for all of us, serving seven years on City Council, six years in the State Assembly, and the past three years on the Board of Supervisors. Whether your concern is the environment, land use, mental health, economic stability, public safety, or education, Das has been passionately supporting and frequently crafting beneficial and far-thinking public policy.
It would be sad and self-defeating at this juncture for us to turn our backs on experience, imagination, and a record of progressive success in favor of political dynasty.