While no actual baton got passed, this Tuesday morning, Supervisor Laura Capps — perhaps the most outspokenly liberal member of the board — vacated her seat as board chair for the past year and made way for Supervisor Bob Nelson, the most outspokenly conservative member of the board, to take her place wielding the ceremonial gavel. For Nelson — now in the second year of his second term—it will be his second time as chair.
Mostly, it’s the job of the chair to manage meetings but the position offers sway on when some issues get heard. But the chair also can exert limited body English on board direction. Nelson, who praised his colleagues for voting to appoint him despite his penchant for casting dissenting votes, said he will introduce an ordinance to streamline the county’s regulatory process.
“We need quicker yeses. We need quicker noes. And we need to charge less for both,” he stated. It’s all about affordability, he said. “People need to make more money and things need to cost less.”
He talked of launching pilot project in his district — Orcutt and surrounds — to generate affordable for-sale housing. The units may need to be smaller with fewer frills, but otherwise, he said, the county runs the risk of creating a generation of permanent renters with no realistic path to home ownership.
He also announced he and 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee were launching “Operation Gold Medal,” a countywide initiative to take advantage of the rare economic opportunities offered by the 2028 Olympics taking place in Los Angeles, just 90 miles to the south.
Lastly, he pledged to establish sister city relations with the Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan, a region famous for its wine production.
Nelson noted he and Capps differed on numerous issues but stated they both “found ways to listen to one another, learn from one another, and to work together in good faith.” He also cautioned — albeit obliquely — his colleagues against becoming embroiled in divisive national issues. By so doing, he suggested, the board might risk the unity needed on issues of immediate local importance over which they can exert some real control.
He started his remarks by praising his mother, a single mom who raised two sons and also a county worker.
“She taught us that showing up matters, that work matters, and that if you’re going to serve the public, you do it with humility and toughness.”
