After a few hours in Isla Vista, the other candidates for 3rd District supervisor have said what they’d like to do. Here’s what I’ve already done and will keep doing.

As Assistant to current Supervisor Gail Marshall and as someone who lived in I.V. for years, I know firsthand what some of the problems are. We’ve worked hard for tenants’ rights, community needs and environmental protection. We created the I.V. Housing Inspection Office, placing a county housing inspector in I.V. to hold landlords accountable for bad living conditions, and approved a law requiring landlords to return security deposits sooner and provide relocation money if you’re evicted because of their code violation

We improved I.V. safety by fighting for more and brighter streetlights and by securing over $700,000 for new sidewalks. I’ll work to create an I.V. Foot Patrol Citizens Oversight Committee to monitor community policing. I’ll continue to support building an I.V. Community Center and completing the I.V. Master Plan. I won’t support the proposed I.V. Parking Permit Program and will advocate for better transit systems and more off-site parking for I.V. residents.

Environmental issues have always been a 3rd District priority. We helped stop a massive 10-foot high seawall that would have limited beach access at the Del Playa bluffs. We helped preserve the large open spaces around I.V. Elementary School and were instrumental in building Pelican Park on DP’s 6500 block. We were directly involved in saving Ellwood Mesa, which will soon preserve over two miles of coastline from the end of Del Playa out to the golf course. We funded the I.V. street sweeping program, preventing street trash from going into storm drains and out to the ocean.

I’ll continue opposing any additional coastal oil development and I’ll advocate for the immediate removal of unused oil processing facilities

I’m proud of endorsements from Congresswoman Lois Capps, Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson, Coastal Commissioner Pedro Nava, UCSB Democrats, the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters and Santa Barbara County Women’s Political Committee.

They know that this local election is crucial to our future. As your Supervisor, I’ll always put our community’s interests first.

John Buttny is a candidate for 3rd District county supervisor.