Local chef ran for position in 2022, losing by just six votes
The Solvang City Council wasted no time filling its District 3 vacancy as the councilmembers voted to appoint Louise Smith, a chef and owner of Louise’s Kitchen Table, a catering business in Solvang.
Smith isn’t exactly a stranger to Solvang city politics and government; she ran for the District 3 seat in 2022, when the City Council began it’s conversion to a district-based council, and lost to David Brown by six votes. The seat opened up when Brown was elected mayor in November 2024. Smith has also served on the city’s Tourism Advisory Committee in 2023.
The council kicked off the meeting by introducing the two candidates for the empty seat: Smith and Melanie-Eckford Prossor, who serves as director of curriculum and outreach for the Liberty Cap Foundation, and is also a book seller at the Book Loft in Solvang.
The meeting kicked off with both candidates addressing the council and making their case for the position.
Smith started off by reminding that she narrowly the District 3 election and said it did show that she had support among the district’s voters. She also cited her experience as president of her HOA and her time with many boards and commissions locally.
“I’ve had to make the hard decisions that boards and councils make, so I understand the process,” Smith said.
Smith cited water supplies and infrastructure as the major issues confronting Solvang.
“2025 is expected to be a drought year, which brings up concerns about water conservation, aging wells, and our dependence on state water,” she said. “The L.A. fires shown how vulnerable we really are.”
Smith also commented on the fact that 800,000 tourists came through town during Julefest, the city’s month-plus-long Christmas celebration.
“That was all exciting and wonderful, but it puts strains on our resources, including parking and our traffic congestion,” she said.
In summary, Smith said “I don’t have all the answers, but my passion and commitment to District 3 and to Solvang are strong.”
In addressing the council, Eckford-Prossor said came by the District 3 vacancy by accident.
“I was working at the Book Loft and was checking Julefest things, and I saw the District 3 seat was open,” she said. “And I thought to myself ‘This really is the time,’ because I’ve been in governance at the academic senate at a university and as senate president at Santa Barbara City College. The links between how a college works and a city works is, I believe, very similar.”
Eckford-Prossor also cited her experience on the Theaterfest Board and Santa Barbara Foundation, among other pursuits, before addressing the issues in the city.
“We’re at a crucial hinge moments for Solvang,” she said. “I live on Laurel and 2nd, and during December, the parking [by tourists] reached up to past the secondary school. We need to better for residents, tourists, and businesses. And that’s been the impetus for my applying.”
Eckford-Prossor also identified water conservation as a big issue.
“I’m involved in the Santa Barbara Community Rowing Association at Lake Cachuma, and every time I go down thereI see the water level dropping,” she said. “And I have a dog, Daisy, that I take to the park and there no place there where she can get a drink of water. We need to build consensus for these things.”
After the Public Comment segment saw five speakers come to the podium in support of Smith, it did not take long for the council to act.
Councilmember Elizabeth Orona praised Smith before making a motion, seconded by Councilmember Mark Infante, to appoint her to the board.
“Having run for office, it give the public an opportunity to know the person,” Orona said. “Having the evidence of what the voters thought in the [2022] election is a good indicator for the appointment. And when Louise didn’t win that election, she immediately raised her hand and joined the Tourism Advisory Committe, so I think there’s something very right about appointing her.”
The council approved Smith’s appointment with a 4-0 vote.
In other business, the City Council appointed people to the city’s boards and commissions. The appointments are as follows:
Planning Commission: Jack Williams (appointed by Infante), Aaron Peterson (Claudia Orona), Brandon Sparks-Gillis (Smith), Bill Ziegler (Elizabeth Orona), Kief Adler (Brown).
Design Review Committee: Esther Jacobsen-Bates (Infante), Jennifer Johnson (Claudia Orona), Melissa Bates (Smith), Charlene Goetz (Elizabeth Orona),Richard Boyd (Brown).
Measure U Citizen Oversight Committee: Adelia Kehoe (Claudia Orona) and Henry Haugse (Brown).
The next City Council meeting will be Monday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m.
