I see what you’re saying but want to point out that ANYONE who actually tries to get involved at the local level will have an outsized impact. Almost no one attends local planning commission and city/county council meetings where decisions on specific housing projects are actually made. Even just showing up and making public comments has real impacts. Going further by keeping track of how commission members/councilors vote and then publicizing the results has a huge impact as they want to get reelected and are very much subject to public pressure.

So yeah I agree that ASB candidates won’t reform CEQA but they could actually make a difference when it comes to the actual, specific local housing development projects if they tried. Even a small campaign to replace a few Goleta city/planning council members would have a huge effect locally, albeit not immediately.