Your input is crucial to creating a more resilient community! The City of Goleta is currently working with the County of Santa Barbara to update the Santa Barbara County Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan. This is a countywide plan that identifies risks and ways to minimize damage from natural and manmade disasters. The Plan is a comprehensive resource document that serves to enhance public awareness, create a decision-making tool for policy makers, promote compliance with State and Federal program requirements, enhance local policies for risk reduction capabilities, and provide coordination between the City and the County. The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires all local governments to create such a disaster plan in order to qualify for federal mitigation funding in the future.

The current 2011 Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan, including the City of Goleta Annex, may be downloaded from www.countyofsb.org/ceo/oem After five years the Plan is in need of revision. Many of the mitigation actions outlined in the Plan have been completed while others have been deferred due to issues beyond our control. The City of Goleta is working with the County on the Plan Update through its participation on the Mitigation Advisory Committee (MAC). The MAC is comprised of representatives from each of the incorporated cities within Santa Barbara County. The City of Goleta is updating its own mitigation strategies and reviewing the hazards that could impact the City, in order to better coordinate with the County and improve the City’s capabilities to respond to and recover from natural and man-made disasters.

We need public input regarding the threats facing our region and actions we can take to reduce the impact of future hazard events. Specifically, we are looking for input on the following kinds of questions:

1. How would you prioritize the hazards facing the City?
2. What actions can the City take to reduce future damage?
3. How can local government officials better communicate risk to the public or information during an emergency event?
4. What measures have you taken to protect your property from hazards? Examples: create defensible space around your house, perform seismic retrofits to your home, place sandbags to prevent flooding, etc.
5. What measures have you taken to prepare your family for an emergency? Examples: put together an emergency supply kit, create an animal evacuation plan, etc.
6. Have you participated in Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training? If not, would you like more information on the CERT Program?

Please email your feedback to cdato@cityofgoleta.org or mail written responses to City of Goleta, Attn: Claudia Dato, 130 Cremona Dr, Ste. B, Goleta, CA 93117. For more information, please feel free to contact Claudia Dato, Senior Project Manager, at cdato@cityofgoleta.org or (805) 961-7554. Para información en español: contacte vadomaitis@cityofgoleta.org o por favor llame al (805) 961-7555 y pregunte por Vyto Adomaitis.