Daily Archives: July 2, 2021

Share Your Talent and Time with Goleta

Are you looking for a new way to get involved in your community? The City of Goleta is looking for community members to #JoinTeamGoleta by serving on several of our Commissions and Committees including two youth positions. The City has openings for a Parks and Recreation Youth Commissioner and a Public Engagement Youth Commissioner. The City also has two additional openings on the Public Engagement Commission, two vacancies on the Library Advisory Commission, one vacancy on the Santa Barbara County Library Advisory Committee and two vacancies on the Naming Committee. Applications are available here and are due by July 23, 2021, or until filled.

Goleta City Clerk Deborah Lopez said, “This is a great opportunity for those that want to put their skills to good use, for those interested in making a difference in Goleta, and for those who want to be more involved with the City.”

City of Goleta residents between the ages of 15 and 21, who enjoy spending time in the City’s parks and open space are encouraged to apply for the Parks and Recreation Youth Commissioner position. The Commission advises the City Council on all issues related to parks and recreational opportunities in Goleta. The Parks and Recreation Commission meets every two months on the first Wednesday of every even month.

If you are interested in looking for opportunities and ways to increase public engagement in City government, then you may be interested in serving on the Public Engagement Commission (PEC). Currently there are three positions open including a youth representative. To be considered, you must be a resident of the City of Goleta and not employed by the City. For the youth position, you must also be between 15 and 21 years of age. The Commission has six regularly scheduled meetings per year. Currently, the PEC is assisting with the district mapping process to determine district lines for the City’s first District Elections in November of 2022.

If you are interested in learning how libraries work and helping guide services in the greater Goleta Valley area, then you may be interested in applying for the Library Advisory Commission. This Commission meets the first Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. There are two vacancies, one member of the incorporated service area of the City of Goleta Valley and one member suggested by the Board of Supervisors and residents of the unincorporated service area of the Goleta Valley. The role of this Commission is to increase citizen participation in library issues by analyzing the library’s needs, considering goals, anticipating future needs and problems, acting as a liaison, and helping to develop consensus for advisement to the Goleta Library Board of Trustees.

The City is also looking for a member to serve on the Santa Barbara County Library Advisory Committee. This Committee’s role is to advise the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.  It reviews and maintains the master plan for each County library service zone, makes recommendations to ensure adequate library services to all, determines the per capita level of service, reviews budgets, considers site locations and building programs, and reviews the operation of the library. The member represents all of Zone 4, which includes Goleta, Buellton and Solvang.

Finally, if you are interested in naming City Parks, Facilities, open spaces and City buildings, there is also an opportunity to serve as a member of the City of Goleta Naming Committee. You must live in the City of Goleta to apply.

All of the positions are compensated at the rate of $50 per meeting. The Youth Commissioners may choose to waive his/her compensation and receive community service credit instead.

For more information, go to https://tinyurl.com/goletaboards-commissions or e-mail cityclerkgroup@cityofgoleta.org.  

City of Goleta Honors 2021 Spirits of Fiesta and Celebrates Ranchera on the Go!

Mayor Pro Tempore James Kyriaco presented the 2021 Spirit of Fiesta Ysabella Yturralde and 2021 Junior Spirit of Fiesta Savannah Hoover on June 17th with Certificates of Recognition at the beautiful Ranchera La Patera & Stow House. The performers, along with other local dancers, then participated in “Pop Up Performances” at several restaurants on Calle Real and the Camino Real Marketplace over the course of the next several days. While it wasn’t the traditional, large-scale Fiesta Ranchera event at Stow House that Goleta looks forward to each year, it was a great way celebrate Fiesta in Goleta and allowed many of our local restaurants and community members to participate. If you missed it, you can see the dancers perform August 4-8 during Old Spanish Days. Go to www.sbfiesta.org for more details and for a calendar of events. We will let you know if there are any performances in Goleta. Viva La Goleta!


Pictured: Mayor Pro Tempore James Kyriaco with Spirit of Fiesta Ysabella Yturralde 


Pictured: Mayor Pro Tempore James Kyriaco with Junior Spirit of Fiesta Savannah Hoover

Participate in Parks & Recreation Month

In honor of Parks & Recreation Month this July, the City of Goleta encourages the community to explore their outdoor parks and recreation opportunities in Goleta. To assist, the City has provided a fun-filled calendar of outdoor activities to do throughout the month. In addition to exploring some of Goleta’s great parks and engaging in activities with your families, everyone is encouraged to try something new this summer.  

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) started celebrating Park and Recreation Month in 1985. Parks and Recreation month highlights the vital and powerful role local parks and recreation play in conservation, health and wellness, and social equity efforts in communities across the country. 

For any questions, please contact Parks and Recreation Manager JoAnne Plummer at 805-562-5505 or jplummer@cityofgoleta.org.

Goleta Community Center

Goleta Community Center Will Partially Re-Open Mid-July

Auditorium and Dining Room Will Remain Closed for Seismic and Accessibility Improvements

Beginning mid-July, the Goleta Community Center (GCC) will re-open for community use, with exception of the dining room and auditorium. Originally built in 1927, the GCC is an important gathering place for our community. The GCC is owned by the City and operated by the non-profit Goleta Valley Community Center (GVCC) organization. Though the GCC has been closed to the public since March of 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, in an abundance of caution, the auditorium and main dining room areas were closed in January following an inspection and review of existing building condition reports by the City’s Building Official in preparation for the improvements project. Based on this analysis and the consensus of the City’s professional staff, the determination has been made that until seismic repairs are completed, these two rooms should not be open to the public.  

Public safety and access to services are the City’s top priorities. Therefore, we are aggressively seeking more than eight million dollars needed for seismic and disability access improvements at GCC to bring it up to today’s seismic and accessibility standards and assure a safe facility for generations to come. 

The City has applied to multiple granting agencies in an effort to secure the funding needed for the seismic and ADA improvements. The City received a Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) grant to design the seismic repairs and qualifies for additional FEMA funding for construction. The City applied for the additional FEMA grant funds for construction, but since they are not guaranteed additional grant opportunities are also being pursued. As for the accessibility improvements, the City has set aside almost $294,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for that purpose.

Even once funding is secure, the project is likely to take several years to complete. While we know this may be disappointing to many of our community members, our top priority is the safety of GCC users.

Fortunately, the closure of the auditorium and main dining room does not affect the other rooms at the Community Center, including the buildings occupied by the Rainbow School, CommUnify and the COVID-19 testing site on the west side of the GCC main building. The GVCC has announced that it tentatively plans to reopen the rest of the building in mid-July. At that point, other rooms at the Community Center will be available for booking and for existing programs to resume, such as the GVCC Senior Program. GVCC staff has taken time over the last year to improve and refresh many of the classrooms and gathering spaces and are excited to have people back in programs. For information on room rentals and programs, please contact GVCC staff at (805) 967 – 1237.

To mitigate the closure of the auditorium and main dining room, City staff are working with the GVCC staff to evaluate other ideas for providing additional space for community programs.

The City Council will be considering the challenges and future of the Goleta Community Center at its August 17th, 2021, meeting.  We encourage interested parties to tune in to learn more.