Daily Archives: October 6, 2021

Join Us for October 21 District Elections Workshop to Draw Goleta’s District Boundaries

First Goleta Resident to Submit a Map Explains Rewarding Process

Mark your calendar for Thursday, October 21st at 6:00 p.m. to attend our next virtual District Elections Workshop. We are hoping to get as many maps from the public as possible for consideration for the City’s move to district elections for the first time ever. The deadline to submit a map for consideration is January 6, 2022.

City of Goleta resident Bill Woodbridge attended a District Elections workshop and was the first person to turn in his map. He is encouraging others to do the same.  He said, “We are lucky to live in a city where they ask you for input, and if they ask you, why wouldn’t you do it?  It took me less than 45 minutes to do the map. It was a fun and challenging experience.”

With district elections, the City will be divided into four districts, and voters in each district will elect a City Council member who lives in their own district. The Mayor will continue to be elected by voters across Goleta.

The upcoming District Elections Workshop on October 21, 2021, will be held during the Public Engagement Commission meeting. A link to the meeting will be available on our website at www.CityofGoleta.org/GoletaMeetings prior to the meeting. National Demographics Corporation (NDC) will lead the workshop and provide training on public mapping tools, including live demonstrations of how to use them, as well as offer feedback on any public map submissions. Spanish interpretation will be available.

Don’t want to wait until the workshop to start drawing a map? Watch our “How to Draw a Map” video tutorial featuring Dr. Daniel Phillips of NDC. The video provides step-by-step instructions on how to draw a map using the DistrictR online mapping tool. The City hopes the video will increase public participation by making the process simple and less intimidating. All you need to do is go to your computer, go to DrawGoleta.org, and play the video in English or Spanish. The final state-adjusted Census population numbers will appear in updated mapping tools on DrawGoleta.org in advance of the October 21 workshop. Anyone who already submitted a map using the previous population estimates will be given the opportunity to adjust their map boundaries, if they want, based on the new numbers.

If you prefer to submit your ideas using a paper map, you can pick one up from Goleta City Hall or the Goleta Valley Library during hours of operation. Again, maps are due by January 6, 2022, to be considered. 

For more information go to www.DrawGoleta.org. For additional questions, contact cityclerkgroup@cityofgoleta.org or call 805-961-7505. Thank you for your interest and participation in shaping the future of Goleta.

Pictured: Goleta resident Bill Woodbridge with his district elections map, and the first one submitted to the City

Co-Response Teams Making a Difference in Goleta

We are thrilled to highlight the partnership the City of Goleta has with the County’s Law Enforcement & Mental Health Co-Response program (COR) operated by the Sheriff’s Office and Behavioral Wellness. The mission of this program is to work with persons with mental health and substance abuse problems that are intersecting with the criminal justice system with the intent of de-escalating crises and diverting persons from the criminal justice system and into treatment. 

The City of Goleta was instrumental in seeing the COR program get off the ground. In early 2019 the Sheriff’s Behavioral Sciences Unit, managed by Dr. Cherylynn Lee, and the City of Goleta co-authored a grant that funded two full time COR teams. These teams have been working within the city since February 2020 and we are excited to share with you some of the outcomes related to their work.

According to data from the Sheriff’s Office, on any given month, approximately 25-35% of all mental health crises calls occur within the Goleta area. Mental health crisis calls include: persons whom are suicidal; persons who are experiencing psychosis; persons whom are under the influence of substances and having psychiatric and behavioral problems; and persons whom are committing crimes and the underlying driver of those behaviors are mental illness. These calls can be complex and often require time and resources beyond what patrol deputies can provide. Having COR teams allows for patrol deputies to be released from these mental health calls quicker and be put back in service to handle crimes and incidents occurring within the city.  

In the year 2020, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Deputies handled approximately 3,000 mental health crisis calls. Of those 3,000 calls, approximately 1,600 were handled by a COR team. Out of the 1,600 calls handled by a COR team, 11 persons went to jail. The expertise the COR teams have are of immense value to our neighbors who suffer from mental illness. The COR teams receive specialized training and are able to navigate complicated mental health systems to get the person in crisis to the right resource at the right time.  

To see the teams at work, check out this newly released video.

The Sheriff’s Office will be presenting additional information to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors (BOS) during an upcoming meeting this October or November. We encourage the public to watch for this presentation, titled “Sheriff’s and Behavioral Wellness’ County Co-Response 2020 Quantitative and Qualitative Data and Outcomes Review” on the BOS agenda and participate in public comment as the County plans for the future of this program after the grant funding expires in late 2022. You can find agendas for upcoming BOS meetings on the County Board of Supervisor’s website here.

For more info, please visit the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office YouTube channel, SBSheriffs, where you can meet the Co-Response teams and learn more about this valuable, collaborative approach to mental health and co-occurring substance use disorder crises in Santa Barbara County. You can find even more information about the Co-Response program as well as the Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Science Unit at SBSheriff.org.

Co-Response Team Clinician Marisol and Deputy Plett at work in Goleta

Dr. Cherylynn Lee, Sheriff’s Behavioral Sciences Unit

 

Goleta Resident and WWII Veteran Turns 106!

Each birthday is a blessing and more so if you are a centenarian. Local WWII Veteran Lt. Charles Dever celebrated his 106th birthday by being honored in two ways. First, the City of Goleta wrote a proclamation in his honor, and, second, he was part of a group of seniors who went on a field trip hosted by Dream Flights, a non-profit established and dedicated to honoring seniors and the United States military veterans. Their mission: “Giving Back to Those Who Gave”. Dever and the other veterans enjoyed conversing with the pilots and seeing the planes up-close. He was especially thankful for the honor bestowed on him by the City of Goleta and on behalf of Mayor Paula Perotte.

Born on September 20, 1915, in Englewood, New Jersey, Charles Dever was the fourth of 5 children born to a Tailor. Dever, the only son, helped deliver clothing from his father’s downtown tailor shop. He played football and was a track star in high school but the Great Depression and WW II interrupted his going to college. Instead, he worked at a cosmetics company in New York City, until he was called to service by the Army. He then joined the Army Air Corps was stationed on the east coast before going overseas to North Africa and Western Europe as a Navigator on B-24 airplanes who completed more than 50 missions. Dever was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross among many other medals. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles, with his wife, to work at a cosmetics company. The couple had two children. In the early 1960s, he went to work for the U.S. Postal Service until he retired in 1980. After retirement, he continued to live in the family home in Fullerton, until July 2019 when he moved into the Mariposa at Ellwood Shores to be closer to his family in Santa Barbara.

Pictured: Lt. Charles Dever shows off his City of Goleta proclamation for his 106-year birthday.