Daily Archives: February 4, 2022

Take a Tour of North Campus Open Space

Are you interested in learning more about UCSB’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS)? Then take one of the free tours offered each month. NCOS, formerly Ocean Meadows Golf Course, features over two miles of trails through the restored wetland habitat and is managed by UCSB’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. Local volunteer naturalists have become certified NCOS Nature Guides and are hosting free tours every month. The public is invited to come learn about the natural history of the Devereux Slough and wetland restoration efforts here in Goleta. Tours are offered every 3rd Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and meet at the Carlton-Duncan Visitor Plaza. Free parking is available for the events at 6969 Whittier Dr.

North Campus Open Space is also hosting “Second Saturdays” each month. Participants meet at 6969 Whittier Dr. at 9:00 a.m. and are invited to help contribute to the planting of native plants and habitat restoration efforts. Please remember to bring water, sunscreen and a hat, and be prepared to get a little dirty.

Both monthly events are family-friendly and all ages are welcome. Participants can RSVP at ncos@ccber.ucsb.edu.

Visit the website at https://www.ccber.ucsb.edu/ to learn more and subscribe to the monthly newsletter.

Pictured: A burrowing owl, one of many wild life seen at NCOS

Playground Renovation Update

The playground renovations at four different park locations in Goleta are moving along. At Berkeley Park, those playgrounds have been installed and children are enjoying the equipment. Winchester 2 Park is nearly completed though currently awaiting materials to replace the fence along Calle Real. Winchester 1 Park is awaiting a missing part for the completion of the installation of the fitness equipment. Once received, these parts and the top coat of the surfacing will be installed and the fitness equipment will be open for use. At Andamar Park, work has been progressing, but is on hold awaiting materials. Once the playground is installed, an ADA walkway and new maintenance access drive will be constructed. As this work is completed, the park will be open for use. The City is working to plan official ribbon cuttings at these location as soon as it is safe for people to gather. For questions about these projects, please contact Parks and Recreation Manager JoAnne Plummer at jplummer@cityofgoleta.org.

Pictured: Winchester 2 Park

Fifth and Likely Last Public Hearing on February 24

Mark your calendar for the fifth and likely last public hearing before the City of Goleta’s first district elections map is selected. 

At the fourth public hearing about district elections on February 3, the Goleta City Council discussed the various maps under consideration. The City Council asked staff to revise Plan 701, only changing the numbering of the districts so that Districts 1 and 2 are in the east and Districts 3 and 4 are in the west. This is similar to the way County Board of Supervisors districts are numbered in the South Coast area.

Plan 701 was drafted by National Demographics Corporation (NDC), but derived from two plans submitted by members of the public: 210B and 403. This plan was also one of four that were recommended by the City’s Public Engagement Commission following a comprehensive #DrawGoleta outreach campaign. The public can view the renumbered Plan 701 through the following link: https://drawgoleta.org/plan-701-renumbered/.

The renumbered Plan 701 is available for Council consideration, along with other maps previously submitted, at a fifth public hearing to be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 24, 2022. The proposed sequencing of elections under the new map will start with the two eastern districts (1 and 2) up for election in November 2022, and then the two western districts (3 and 4) in November 2024.

Beginning this November, the City will be divided into four districts, and voters in each district will elect a City Councilmember who lives in their own district. The Mayor will continue to be elected by voters across Goleta. Districting is important because it will determine how our neighborhoods will be represented on the City Council.

Should the Council select a map and election sequencing at the February 24th public hearing, it will consider a District Elections Ordinance at its March 1, 2022, City Council meeting. The Ordinance will establish the district elections boundaries and will adopt the sequencing of the elections.

For more information on the City’s district elections process, including the timeline, links to the meetings, and all of the submitted maps, go to drawgoleta.org. 

Public participation has been a critical part of this historic process for our city. Thank you to everyone for helping us #DrawGoleta.

Pictured: Map #701 renumbered

Meet New Face on Public Engagement Commission

The City’s Public Engagement Commission (PEC) has a new face, but a familiar one to Santa Barbara County. Former Santa Barbara County Public Health Deputy Director Susan Klein-Rothschild was appointed to the Public Engagement Commission in December 2021.

Susan was born and raised in Southern California. After earning a bachelor and master’s degrees in social work, Susan moved to Colorado with her husband, Dan, where they raised two children. Susan has worked in government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private industry. Her professional focus has been on making meaningful changes in the lives of vulnerable people. For more than twenty years, this was in the fields of child abuse, foster care, and adoption. 

In 2007, Susan and her husband moved to Goleta to begin her work with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. Susan served as Deputy Director at the Public Health Department through 2018. She then worked as Manager for Executive Education at Stanford University. After years as a full-time leader in health and human services, Susan is now consulting part-time and happily contributing to enrich the local community.

Susan said, “Goleta is a gem. A place where people are not pretentious and generally treat each other with kindness. Most of us choose to live in Goleta based on the environment and the people. I’ve also attributed some of the positive vibes to the size of the community. In Goleta, we know we will likely see each other again and we want to foster friendship.”

We also want to take this opportunity to thank outgoing commissioner Sherri Bliss for her more than four years of service to the Public Engagement Commission. 

Beautify Goleta Team Prepares to Launch this Spring

The City of Goleta is preparing to launch its newly enhanced Beautify Goleta program on March 26! We held our first Neighborhood Captains meeting virtually on January 26th and are pleased with the participation we had – over 30 people attended! But we still need more help to make this volunteer community clean-up program a success! You can volunteer to participate or be a Neighborhood Captain. Captains will take the lead on cleanup events around town by helping to coordinate, organize and run their local cleanups, and can be individuals, organizations or community groups.

If you are interested in being a part of the first ever Beautify Goleta Team, please sign up here. The City will hold another Captains meeting in mid-March. Watch our video in English or Spanish to hear directly from the City’s Environmental Services Division on this exciting, year-long community cleanup program.

Beautify Goleta originally started in 2016 as a way to help residents clean their homes and yards with free bulky items collections. From fall 2016 to fall 2019, the City held 16 events, collecting more than 60 tons (120,000 pounds) of material, of which 75% was diverted from the landfill and recycled or reused. Starting this spring, Beautify Goleta is expanding to a community cleanup program that will also host Saturday morning cleanup events every other month in neighborhoods throughout the City. The cleanup events can be tailored for each neighborhood to fit what that area needs.

Thank you to everyone who attended our first meeting, which included: our new neighborhood captains; Council member Roger Aceves, the Beautify Goleta founder; Goleta City staff; and organizations who have been organizing their own cleanups or participated in existing cleanups for years, who have been guiding and working closely with the City as part of the wider local network. These organizations include Explore Ecology, Santa Barbara ChannelKeepers, UCSB, Community West Bank, Rotary Club of Goleta, Urban Creeks Council, and the Environmental Defense Center, among others.

Visit www.CityofGoleta.org/BeautifyGoleta for more information.

Pictured: City of Goleta Environmental Services Division, from left-to-right: Mary Graham, Melissa Nelson, and Dan Rowell

Pickleball at the Goleta Valley Community Center

The conversation of whether to renovate existing tennis courts located behind the Goleta Community Center (GCC) into permanent pickleball courts continues. The Council reviewed the renovation proposal and recommendations from the Goleta Parks and Recreation Commission at its January 18, meeting. They also heard testimony from a large number of community members on the topic. The Council asked staff to return to the Council with clarification on access, noise mitigations, and costs associated to play. This item will be brought back to City Council in the near future – stay tuned.

The Goleta Valley Community Center Organization (GVCC) launched a pilot pickleball project on the existing basketball court in 2019 and expanded the program with four additional courts on the existing tennis court in 2020.  The success of the pilot project has been tremendous with pickleball players contributing donations and holding fundraisers to support the GVCC in a proposal to convert the existing tennis court to four permanent pickleball courts. 

The pilot project included improvements to the court lights, temporary striping of the courts, installation of additional entry gates and securing of portable net systems.  The proposed project includes resurfacing of the existing tennis and basketball courts, installation of four permanent pickleball court lines and nets, installation of windscreen material on the south fence and striping for basketball lines and pickleball lines on the existing basketball court. The permanent basketball hoops would remain on the basketball court and the pickleball lines would be utilized from time to time with a portable pickleball net system. 

The funding for the project would come from the GVCC, with no cost to the City.  

To learn about the current program or the proposed project, please contact the Goleta Valley Community Center staff at 805-967-1237.

Pictured: Pickleball players Mark Sabens, Jared Ingram, Vince Kosek, and Brandon Gregorio at the Goleta Community Center courts

Goleta TV Channel 19 Off-Air February 7 & 8 for Equipment Upgrade

Council Chambers to Receive New Audio & Video Equipment

The City of Goleta is replacing outdated audio-visual equipment used to document, record and broadcast City meetings. The equipment upgrade will take place over the next four weeks, and because of these necessary upgrades, today and tomorrow, February 7 and 8, 2022, Goleta TV Channel 19 will not be live-streaming content. 

The only live meetings that will be affected are the Library Advisory Commission on February 7 at 6:00 p.m. and the Design Review Board on February 8 at 3:00 p.m. The public can still watch and/or participate in these meetings by using the Zoom link found in the agenda. Meeting recordings that will be interrupted during this down time will be rebroadcasted on Channel 19 starting Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

As a result of the equipment replacement, community members can expect a high-definition experience when watching meetings on the City’s website. There will be limited improvement to the broadcast quality on the Cox Communications Goleta TV Channel 19 because it is not a designated HD Channel.

Community members will also have the added benefit of watching presentations in Council Chambers on a newly installed large 98” display screen, once we move back to in-person meetings.

The City is excited to finally replace its audio visual equipment from 2008 and for the improvements it will offer those participating and watching City meetings.

To view upcoming meetings, go to https://www.cityofgoleta.org/events-calendar.


Current Council Chambers audio-visual equipment to be replaced

Vaccine Clinic in Old Town on February 18

The Santa Barbra County Office of Education, along with several collaborative partners, is holding a vaccine clinic in Old Town Goleta on February 18 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the Community West Bank parking lot (5827 Hollister Ave).

There is still more work to be done to #Vaccinate Goleta and the rest of our County. As of February 3, the number of eligible (ages 5+) Santa Barbara County residents who are vaccinated (first or single dose) is at 79.3%. The number of fully vaccinated residents is 71.0%. Visit the Santa Barbara County Community Data Dashboard for more information.

Health Officials claim the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the contagious Omicron variant is to get vaccinated and boosted when you are eligible and to follow face covering protocols.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department extended the Health Officer Order which requires the use of masks in indoor public settings through March 3, 2022. Learn more here.

For the latest COVID-19 information, including testing locations and vaccine clinics, go to https://publichealthsbc.org/. #VaccinateGoleta