New Year, New Face on the Goleta City Council

Meet Councilmember Jennifer Smith

As we begin a new year, Mayor Paula Perotte remains a steady presence as did three other existing Councilmembers, but there is a new face to the Goleta City Council. Jennifer Smith was elected to represent the 3rd District. Councilmember Stuart Kasdin, previously at-large, was elected to represent District 4 and was selected by the Council to serve as Mayor Pro Tempore. They join already seated Councilmembers for Districts 1 and 2: Luz Reyes-Martín and James Kyriaco. This means that for the first time, all four districts in the City have council representatives. The City’s four districts were established in 2022 with elections for Districts 1 and 2 back in 2022 and Districts 3 and 4 this past November. 

Mayor Paula Perotte was re-elected by Goleta residents City-wide to serve another term. She is the City’s first directly-elected Mayor and has been elected three times now.

Here is the breakdown of the Councilmembers and area they serve. 

  • District 1: Luz Reyes- Martín
  • District 2: James Kyriaco
  • District 3: Jennifer Smith
  • District 4: Stuart Kasdin

Of course, in a tight-knit City like Goleta consisting of just 32,000 people in eight square miles, the Councilmembers aim to serve the entire City.

For more information and to see what district you live in, go to our interactive map and plug in your address.

While Councilmember Smith is new to the Council, she is no stranger to Goleta. She has lived in Goleta the past 12 years and served on the City’s Planning Commission for eight years. Like all of us, she agrees Goleta is a special place. She said, “There’s this unspoken thing that we all love about this area. You still have some of the perks that smaller cities offer, but it’s not quite as hectic and crazy as a big city.”

Jennifer Smith attended UCSB and was a student there when the City was incorporated. She went on to get her Juris Doctor from UC Davis School of Law. There, she was recognized as the Outstanding Woman Law Graduate by the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Jennifer is currently the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County. She has been active in numerous boards and committees, including the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee, Santa Barbara Women Lawyers and the California Women Lawyers.

As a Planning Commissioner she was committed to ensuring that land use proposals aligned with the community’s General Plan. Now as a Councilmember, her focus is on making sure everyone has an opportunity to be included. She said, “We come up with better solutions when we hear from different perspectives. Even if we don’t always agree on all things, I want to strive to hear from and learn from people in our community.”

Her favorite quote comes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Welcome District 3 Councilmember Jennifer Smith! We wish you the best in this new role.

You can contact Councilmember Smith at jsmith@cityofgoleta.org or (805) 961-7537.


Goleta City Council (pictured left-to-right): Mayor Pro Tempore Stuart Kasdin (District 4), Councilmember Luz Reyes-Martín (District 1), Mayor Paula Perotte, Councilmember Jennifer Smith (District 3), and Councilmember James Kyriaco (District 2)


Mayor Perotte, Mayor Pro Tempore Kasdin and Councilmember Smith being sworn in at the December 17, 2024, Council meeting