After nearly a decade as general manager, Jonathan Abboud is preparing to leave the Isla Vista Community Services District. 

He announced that he will officially step down in summer 2027 and hinted at a possible future in state government. 

“In 2014, I believed Isla Vista deserved the power to shape its own future,” Abboud said. “Over the next 12 years, I turned that belief into a government of our own, secured the resources to fund it and built an organization that delivers real services every day.”

“Today, what makes me proudest is seeing that power in the hands of the people who will carry this work forward.”

Abboud has led the Isla Vista Community Dervices District since it had its first meeting in 2017. He oversaw successful campaigns for permanent funding; the COVID-19 pandemic response; implementation of a parking program; and the push to provide safe programming during Deltopia, which eventually evolved into the Soltopia festival this year.

In a lengthy substack article, Abboud outlined his 16-year history in Isla Vista, from arriving as a UC Santa Barbara first-year student to working as the president of Associated Students during the Deltopia riot in 2014 and the May 23 massacre later that year, when a man killed six students and injured many more. Those events enforced his decision to stay in the community after graduation to help pursue self-governance.

“A locally accountable government could preserve knowledge, raise resources, employ people and keep working on the same problems long after any particular group of residents had moved on,” Abboud wrote.

“It could give Isla Vista something more durable than another year of advocacy. I didn’t know if we could pull it off. I didn’t know what my role would be if we did. And I certainly didn’t know how much of my life the effort would require.”

Abboud also wrote about the “bittersweet” feelings he has about leaving and his hopes for Isla Vista’s future, particularly with cityhood. 

“There’s still so much I want to see happen,” Abboud wrote. “I want to see Isla Vista become a city. I want to see our new nighttime safety program succeed. I want to watch the people I’ve worked alongside continue growing into the leaders I know they can be.”

While he ended his article saying he doesn’t know what job title comes next, he did hint that he may be eyeing a larger role in California politics. 

“I know I want to take what Isla Vista taught me and apply it on a much larger scale,” Abboud wrote. “I want to help restructure California so that everyone has the chance at a happy childhood, a fair shot, and a good old age. I want institutions that listen to the people they serve, address the causes of problems rather than merely their symptoms, and have the imagination and discipline to deliver on their promises.”

He went on to write that he knows governing a small town isn’t the same as governing the state, but his principles don’t change with jurisdiction size. 

The Isla Vista Community Services District Board of Directors will initiate a recruitment process for the next general manager beginning in early 2027. 

The board is set to form an ad hoc committee to oversee the leadership transition on Tuesday.