A local business owner and an executive for Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast are eyeing the Goleta City Council’s District 1 seat, each promising to make the city safer.

The District 1 seat represents the city’s northeast and Fairview area. 

It is one of two Goleta City Council seats on the November ballot. The District 2 seat is also up for election, with two candidates running. 

Meet the District 1 Candidates. 

Luz Reyes-Martín

Luz Reyes-Martín made history in 2022 as the first Latina elected to the Goleta City Council. 

Now, the Planned Parenthood executive is running to keep her seat for another four years and build on her momentum, she told Noozhawk. 

“I really feel like I am making a positive difference and the work is really meaningful, and I really enjoy working on behalf of residents in the city,” she told Noozhawk. 

Before joining the council, Reyes-Martín sat on the Goleta Union School District Board of Education for eight years. 

The Los Angeles native and longtime Goleta resident also holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Southern California. 

Before serving as the vice president of advocacy and engagement for Planned Parenthood Central Coast, she was the executive director of public affairs and communications at Santa Barbara City College. 

Reyes-Martín is running for re-election on a platform that promises to continue building a “safe, welcoming and high-functioning city.”

Some of her priorities include seeing projects that have come before the council reach completion or keep progressing, including the Goleta Valley Library and the Stow Grove Park master plan.

“Those are the long-term things that are going to leave a mark, and I am just so proud to have played a little role in,” she said. 

Reyes-Martín also wants to spend some time addressing climate resilience now and for the Good Land’s future.

“There are a lot of seniors in my district who are impacted by prolonged power outages or excessive heat,” she said. 

As she reflects on her Goleta City Council term, she said she is proud of doing the “not so sexy” things that people expect from their city leaders. 

That includes maintaining parks and roads and repairing sidewalks. She also wants to keep pushing forward the city’s progress in repairing pavement.

“The last year or two, the city has made the single largest investment ever in pavement repair,” she said. 

Community outreach and education are also priorities for her. 

There’s more information that the city can share with residents, especially during long-term projects that may change or evolve, Reyes-Martín said.

The city’s public outreach has recently faced scrutiny among residents who took issue with the lack of notice over Goodland Guns relocating next to a preschool on Hollister Avenue. 

“My lesson learned was that there’s never enough education you can do,” she said. “There are so many things that don’t require public notice; that doesn’t mean we can’t do it.”

Reyes-Martín also sits on various city committees, including the public safety committee, through which she hopes to make strides in addressing e-bike safety in the city.

“There’s a lot that we can be doing (about e-bikes), and I think there’s more opportunity now,” she said.

Throughout her work, she prides herself on her work ethic, humility and compassion, values she said were instilled in her by her Mexican immigrant parents.

When asked about her favorite spot in her district, Reyes-Martín said she likes to grab coffee and visit the Kellogg Elementary School playground with her husband and two kids. 

Rollin Gartzke

Rollin Gartzke, a Goleta native and business owner, is running for the seat with the promise to be a transparent, no-filter council member with a “voice of reason.”

Gartzke is a proud alumnus of Goleta public schools and former president of the Noontime Rotary Club, which he believes prepared him for the City Council role.

He owns 805 Pool Table Services, which recently relocated to 5669 Calle Real, Suite F, near the Calle Real Shopping Center.

He also has an accounting background and often helps his father with his certified public accountant practice.

Gartzke said he decided to run for the City Council to give back to his hometown and to offer a new perspective, after a strong push from the community and former council members.

“It was not on my radar whatsoever,” he told Noozhawk.

Gartzke is running on a platform that prioritizes public safety, schools and road maintenance.

“I want to approach the death trap that is Calle Real with the lack of sidewalks, lack of street lighting,” he said.

He is also especially concerned about Stow Park, its master plan and security in that area. He said the park’s master plan is moving slowly and claims the park is deteriorating and needs to be preserved.

For his election campaign, Gartzke is prioritizing safer parks, neighborhoods and sidewalk conditions. He also wants to focus on road issues, the lack of emergency lanes and education issues.

Gartzke’s campaign includes the slogan “Bring back common sense,” which he defined as “looking at things with a voice of reason.”

“I think it’s the thing that everybody’s thinking but is afraid to say,” he said. “I like to be that voice. I like to stir the pot.”

Gartzke added that he would bring a fresh perspective to the council chambers. 

“I don’t go along with the pack; I am here to listen to the people of the community,” he said. “I don’t have a filter. I say the quiet part out loud.”

Gartzke said he has watched a couple of City Council meetings and assessed the current council as “keeping the city on a good track,” but he doesn’t see huge improvements, but also not a decline.

However, he did find the City Council’s actions and discussions around the Goodland Guns relocation to Hollister Avenue “questionable,” he told Noozhawk.  

His pool table shop’s new location on Calle Real shares the building with Goleta Valley Gun and Supply, and Gartzke said he has “no problem with that.”

Additionally, as a business owner, he believes that role gives him a unique perspective that he can bring to the council.  

“I see what’s going to be affecting everybody else up and down Calle Real (and) Old Town (Goleta),” he said. “There’s too much corporate business coming in that we don’t focus on the mom-and-pops that are suffering from some of these regulations.”

When asked about his favorite spot in District 1, he said it could be anything from sitting at a cafe and pondering to working at his “pet project” Break Time, a bar in Goleta.

Hear More From the Candidates

Gartzke and Reyes-Martín, along with the two District 2 candidates, will participate in forum discussions on Monday and Thursday. 

LEAP is hosting Monday’s bilingual and virtual discussion with Goleta City Council and Goleta school board candidates at 6 p.m. Registration is required for Monday’s event. Click here. 

The League of Women Voters is hosting Thursday’s City Council candidate forum in person at the Goleta Community Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Registration is not required.