Four candidates for the Goleta City Council cited public safety, affordability and infrastructure as some of the city’s top issues on Thursday. 

More than a dozen residents heard from the candidates vying for the council’s District 1 and 2 seats during a one-hour forum at the Goleta Community Center hosted by the League of Women Voters. 

Two local business owners, Rollin Gartzke and Phebe Mansur, are facing off against incumbents Luz Reyes-Martín and James Kyriaco for seats representing Districts 1 and 2, respectively. 

The District 1 seat represents the city’s northeast and Fairview areas. The District 2 seat encompasses the southeast and Old Town neighborhoods.

The candidates discussed infrastructure, artificial intelligence, public safety, the revenue neutrality agreement and whether Isla Vista should pursue cityhood. 

Infrastructure

The candidates for both districts identified infrastructure as a top issue. 

Mansur and Kyriaco both said the interim striping project is a prominent issue, but they had differing approaches.

Kyriaco said it’s essential that Project Connect, the city’s largest capital improvement project, gets completed and is evaluated afterward to determine “what needs to be tweaked.”

“Any action we take will require tradeoffs,” he said. 

One example he gave was the back-in angled parking on one side of Hollister Avenue. Some business owners have criticized it, claiming it was a blow to their customer base. 

“If you want to go back to parallel parking, just recognize that you’ll have less street parking, but we have increased off-street parking as well,” he said. 

Mansur’s campaign prioritizes “fixing Hollister Avenue” and bringing back four lanes, she said. 

She said some businesses have reported having visitor traffic slow by 75%. 

For District 1, Gartzke brought another one of Goleta’s major road corridors into the spotlight: the Fairview and Calle Real areas. 

“A big concern that I have heard is a lot of traffic patterns and changes to the street lights and such,” he said. 

Gartzke also said sidewalks were a top issue, noting that he recently almost tripped on a sidewalk “raised 2½ inches” while canvassing for his campaign.

Reyes-Martín agreed that infrastructure goes beyond pavement. 

She detailed the city’s five-year pavement plan and investment to increase the annual pavement program. 

“I know that it’s not enough. I know that we can and should do more, and I am going to continue to see what we can do to increase the annual allocation,” she said.

The two District 1 candidates also weighed in on Hollister Avenue.

Reyes-Martín sympathized with struggling businesses but said, “They are not the only stakeholder.” 

“Hollister is not just a thoroughfare …,” she said. “We are talking about a neighborhood.”

She recalled hearing safety concerns from residents directly about the corridor for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

The current configuration of Hollister Avenue, she said, is the product of the City Council taking those concerns into account.

Like Kyriaco, she said she is open to making adjustments.

“I would want to hear not just from businesses but from those same residents who live in the neighborhoods,” she said. 

District 1 candidate Gartzke said the one lane through Old Town leads to “tremendous backup” when the lights are not synced.

“The only way to have better traffic flow is to not decrease our number of lanes of travel,” he said. 

The candidates also disagreed about how to assess the backlog of infrastructure projects. 

“There needs to be more pragmatism at the city when choosing the projects,” Mansur said. 

She added that the city has spent money on projects for people “that don’t even live here,” pointing to the Goleta Train Depot.

“The role of the City Council person is to look at projects, and if it’s a boutique project to say no,” she said. “It’s OK to say no.”

Gartzke similarly advocated putting a hold on new projects and maintaining the current infrastructure.

Kyriaco took issue with the concept of the human infrastructure, such as the train depot, being called “boutique projects.”

“Those things matter to our residents,” he said.

Kyriaco also noted that street-related infrastructure has been an ongoing priority for the city, and it has invested $105 million through sales tax initiative Measure B.

“We still have the second-lowest sales tax for any city in our county,” he said. “We are doing really well with the resources that we have.”

Reyes-Martín said the city has to consider short- and long-term projects, such as everyday maintenance and larger projects including the Goleta Valley Library and the train depot.

“We have to be able to do both of those things,” she said. 

AI in City Hall

The candidates had differing opinions on artificial intelligence. Some said it could be used for efficiency, while others opposed the idea. 

“AI scares me to death,” Kyriaco said.

He said he could see the “valid reasons” but encouraged people to consider the “unintended consequences” and possible cybersecurity threats. 

“I don’t want it anywhere near our permitting systems and a lot of other things,” Kyriaco said. 

Reyes-Martín also raised concerns regarding privacy and environmental impacts.

Mansur, on the other hand, supported integrating AI into the city’s permitting system to possibly “speed up” the process, she said.

Mansur has seen firsthand how AI can speed up work. She said she uses it frequently at her Old Town business, CopyRight Printing Systems. 

One of the services she offers is background and fingerprinting, and it would take her days to complete. However, since using AI for the service, it has cut down the process significantly, she said.

Gartzke said he also has used it in his business to create images for 805 Pool Table Services, but said using it would also need a review process.

“We could potentially use it for coming up with plans, coming up with designs, and completely cutting the costs by getting rid of consulting firms,” he said.

Revenue Neutrality Agreement

The city’s revenue neutrality agreement also took center stage. 

The agreement requires Goleta to give an extra share of property and sales tax to Santa Barbara County in perpetuity. The candidates were asked what the city should offer the county to eliminate the provisions. 

“This was the price we paid to become an incorporated city,” Kyriaco said. 

He said city and county staff need to have “frank conversations.”

Reyes-Martín and Mansur agreed with Kyriaco.

Gartzke proposed reframing the approach to include a negotiating point with the county to help fund the construction for Fire Station 10.

Isla Vista Cityhood

The candidates were also asked whether they support cityhood for Isla Vista or Goleta, bringing the UC Santa Barbara college town into its boundaries.

The Isla Vista Community Services District, a limited governing body, greenlit funding in March for a fiscal analysis to research whether the college town could support itself as a city. Isla Vista is an unincorporated part of Santa Barbara County, so the county Board of Supervisors governs the area. 

Kyriaco and Reyes-Martín said they would support Isla Vista’s right to pursue cityhood.  

They added that if incorporation goes forward, it needs to be fair to Goleta and should not bring any negative impacts. 

Reyes-Martín also raised public safety concerns, noting that Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office deputies, which also serve Goleta, are “burdened” after the Isla Vista Foot Patrol was cut.

Mansur said she had financial mismanagement concerns that would need to be addressed before supporting Isla Vista’s cityhood.

Gartzke opposed Goleta annexing Isla Vista.

“If anything, I would believe that it should be annexed by Santa Barbara,” he said.

He added that the college town has a “lot of great potential,” but he questioned whether the income from its businesses would be enough revenue to support it.

“I think it would be very difficult to see how they’d be able to do what they need to do in terms of contracting police and maintenance,” he said.

Gartzke also claimed that “a lot of the big issues” that Goleta faces come from UCSB, such as housing and traffic.

Voters will make their decision on Nov. 3.

Click here to see which district you may live in. 

To see articles on different races and candidate profiles, visit Noozhawk’s Voter Guide. The guide will be updated with new articles leading up to the election.