Unlike the often fierce battles waged over the mayor’s seat in Santa Barbara, things are a little less intense in the city of Goleta.

Both of the mayoral candidates — longtime council members Michael Bennett and Paula Perotte — are Democrats with wide bases of support and deep connections to the community.

This year marks the city’s first time of directly electing a mayor, instead of rotating the position among the five City Council members. 

Bennett, who has been on the council since 2006, and Perotte, who has been a member since 2010, both have four-year terms ending this year, so whoever loses their bid for mayor will leave the council. 

On the council, they are friendly and cordial, both sharing a blend of authenticity and homespun Goleta charm. 

But underneath the professionalism, strong differences exist.

Bennett has been a strong supporter growth in the city, both commercially and residentially.

Bennett said he’s running for council because he supports the city’s general plan, which calls for the city to plan for another 546 housing units and for limited growth targeted toward working families.

“We have a tremendous jobs-housing imbalance,” Bennett said.

Perotte has built a slower-growth council majority alongside councilmen Stuart Kasdin and Kyle Richards, who frequently stiff arm the business community.

Perotte, Kasdin and Richards, for example, rejected Girsh Park developer Mark Linehan’s request to rezone a piece of vacant land next to the Ice in Paradise rink — for use as a potential gas station — because of the severe traffic problems in the area.

Bennett and Councilman Roger Aceves disagreed, and both have strong ties to the business community.

Perotte and Bennett are looking to become the city’s first elected mayor at a time of great change.

Goleta is only 16 years old as a formal city, and like any teenager, there are growing pains.

The city is more congested with traffic than ever, especially in the busy intersection of Storke Road and Hollister Avenue. Developers are building housing, both rental and for-sale, at a rapid pace. Recent years have seen a flurry of new hotel construction.

And great tension exists between the business and environmental communities over the rate of growth during the past decade. 

In fact, traffic congestion and modes of transportation are likely to be among the biggest challenges for the city going forward.

Old Town Goleta looks for the most part the same as it did 30 years ago, but a bicycle and pedestrian master plan could being new bike lanes, smaller sidewalks and fewer lanes. 

And the friction between the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and the current council liberal majority, made up of Perotte, Kasdin and Richards, shows no signs of dissipating.

Bennett, a former county firefighter, said he is running to continue his public service, with an eye toward seeing the new Ellwood Fire Station.

“I consider the project something I championed,” Bennett said. 

Bennett pushed the council in 2008 to purchase the land at Hollister Avenue and Cathedral Oaks Road to build the fire station so that Ellwood and Winchester Canyon residents could get a faster response times.

The project is working its way through the desig- review process, and Bennett wants to continue on the council until it is finished. 

Bennett also said he supports the proposed multimodal transit center near where the Amtrak station currently is on La Patera Lane. Bennett wants to see the city create a hub for trains, buses, shuttles and bicycles.

One day, he said, he’d like to see an underpass below Highway 101 in that area to connect people to Hollister — and avoid the Fairview intersection, which is heavily congested. 

“I think it will be tremendously successful,” Bennett said.

As part of the Village at Los Carneros housing project, Bennett pushed for the People’s Self-Help Housing project, which offers 70 rental units ranging from one to three bedrooms. 

As for the traffic congestion in Goleta, Bennett said he believes the situation will improve.

“We haven’t finished traffic mitigation,” he said. 

Bennett also said that as mayor he will take a leadership position to work with UCSB to talk about its housing development projects near Storke Road, which have increasingly worsened traffic congestion during the past few years.

“As mayor, I will certainly speak out,” he said. 

Goleta can’t handle more students, he said. 

“We’re just too small of a community to accept more students,” Bennett said. “We just don’t have the means to support anymore traffic generated in the community.”

Bennett is a lifelong Democrat. He served as Assemblyman Gary K. Hart’s alternate to the Democratic Central Committee from about 1976 until 1980.

And in a certain way, Bennett has already been elected mayor of Goleta. During a Goleta cityhood attempt in 1993, voters elected Bennett mayor; the cityhood effort, however, failed, so Bennett could never take his seat. 

Bennett, a moderate, who has support from members of the business community, said he is the right choice for mayor because he can work with all people, including his council colleagues. 

“I can work with everyone,” Bennett said. “You don’t accomplish anything on the council if you don’t support of the other council members.”

Perotte also said she is running for mayor because she wants to continue her service. 

“I’ve strived to make a positive impact on our community, as a parent, business person, children’s advocate, PTA president and Goleta City Council member,” Perotte said. “I’m running to use that experience to keep Goleta moving forward toward a vibrant and sustainable future, protecting Goleta’s environment and keeping our small town, semi-rural character.”

Perotte said her proudest accomplishment as mayor was “changing the focus of our City’s efforts from fast-paced development to addressing the impacts of development by providing vital services such as libraries, recreation, improved transportation and parking options, and most of all, protecting the environment, especially from oil-related activities.”

Perotte, who is endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, cited her council majority as responsible for not approving new development since 2016.

“No major new developments have been approved since being joined by council members Kasdin and Richards two years ago,” she said.

She said as mayor her top three priorities would be managing growth, maintaining fiscal responsibility and being responsive to residents.

“Managing growth to assure that we can address the impacts of recent development, by working to reduce traffic congestion, live within our water supply, and focus on top environmental standards, as well as assuring that any new housing is the kind that our community needs the most,” Perotte said. 

The election is Nov. 6.

Aceves and James Kyriaco have already secured the two open council seats because were unopposed.

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.