The Goleta mayoral race on the Nov. 3 ballot is shaping up to be a real contest between two longtime residents.
Incumbent Paula Perotte, the city’s first elected mayor, faces a stiff challenge from City Councilman Roger Aceves, a former appointed mayor.
Aceves, a retired Santa Barbara Police Department detective, is the only Latino ever elected in Goleta, which was incorporated as a city in 2002.
He has raised $69,000, outpacing Perotte, who has raised about $37,000, according to filings through Sept. 19.
The candidates are vying to win the top elected spot in a city that is wrestling with affordable-housing challenges, redevelopment of Old Town Goleta, a lack of parking spaces, traffic congestion and ways to improve infrastructure in a city that has seen a boom in commercial and residential development in a short period of time.
Goleta’s growing technology scene, including Google, also is attracting a population that is younger and recently out of college, which is increasing pressure on decision-makers.
In essence, the race is between two longtime Goleta residents, both with a passion and commitment to public service. Perotte aligns with activists in the community and has ties to the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party. Aceves is a moderate Democrat who has a reputation for being more business-friendly.
The Goleta mayor’s term is two years, although there’s an item on the November ballot to extend the term to four years.
If Perotte wins, Aceves would remain on the council because he has two years left in his term. If Aceves wins, Perotte would be off the council, and the remaining members would vote to appoint her replacement.
Paula Perotte
Perotte, 69, was first elected to the Goleta City Council in 2010. She is a former employee of the Community Action Commission, now CommUnify, where she helped parents of children with special needs obtain services for their children. She is a former PTA president and business owner.
“I’m committed to keeping Goleta going in the right direction, and to preserving Goleta’s small-town feel as it continues on its path to a sustainable, vibrant future for everyone in our diverse community,” Perotte said.
She said her goals if re-elected would include working on regional challenges such as housing affordability, a safe and reliable water supply, and protecting the environment.
She said she’s proud of Goleta’s efforts in recent years to create more bike paths, the addition of a park in Old Town, and efforts to maintain public access to and preserve the Ellwood Mesa and its butterfly habitat.
During Perotte’s term, the council in 2019 approved a zoning ordinance to help steer development and land use rules and regulations for residents and businesses.
She said she also wants to devote a portion of Goleta’s budget to fund economic development and improve relationships with the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.
“We have made major infrastructure improvements in business areas such as Old Town Goleta, including providing more parking, completing sidewalks, providing crosswalks and other features, making local shopping more convenient and appealing,” Perotte said.
She also cited UCSB as important to the city’s efforts to boost startups and increase job innovation.
“We focus on all modes of transportation, not just roads but also buses, bikes and pedestrians, so people have easier access to work and shop here,” Perotte said.
The city has built more than 1,000 new units in the past decade, and Perotte said there is room for more affordable housing, particularly accessory dwelling units.
“We want to be creative in order to take into account the diverse needs of our community, maintain our quality of life, and minimize impacts to traffic, water, views and key services such as schools and libraries,” Perotte said.
Perotte is endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party and several high-profile Democrats from the South Coast.
“I have earned the trust and endorsements of virtually all community leaders and organizations representing environmentalists, first responders and working families,” Perotte said. “I’m confident that this support will carry over to help us make progress on vital regional issues once I’m re-elected.”
Roger Aceves
Aceves, 65, describes himself as an authentic candidate with no special interests driving him.
He’s a registered Democrat, but he said he doesn’t believe politics should play a role in Goleta elections.
“I don’t take my marching orders from a political party, and I am very proud of that,” Aceves said. “My constituents don’t care if I am Republican, Democrat or Independent.”
He noted that the Democratic Party never asked him for an interview and that it endorsed Perotte “months before” the registration deadline. (Gail Teton-Landis, chair of the county Democratic Party, told Noozhawk that she called Aceves, but did not get a return call).
He said he registered as a Democrat when Richard Nixon was president. People in Goleta, he said, care more about the fact that he has never missed a meeting in 14 years on the council.
Aceves said he learned how to negotiate from years working as a hostage negotiator for the Santa Barbara Police Department. He won the H. Thomas Guerry Award in 1994 for his negotiating work with a man who had taken his son captive at knifepoint in a dispute with the boy’s mother. The man barricaded himself in a residence in the 800 block of Bath Street. After 24 hours, the man gave up the boy and was taken into custody.
“I listened, ” Aceves said of how he calmed the captor. “I am a good listener.”
He said the key to overcoming hostage-takers is to let them vent, don’t aggravate them and never say anything to make them feel sadder.
Politics, too, is about listening, according to Aceves. He said it’s also about leadership.
Aceves served as mayor in 2009, and he led the city during the aftermath of the 2008 recession.
“My job as mayor was to work with the staff to come up with a plan and lead with a plan for recovery,” Aceves said. “I am ready to bring that leadership now in 2020 with the same energy I had in 2009.”
He said the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic most likely will take at least five years.
Aceves grew up on the Eastside and went to Cleveland, Franklin and McKinley elementary schools. He started as a police dispatcher in 1975 before joining the police academy in 1977.
He said he wants Goleta to be business-friendly.
“Without our businesses succeeding, the jobs are going to leave, and we want to keep our businesses in town,” Aceves said.
If elected mayor, Aceves said he hopes to push diversity initiatives, both in Goleta staff employment and the community’s boards and commissions.
“I will make sure our commissions will reflect our community,” Aceves said. “You can’t just do the talk. You’ve got to walk it. It can’t just be lip service. It has to be a commitment from top to bottom.”
— 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.
