Emergency crews respond to a medical call during the April 8 Deltopia street party in Isla Vista.
Emergency crews respond to a medical call during a past Deltopia street party in Isla Vista. Credit: Grace Kitayama / Noozhawk photo

After spending the April 7-9 weekend observing vehicles parking illegally near Isla Vista School as thousands of out-of-town partiers descended on Isla Vista for “Deltopia weekend,” one is reminded that these stupid, dangerous, illegal, unsanctioned megaparties must be eradicated.

That job falls to Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps, who, unlike the majority of students and out-of-town partiers, actually grew up here and must understand the danger of Deltopia.

For the first time in more than three decades, political pandering to student voters is no longer necessary. In Capps’ Second Supervisorial District, transient students are not the swing vote.  There is no reason to grovel for voters who care not a whit for local politics; why would they?

Isla Vista is finally out of the Third District, which means going soft on law enforcement is completely unnecessary. Capps can instruct county sheriff’s deputies to inform owner/managers that their buildings are being used for “contract parties.”

There is a housing shortage in Isla Vista and plenty of tenants lined up to replace those violating their lease agreements by contracting with the Poppin party app. Poppin and its “hosts” need to be investigated and held responsible for injuries at these parties.

Capps can take a page out of former Supervisor Willy Chamberlin’s book and end Deltopia in one swift blow.

In 1993, during his brief tenure in the job, Chamberlain had deputies posted at every entrance to IV, checked addresses, and turned away the horde of up to 25,000 that traditionally attended Isla Vista’s “Halloween.”

Ending unsanctioned, illegal parties in residential neighborhoods is not rocket science.  Limit access, hand out tickets, arrest lawbreakers and make IV the place NOT TO BE on the first weekend of spring quarter.

Isla Vista suffered through decades of these idiotic parties as a succession of Third District supervisors groveled for student votes. That pandering led to the creation of the Isla Vista Community Services District (CSD).

This outfit collects $1 million a year from a special tax on our utility bills. The majority of students have no idea this district exists, let alone that they pay for it monthly.

Last year, the Community Services District spent $85,000 on a Deltopia party that a hundred people attended. This year, the district threw a $75,000 party with door hangers announcing free food and bands. Talk about throwing gasoline on a fire.

Sheriff’s Lt. Te Slaa of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol — who spent the weekend handing out 151 citations, making 23 arrests and responding to 60 medical calls — is understandably puzzled at the district’s decision to support and encourage partiers on Deltopia weekend.

Longtime residents are on record asking the CSD not to pay for Deltopia parties.

It is time that Capps and UC Santa Barbara take a hard look at the composition and actions of this special district. Districts that throw sanctioned parties on Deltopia weekend financed with taxpayer dollars need to end.

Isla Vista is a beautiful, fun place where my children grew up. But any local parent who lets their high school-age child attend parties here is taking a serious risk.

My yard was invaded by drunken, out-of-town partiers and I knew from experience that calling the normally responsive Foot Patrol was not an option. They were busy engaging a mob.

Your child is not safe in Isla Vista. The number of partiers is overwhelming, large quantities of drugs and alcohol are being consumed, and the inebriated crowds are uncontrollable. Take a look at the aerial shots of Del Playa Drive balconies in the Daily Nexus and imagine one of those collapsing.

Capps must end decades of ignoring Isla Vista megaparties and stop putting Santa Barbara County taxpayers at risk.

Officials can claim these parties are “unsanctioned” but then why does the county make huge expenditures on extra police and emergency medical personnel year after year on Deltopia weekend?

People get hurt at this “nonevent” and taxpayers foot the bill. A Deltopia weekend with “2014 numbers” of citations and arrests is a red flag that must not be ignored.

In 2014, I saw carloads of unseemly characters offloading into IV’s residential neighborhood. Later that evening, I watched eerie live video on national TV of thousands rioting two blocks from my home.

Nobody wants that. Delete Deltopia by limiting access to Isla Vista and enforcing the law.

Peter Neushul is a longtime Isla Vista resident and former president of the Isla Vista Association. His niece, Thea Neushul, is a board member of the Isla Vista Recreation & Park District (IVRPD). The opinions expressed are his own.