After years of construction, the road to Goleta City Council might go through Hollister Avenue

Goleta City Council candidates in Districts 1 and 2 agreed Thursday night at the Goleta Valley
Community Center that the city’s roads and infrastructure need attention but differed over how to support Old Town businesses.

In District 1, incumbent Luz Reyes-Martin is running against Rollin Gartzke. In District 2,
incumbent James Kyriaco is facing Phebe Mansur.

Infrastructure, and the Hollister Avenue construction in particular, drew the most urgent comments.

Mansur said the issue is on the minds of residents and business owners alike.

“This is the single pressing issue that’s on the minds of all the businesses and all the residents,”
Mansur said. She said she has gone door-to-door and that businesses are not adjusting.

“Wendy’s continues to be down about 40%,” Mansur said. “My business continues to be down
about 57%.”

The Goleta City Council two years ago voted to reduce the lanes in Old Town from four to two, with one in each direction. The move sparked long traffic jams on Hollister that exist today during peak commuter hours and lunch time. The construction of two roundabouts near Highway 217 further exacerbated the traffic jam.

Kyriaco said construction is nearly complete in Old Town Goleta.

“I’m committed to making any adjustments to the traffic pattern on Hollister Avenue that might
be needed, making other improvements like adding more landscaping and trees, and fixing the
high curbs on the north side of Hollister Avenue,” he said.

Reyes-Martin said businesses are important but are not Old Town’s only
stakeholders. She said that before joining the council, she heard from Old Town parents and grandparents while serving on the school board about their safety as pedestrians, drivers and
bikers in the neighborhood.

“I would want to hear not just from businesses, but from those same residents who live in the
neighborhoods on what tweaks we might consider as a council,” Reyes-Martin said.

Kyriaco pushed back on Gartzke’s idea to pause new projects and on the notion that spending on
the train depot and the splash pad takes away from basic needs. He said both projects serve
residents, including Old Town’s children and seniors.

“Getting more people off of the freeway that are clogging our freeways is good for residents,”
Kyriaco said. “Taking care of the children in Old Town and the seniors in Old Town that get really hot in the summer and don’t have air conditioning, those things matter to our residents. We have to do both.”

Reyes Martin said she also wants more money for everyday maintenance like pavement,
sidewalks and trees. She pointed to the Lake Los Carneros Bridge, a District 1 project she said
she helped fund this year.

Candidates shared some concern about artificial intelligence, though with different emphases.
Kyriaco, who works in human resources, said it worries him.

“As both an elected official and as someone that works in human resources at my day job, AI
scares me to death,” Kyriaco said.

He said he sees valid uses, but he challenged those who see it as a cure-all.

“What are the unintended consequences?” Kyriaco said, pointing to increasingly sophisticated
phishing attacks on city governments.”

The sharpest divide came over Isla Vista cityhood. Kyriaco, who represents Goleta on the Local
Agency Formation Commission, said Isla Vista has every right to pursue incorporation.

Gartzke said Goleta should not annex Isla Vista into the city and that it is not a priority for Goleta residents.

“As a native, I would not support annexing the area of Isla Vista into the city of Goleta,” Gartzke
said. “If anything, I would believe that that should be annexed by Santa Barbara.”

Reyes-Martin said the decision is not hers to make, but she would work to protect Goleta
residents from any negative effects, especially on public safety, if it became a city, rather than under county configuration.

“This year the [Santa Barbara County] sheriff’s department has eliminated the Isla Vista foot patrol, which means that our deputies now are having to cover not just Goleta but that area as well,” she said. “That is a burden to them.”

Reyes-Martin said that, despite their differences, candidates share a common motive.

“We might all disagree on how something gets accomplished, but I think we agree on the why,
and it’s because we all care about Goleta,” Reyes-Martin said

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