The City of Goleta is beginning the process of transitioning to district elections beginning in November 2022 for its city council. This means that the city will be divided into four districts, and voters in each district will elect a City Councilmember who lives in his/her own district. The mayor will continue to be elected by voters across the city.

We welcome and encourage input from the public about what these districts might look like. In particular, we appreciate feedback on what communities of interest might exist within the city, which are groups of people who live close together and would benefit from being kept together in a single district. In order to garner such input, we will be holding public workshops during the summer – stay tuned for more information. These workshops will educate the public on the process and some tools they might use to draw maps of their community of interest and any proposed districts.

At our most recent Public Engagement Commission (PEC) meeting on April 22, the Commission received a presentation on the 2022 Electoral Districting Process, including an updated timeline, and provided input on the media and public interest organizations to be included in the City’s districting outreach efforts as well as the local “communities of interest” that should be considered when drawing electoral district lines. The staff report is available at https://tinyurl.com/vmkr5ew, and the meeting can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/addmzumt. At the prior PEC meeting on February 17, 2021, the Commission received a presentation on the process from City staff and our district elections consultant, National Demographics Corporation. View the staff report https://tinyurl.com/3mumxe6j, and watch the meeting at https://tinyurl.com/bbkrajju.

Also be on the lookout for a website about this project, which will launch in May. For questions, please contact City Clerk Deborah Lopez at dlopez@cityofgoleta.org.