Steady Leadership during Unsteady Times.
Dear Goleta Neighbors,
With the final results of Goleta City Council race having been certified, I'm very honored and grateful for the confidence of the 8,965 Goleta voters who supported my reelection. I look forward to continuing to work hard for the benefit of everyone in our City. We have a lot of work ahead, and there's no time to waste. Recovering from the ongoing economic impacts of COVID-19 is a top priority, and I will continue to work on maintaining our transportation infrastructure, protecting our natural resources, improving Old Town, encouraging affordable housing, and moving toward a sustainable energy system.
Thank you to all my supporters -- those of you who contributed your time and money to my campaign. I am very grateful for the 150+ individual donors to my campaign and the dozens of volunteers who helped spread my message to the voters of Goleta. I could not have done it without you.
Thanks also to the poll workers and those who helped ensure that our local elections are fair and secure. More than ever our elections must be safeguarded against threats, and your efforts to keep them efficient, safe, and reliable are greatly appreciated.
Finally, I want to acknowledge all the candidates who put themselves out there and ran for office in Goleta, which I know is not an easy thing to do. We all ran campaigns that were focused on issues and did not engage in personal attacks. I am proud of the positive campaign that I ran, and I'm happy that there was a refreshing lack of mudslinging in our City Council race.
I'm also encouraged to see that the City's efforts to increase public engagement in our civic process appear to be working. Three out of the last four elections for City Council (2012, 2014, & 2018) were uncontested. But changes that we have enacted in the last four years have encouraged more participation of our residents in City issues, including our elections. The City has adopted several recommendations of our Public Engagement Commission, including changing our regular City Council meetings to evenings-only, moving to a directly-elected Mayor, and increasing the compensation package of City Council members. In this election there were five candidates running for two seats, and it is good for democracy when voters have a choice.
In addition, it is also heartening to see that in several of our recent elections the candidates for City Council and Mayor who raised the most money were not the ones who received the most votes. I am encouraged to know that in Goleta, fundraising is not the sole determiner of getting elected. What matters is that voters are informed about the issues and have an opportunity to vote for candidates who reflect their values.
Again, thank you very much for your vote of confidence!
December, 2020
