Dear I.V. Community,
A little over a week ago, Isla Vista — and our community as a whole — was rocked by unspeakable violence. We lost six people. Six Gauchos, classmates, roommates and friends.
Together, we mourn this loss.
Isla Vista remains a special place for many, including me personally. Both my husband and I have spent a lot of time on campus and we lived in faculty housing just past I.V., near Sands, when we first moved here. So while the type of violence happening here is shocking, I know that the incredible community response is not.
It will take time to heal, and I have no doubt that we will. But we must not forget.
I have heard the frustration in the voices of those who grieve like Richard Martinez, father to Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, as he remembered his son and called for action. Far too often have we, as a nation, seen tragedy, but little changes to prevent it in the future.
This tragedy has shown us the gaps. We must ensure that our mental health system and law enforcement can work together to identify potentially dangerous individuals. We must help parents who are concerned that their sons or daughters might be a danger to himself, herself or others so that they have a meaningful way to seek help. And we need systems to make sure that threats of violence flagged on social media are taken seriously.
I have been in Washington this week already getting to work on some of these efforts. I was pleased that the entire California delegation joined me to lead a moment of silence on the floor of the House of Representatives on behalf of all those affected by this tragedy. Many of my colleagues have also joined my resolution in support of the I.V. community. In addition, on Friday I helped introduce a bill to start addressing ways to improve the interaction of our mental health and gun safety systems.
But there is more to do. Over the next few weeks I will be meeting with local and national advocates on these issues and others to identify the gaps and weak spots in the system, and propose ways to fix them.
Together we must not let Congress forget about Isla Vista or any of the number of places that have experienced this type of senseless violence.
We must act. We must act now on sensible, responsible violence prevention legislation for our nation. Because I agree that Not One More life should be lost. Not One More family should have to grieve like this. And Not One More community should be added to this list.
I will be hosting a Coffee with your Congresswoman event Thursday, June 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Caje Coffee on Embarcadero del Norte in Isla Vista. I’d love for you to join me so that we can have a conversation about your experiences over the last couple of weeks and what you would like to see Congress doing to ensure there is #NotOneMore tragedy.
Lois Capps is the U.S. Representative for California’s 24th congressional district.
As a mother who lost a child to a fall from the Isla Vista cliffs five years ago, I have a very different view of Isla Vista than those who share memories of what a lovely little seaside community it was or is. So do the dozens of other families who have lost children or seen them badly injured from cliff falls, alcohol and drugs. My heart aches for the eight families who have entered our world over the past month — the parents of Sierra Markee Winkler who lost her life to a cliff fall May 4th, the six… Read more »
Who is looking out for the best interests of Isla Vistians? Is it the UC Administration, is it the County of Santa Cruz, maybe the Foot Patrol, or Lois Capps? Why doesn’t Isla Vista control it’s own destiny? Because everyone who is supposed to be looking out for Isla Vistians work for someone else; the University, the County, Sheriff, or the Congress. Isla Vista has no self government [cityhood] and has been denied its democratic rights to self determination since at least the 1970s when the community voted to burn the Bank of America. America [like all those so called… Read more »
These dismal conditions exist despite the extremely high rents and costs of living of Isla Vista…
Thanks for your heartfelt comments, Beth Krom and Michael Boyd. Michael Boyd led one of the nearly-successful movements (I think in the 1980’s) for IV Cityhood, which failed at the Santa Barbara County LAFCO. There were other movements in 1973, 1975, and 2001. Going 0-4 at LAFCO with city hood proposals is probably unprecedented in California history. Perhaps in this instance the State Legislature must step in and just designate IV its own administrative district, a small County. It has more population than several of California’s northernmost Counties. To Beth Krom, believe me, people in Isla Vista have tried incredibly… Read more »