Isla Vista has a long history of neglect, abuse and tragedy. It was divided up and zoned in the ’50s and ’60s by the County at the encouragement of greedy property investors and the complacency of UCSB. I.V. has gone decades without proper investment or adequate stewardship. Following the tragic events of last year, the community of Isla Vista has come together to discuss our concerns and how we can address them. These conversations have led us to the current topic of self-governance.
The topic of self-governance is not new. Since 1970, after the Bank of America burning and subsequent riots, the community has been mobilized around the desire to govern itself. There have been three cityhood attempts, the now-defunct I.V. Municipal/Community Council from 1970-1984, the 1972 I.V. Campus Community Services District that was never codified, and attempts to join with the City of Goleta or Santa Barbara.
Currently, Isla Vista’s only form of self-governance is the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District. We are not a part of the cities of Goleta or Santa Barbara and there is no city of Isla Vista. The work of IVRPD is to be highly commended; that is not in question. However, IVRPD is mandated to only focus on issues of recreation and parks. It cannot address issues that are most important to the Isla Vista community such as parking, lighting or tenants’ rights (as shown by preliminary results of an informal I.V. Services survey distributed by the Office of Das Williams).
If Isla Vista were to become a Community Services District (CSD), though, it could effectively implement services that would be able to consistently address the issues that are most important to its residents.
- We could have control over the construction and maintenance of street lights to improve safety in Isla Vista.
- We could create a Tenant/Landlord Mediation Board to empower the renters — the majority of Isla Vista residents — and give them recourse for discrepancies they may have with their landlords.
- We could establish an Area Planning Commission funded by the CSD, through which we could create regulations on building codes and practices to ensure safe and positive living conditions (appealable to the County Board of Supervisors).
- We could found a community center that would be run by the very residents of Isla Vista.
- We could exercise control over parking to create regulations to mitigate unwanted out-of-towners who cause havoc in our community, or provide additional parking facilities where we need them.
- We could, with the IVCSD, manage Halloween and Deltopia to turn them into productive and safe events that benefit Isla Vista, rather than leave it in shambles.
Assembly Bill 3, submitted by Assemblyman Das Williams, was introduced as a result of the community discussions about self-governance that have been occurring since April 2014. AB 3 aims to create a custom Community Services District, primarily based off of cookie-cutter CSD law modified to fit the unique needs of Isla Vista. For example, we can add the powers dealing with parking in Isla Vista or enable the district to enact uncommon forms of taxes that would be more beneficial to Isla Vista.
If Isla Vista were to become a Community Services District (CSD), though, it could effectively implement services that would be able to consistently address the issues that are most important to its residents.
The only other permanent and independent option besides a CSD is becoming a city. Other options, while good in theory, do not have the permanence or “teeth” to accomplish the desires of I.V. residents when County and University support for I.V. declines, as it usually does. Both options — becoming a CSD or city — would effectively give Isla Vista local control over local services.
The differences between cities and special districts (like the one proposed in AB 3) are the responsibilities attached to both, and as such, the cost of maintaining them. Special districts like Community Services Districts are entities that can govern regional areas while taking on only the services the community has decided they want control over. Cities, on the other hand, are legally required to provide a certain set of services. However, a city would provide a larger level of authority and have the ability to directly control things like local ordinances and law enforcement.
Finally, while the County of Santa Barbara is responsible for providing services to I.V. and while Supervisor Doreen Farr has been successful in getting many additional services provided to I.V., we believe a form of self-governance is needed to ensure consistent services will be provided in response to direct local needs. This is why we believe AB 3 is the best option for Isla Vista now, because it is both immediately effective and can act as a springboard to greater governance in the future. It will give us local control over some of our most needed services.
Today, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. on the fourth floor of the County Administration Building residents of Isla Vista will be defending the self-governance movement at the Local Agency Formation Commission meeting, the organization that stonewalled Isla Vista Cityhood in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The more residents in attendance and speaking in favor of self-governance the better chance we have at continuing the movement.
Now, more than ever, we need everyone’s involvement in this issue. A series of town hall and community meetings are being hosted to gather grassroots support, educate and, most importantly, gain input about self-governance options for Isla Vista. The next one will be Saturday, Feb. 21 from 1-3 p.m. in Anisq’Oyo’ Park. The following meeting will be March 5 from 7-9 p.m. at St. Michael’s Church.
It is rational to be concerned about a change this big. However, in order to prevent future tragedy and put Isla Vista on a strong path we need a strong, sustainable local government that can give us self-determination for our community. The IVRPD cannot fulfill this role by its nature and a new I.V. Municipal Advisory Council does not have the independence from the County or UCSB necessary to live up to that charge.
Of course there is always risk with starting something new, but this is a necessary risk that has worked for other communities across the state. We must recognize that Isla Vista is only getting attention right now because of the events of last year; the clock is ticking on this tidal wave of attention. As more time passes, the less likely we are to capture the attention of decision-makers who currently determine our future. The success of this movement will do much in the way of shifting the culture of Isla Vista, for as the quality of living for residents increases, so too does their sense of pride and stewardship in their community. Isla Vista’s ability to take charge once and for all is under scrutiny from many sources and so the question is ours to answer: How do we want Isla Vista to be remembered?
Jonathan Abboud is the former AS President and current SBCC Trustee and Cameron Schunk is the External Vice President for Local Affairs.
For more information about self-governance visit:
facebook.com/evplaucsb
asmdc.org/members/a37/legislation/empowering-isla-vista
Who is Jonathan Abboud and why should what he says matter? (I’m dead serious, I have no idea who this guy is.) I’m just curious about what makes him a credible source. Like yes, Isla Vista has had issues, but circumventing our local government seems problematic. Also, since I’ve never heard of his guy before, I’ve never heard of any meetings to discuss any other options, I’m a little concerned about getting on board with something that will have a long lasting effect on a student like me when I’ve never even gotten a say in anything. I’m being asked… Read more »
If you actually voted in this last election you would know who he is because he was on the ballot, (and he won). Also if political participation “sounds really scary” to you, I would refrain from it and just stay in your house because public meetings about IV self governance have been going on for months, and have been regularly reported on by this paper and others. Believe it or not, there are people and students that have such concern for the communities they inhabit that it leads them to actively try to make it better.
Don’t belittle me; I “actually” voted (as opposed to not actually?) in this midterm election, but didn’t see his name under something that would benefit me. I did some research just now and it looks like he’s on the SBCC Board of Trustees, so it makes sense that I didn’t see his name, because SBCC doesn’t matter to me, as a UCSB student. I voted for local measures and the IVRPD, and that’s it. Just because I don’t know some “local celebrity” doesn’t make me a terrible person, and it doesn’t invalidate my arguments. Also, you misunderstood me. Political participation… Read more »
They’ve sent out a few “heads up” emails through the university announcements emails. There was one an hour before you submitted your post, and there was one on 7/17/14. Other events have been announced on facebook (the IV tenants union page is usually good for this kind of stuff, plus a bunch of the class pages), and every single one has been announced on the UCSB subreddit (reddit.com/r/ucsantabarbara). This link will show you that there have been 5 meetings announced on the subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/UCSantaBarbara/search?q=governance&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all And if you check Das William’s website (the guy introducing the bill) you can see the… Read more »
Jonathan Abboud was UCSB’s AS president last year and now he’s a local politician. He has decided to take responsibility for IV and try to change it. Jonathan Abboud is arguably one of the best AS presidents that UCSB has ever had so that’s what gives him credibility. As for whether his CSD idea is good or not, that’s for you to decide.
That’s a ridiculously vague statement. If he is arguably one of the best AS presidents ever, can you please argue that for me? Can I get a list of accomplishments? And also his accomplishments compared to his campaign platform? I’d like to hear anything to back up that claim instead of just something like he was #1…
Haters gonna hate and no matter what Abboud does, y’all have issues with him and it all seems personal. BUT he sure knows how to make you all sound crazy and IDIOTS.
keep up the good work Jonathan!
Yessssssssss :)
It is not my job to maintain a Isla Vista. I don’t really understand this. Let me run through a scenario. Let us pretend this somehow gets tons of support and everyone signs on and then let us pretend that we do become a CSD. We get a board of people to be the representatives for this college town ( probably UCSB students). Then what? We get mediation grants and help work with the police? Do we rezone Isla Vista so that it is not this fuzzy unclear zone of whatever it wants to be and partition it into residential… Read more »
I entirely agree with this. I absolutely do not want other UCSB students to be representing me any more than they already do, let alone having taxation power. Despite AS’s claims that they do so much for the student community the only other thing I’m seeing them do is vote to spend tens of thousands of dollars to repave the way to their own office. Having another government run by students who are only in IV for a few short years is just an inflated AS and a waste of money. Abboud and Schunk accuse people who are currently in… Read more »
Your entire criticism of people in AS is completely valid. In general, I think it’s important for everyone to have some sort of say in their community; after all, that’s the entire basis of democracy. But I think that this is a unique case where so many of the residents move on after a few years but their decisions will have lasting effects. I don’t want someone like Abboud using Isla Vista’s troubling issues to create a gold-trimmed carpet for some future political ambition. Abboud (and by virtue, Schunk, who just seems like a puppet at this point) just doesn’t… Read more »
How typical: Most of you sit on the sidelines and snipe at those trying to effect change, rather than getting involved and making an effort to help develop something for the community that you think would be beneficial. Or, you make ad hominem attacks on particular individuals. My favorite, though (he said sarcastically), is the comment, “It’s not my job to maintain a [sic] Isla Vista.” Of course it’s not your “job,” but have you no sense of civic responsibility?