The Isla Vista Community Services District debriefed the Soltopia music festival and discussed plans for their upcoming Isla Vista Safe meeting at its April 14 meeting. 

IVCSD debriefed Soltopia, saying it was “proof of concept” that IVCSD can do “an essential job” in Isla Vista. Nexus file photo

On April 5, the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) hosted Soltopia, a free music festival created for Isla Vista residents after the Isla Vista Foot Patrol’s (IVFP) 72-hour noise ordinance effectively banned the annual unsanctioned street festival Deltopia. IVCSD Community Programs and Engagement Director Myah Mashhadialireza began the debrief with a presentation and shared that she was “super proud” of how Soltopia turned out. 

“Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, but this is year one, and I think this helps us adjust our expectations moving forward and also just continue to build upon something,” Mashhadialireza said. “When I was there, I saw thousands of smiling faces, people having a really fun time with their friends and at the core, that’s what we want to do, is we want to provide those faces and make sure people can do them safely.”

Mashhadialireza discussed the IVCSD’s community engagement strategies leading up to Soltopia, as well as ways she seeks to improve communication going forward. She highlighted the “record-breaking” reach that the IVCSD’s social media has had recently, including 1.3 million views and 948 new followers on its Instagram between March 10 and April 8. Their outreach strategy focused on building excitement, collaborating with other organizations and posting on social media.

All 8,000 Soltopia wristbands were distributed to I.V. residents, which granted them access to free food. One of the biggest successes of Soltopia for Mashhadialireza was the zero arrests and citations within festival grounds. She also brought up the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office’s verbal commitment to deploy fewer law enforcement officers next year.

With only about three months to plan Soltopia, Mashhadialireza is optimistic that the event will be improved next year with more time. She said she wants to involve all “communities in Isla Vista” and improve the free food system. Mashhadialireza also verbalized the IVCSD’s commitment to include more local businesses. 

IVCSD General Manager Jonathan Abboud praised Mashhadialireza for her work on Soltopia and celebrated the event’s success. 

“Every time they do the noise ordinance or the banning, it creates problems. And this time there was a noise ban and there was nothing but good because of what we did,” Abboud said. “This is a proof of concept that the [IV]CSD can do an essential job for the community.” 

The Board then turned to the agenda for the upcoming April 24 meeting for I.V. Safe, a community task force devoted to addressing public safety issues of gun violence, sexual assault and substance and drug use. Directors briefly discussed how they would address the rollout of the upcoming I.V. parking compliance program with the rest of the group. 

“We want to make sure that everybody is on the same page with how to work with us as we move forward with parking compliance,” Abboud said.

Board members then outlined the priorities in their Deltopia debrief at the I.V. Safe meeting. Abboud emphasized the need to talk through policing during Soltopia and across Isla Vista, as well as what the Deltopia weekend will look like in the future.

IVCSD Vice President and third-year environmental studies and political science double major Kylan Hobart raised the idea of eliminating beach closures in Isla Vista for Deltopia weekend due to the event’s significant changes.

“I just think it’s really frustrating not being able to access the beach, and it’s not just day of. I mean, it’s several days stuck off the beach,” Hobart said. “Especially if you already have a noise ordinance in the entire city and there’s nothing to do, the one thing that you can do that’s relatively peaceful is go to the beach.” 

Additionally, Hobart raised concerns about the presence of equestrian officers as a part of the police force on Deltopia. During the event, attendees observed that the horses left waste around I.V. streets. IVCSD Director Spencer Brandt noted that he reached out to the sheriff’s office ahead of the weekend to request that they manage the waste from the horses if they insisted on bringing them, but he was told that the police were “not able to do that.”  

“I think that’s so frustrating to see just such a massive police presence and to see them just not cleaning up after the animals that they insist on bringing to the community,” Hobart said. “I think it’s disrespectful to the community to not take care of that.”

Finally, the board expressed its desire to “do more with less” by advocating for a lower police presence in I.V. for future Deltopia weekends. They hope to incorporate this approach into upcoming budget discussions, as the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors considers extensive budget cuts for the 2026-27 fiscal year. 

“We have here an opportunity where we have a version of harm reduction and public safety that is significantly cheaper and significantly more effective and more popular with the community,” IVCSD President Katherine Carmichael said.“From my perspective, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

The IVCSD’s discussion signaled their interest in shifting toward community-based safety strategies rather than heavy police presence. Board members pointed to the success of Soltopia as a model for future events and evidence that Isla Vista can govern itself, even with fewer resources. 

“I really think that this is hopefully the beginning of a new era of public safety in I.V. that is turning away from police measures and towards community safety approaches, like we saw two weekends ago with Soltopia,” Carmichael said. 

Earlier, the board began by honoring fourth-year sociology and Asian American studies double major Kaleb Baladez, who has worked for the IVCSD since his first year at UC Santa Barbara. The resolution highlighted Baladez’s work doing trash removal, graffiti abatement and maintenance.

Lastly, IVCSD Assistant General Manager Sydney Castaneda presented the Internal Operations Annual Report. For the 2026 fiscal year, the IVCSD will spend $610,000 on operations, with about $38,000 going to annual fees. 

According to Castaneda, the IVCSD has already completed two of its seven goals — evaluating the compost collective program and initiating the Utility User Tax audit — and is actively working on the other five, including a cityhood study and continuing to evaluate revenue strategies. Additionally, Castaneda identified “key risks” that the IVCSD faces, including its small staff and reliance on coordination with UCSB, the County and the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District. 

A version of this article appeared on p. 5 of the April 23 print edition of the Daily Nexus.