24) Isla Vista Community Services District Vote
What we are watching?
Isla Vista Community Services District vote. Will a push for (a measure of) self-governance address some major issues in the “ultimate party zone?”
If approved by Isla Vista voters in November, a decades long push for self-governance would culminate in the establishment of a Community Services District that would be authorized to provide a variety of services currently provided by Santa Barbara County. However, questions remain as to how the proposed new body will fit within an existing web of overlapping bureaucracy and if it is appropriately funded to tackle issues surrounding safety, tenant rights, parking, and infrastructure.
Who/What to Watch?
There are two votes that need to be won for the Community Services District (CSD) to come to fruition and have any hope to enact change. First, a simple majority of Isla Vista voters must approve Measure E to bring the CSD into existence. Then, a two-thirds majority must approve Measure F to implement the 8% user utility tax that will fund the new body.
If approved, the CSD will be comprised of a seven-member board, five of whom will be elected. The last two members will be appointed, one by the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors and one by UCSB chancellor Henry Yang.
Further complicating things, four of those five elected positions, along with the two appointed ones, have four-year terms, while the other elected position has a two-year term. For this first election, however, two of those four four-year terms will be truncated to two-year terms.
Running for the two temporary two-year terms:
-Andrew Gabriel Pragin, Community organizer
-Natalie Jordan, UCSB student
-Michael Kile, UCSB student
-Father Jon-Stephen Hedges, a local pastor
Running for the permanent two-year term:
-Ethan Bertrand, Isla Vista Recreation & Parks director
-Joel Ruiz, UCSB student
Running for the Four Year term:
-Spencer Brandt, USCB student
-Jay Freeman, Software developer and Teacher
While the CSD election is non-partisan, Bertrand, Brandt, Jordan, and Father Hedges have been endorsed by the California Democratic Party.
Why Watch?
Ask yourself: what if thousands of college kids were packed into a half-square mile, beach-adjacent area with minimal oversight and essentially allowed to roam free? If you answered: “ that may cause a few issues,” you’d be right. As of the last census, the total population of Isla Vista-the beach community just outside the campus of UC Santa Barbara- was roughly 23,000. However, an estimated 9,300 UCSB students and 3,500 Santa Barbara City College students call this neighborhood “home” during the school year. It does not take a Master’s Degree in sociology or urban planning to conjure up the various challenges that might be presented from such a densely populated area with these demographics.
Start with overcrowding where students pack into every/any available space (it’s not uncommon to see multiple bunk beds in a garage). Parking issues are abundant. Frequent large parties lead not only to noise complaints and a general sense of rowdiness, but also to hundreds of incidents of underage drinking, physical altercations and tragic accidents. (Students falling to their death from the sea side cliffs-including the 2009 accident that took the life of Irvine City Council Member Beth Krom’s son- occur almost yearly.) Some of this can be chalked up to the over-exuberance of youth, but far more troubling are the serious crimes such as rape, aggravated assault, and theft that are all too common. (It should be noted that the area did see an across-the-board reduction in serious crime last year.) The safety concerns and feeling of lawlessness were tragically reinforced in 2014 when an Isla Visa student resident went on a killing rampage that left six dead.
Historically, no one has seemed to be willing to take leadership to promote constructive change in Isla Vista-not UCSB nor the County. Of particular disdain to proponents of Isla Vista self-governance is the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which stopped three previous attempts to achieve cityhood for the area. It was due to this history that Assemblyman Das Williams crafted Assembly Bill 3 to avoid the normal process that would have relied on LAFCO. When faced with concerns about the LAFCO process being circumvented, Mr. Williams stated: “Only the legislature has the power to create this type of district. AB 3 is necessary and will fundamentally address the issue of public safety, stabilizing the current conditions which have led this community to a breaking point.” (Das Williams’ Office).
Last October, after State Legislature approval, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 3, which “establishes the formation, process, boundaries, services, and governing body for the Isla Vista Community Services District.” (www.leginfo.com).
If approved by voters, “the CSD would have the power to finance the operations of a municipal advisory council; create a landlord-tenant mediation program; finance operations of an area planning commission; exercise the powers of a parking district; contract with the county or UC Regents or both for additional police services; acquire and maintain community facilities; acquire, construct and maintain infrastructure; and remove graffiti.” (Noozhawk) It is important to note that while the CSD will have the ability to fund sub-entities, the County retains the power to actually create them.
This brings us to the small matter of financing. As previously mentioned, voters will need to approve an 8% user utility tax in order to actually fund the CSD. This tax will be levied on gas, sewer, water, Cable TV and electricity and is projected to raise just north of $500,000 per year. UCSB will throw in an additional $200,000 per year for a seven-year trial period. That’s a paltry amount especially given that the County faces an $8 million annual shortfall on Isla Vista services.
Change, as they say, starts small. Despite the seemingly meager funding, the CSD will still have the ability to enact change through good old fashioned community outreach and advocacy within a formal governing body; not something to be dismissed.
As CSD candidate and UCSB student Spencer Brandt recently told Noozhawk: “There is nothing set in stone that says Isla Vista must be this way. The exploitation of tenants, out-of-control street parking, an environment that can feel very unsafe, and a lack of representation to address these issues — an IVCSD can begin to remedy this.” (Noozhawk)
Up Next in the #LocalTop25: #23, wherein a Big City Mayor’s aide challenges a longtime incumbent for council, and six local ballot measures cover everything from cops to pensions, minimum wage and ethics.