Goleta Names Planning Commission
Important news this week that has kind of been under the radar...Goleta Council named the following people (source: SBNP)
Council member Hawzhurst then went on to say that he doesn't know what the council is going to do next year without their planning duties....this is really something they should have given up long ago. It's one thing to have a general plan to follow and it's another to not create a planning commission of citizens to help the process along and achieve total buy-in. Yes, it might have lengthened the process but it seems to me it would have been a stronger one.
Named to the panel were Ken Knight, appointed by Councilwoman Jean Blois; Bill Shelor, appointed by Councilwoman Cynthia Brock; Karen Lovelace, appointed by Councilman Jack Hawxhurst; Barbara Massey, appointed by Councilwoman Margaret Connell; and Ed Easton, appointed by Mayor Jonny Wallis.
Council member Hawzhurst then went on to say that he doesn't know what the council is going to do next year without their planning duties....this is really something they should have given up long ago. It's one thing to have a general plan to follow and it's another to not create a planning commission of citizens to help the process along and achieve total buy-in. Yes, it might have lengthened the process but it seems to me it would have been a stronger one.
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 9/07/2006 06:34:00 AM
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13 Comments:
Speaking of "under the radar..."
I'm hearing a lot of discontent amongst the other mothers at my child's school regarding this upcoming ABC program, which is a fictitious right-wing slant on the 9/11 tragedy. I called KEYT's comment line but got no response from them at all. The problem is not only that the program is factually wrong, but there is a corresponding deal with Scholastics, Inc. to use the program to teach the false history in our schools. The parents I spoke to are furious about it, putting pressure on the school administrations not to allow this blatant propagandizing of our kids. They're also organizing to pressure KEYTs advertisers, and that pressure will probably extend to Santa Barbara Magazine advertisers as well.
There's tons of info about this on the web, and you should help get the word out about this.
http://openlettertoabc.blogspot.com/
Yeah - no one flew planes into our buildings.
Looks more like a moveon.org post. Sure has nothing to do with stopping growth in Goleta.
Growth in Goleta isn't the only issue! Yes, it's important but other issues like law enforcement, parks and rec and public works are too.
The point about the planning commission is one of democracy and an arrogance on the present council's part that they know better and can do a better job at being a planning commission than any of us can. Also, it helps in getting what they want as a general plan through without much opposition....
Isn't this good if the goal is no growth?
This is a representative republic, and we chose these people to stop growth.
I don't see the problem with this.
If Goleta was representative, Isla Vista would be part of it.
Thousands of Isla Vistans signed petitions to make a unified city with Goleta.
The only poll at the time indicated that the larger city would pass.
It was pure string-pulling and cronyism that lead to the microcity of Goleta, a place gerrymandered around the commercial sales tax and property tax generators that a much bigger community (including IV) must economically support, but reap no benefit from.
With luck, Goleta will be sued into oblivion.
Where's Philosophe when we need him?
It has taken five years...FIVE years...to come up with a General Plan. While I may have supported no growth, I did not support watching my city become burdened with lawsuits, and not be able to provide parks or recreational facilities for our families. The part that scares me the most is the fact that the same people who got Goleta in this mess get to appoint the committee. It's a shame the planning commission couldn't be appointed AFTER the election when we can replace the people who got us in this mess to begin with!
where's Philosophe? and where's Mike Pinto? This Goleta Planning Commission is a rash of new wranglers like nothing we've ever seen before. The dust is stirred and I know that these people understand the repercussions, just like yesterday's article where they let the big cat out of its bag. This is what we've all seen before and knew was coming. Everyone got exactly what they expected. It's really something to see. Stay tuned boys and girls!!!
10:14,
You can replace. Their terms run concurrent with the council person who appointed them. No Jack, no Karen. No Jean, no Knight, etc ...
I agree with 10:14. Jack and Cynthia will be voted out and more reasonable folks will take better care of the City and start cleaning up the mess the first Council created.
The General Plan they are trying to get approved will just lead to another flurry of lawsuits that will contine to point the City toward a rapid bankruptcy and dissolution as a city.
Putting aside the complaints about how the City of Goleta was formed and how its current majority has slowed (not stopped) development while they painstakingly crafted a general plan, I find it more interesting to look ahead toward the dynamics that have been set up in the new planning commission.
I am surprised that Jean Blois appointed Ken Knight. Ken is by no means a pro-growth Chamber of Commerce type. He is more an aesthete, whose major priority is how Goleta looks. His many years in public service will give the commission a member who understands the sometimes Byzantine workings of the bureaucracy. Jack Hawxhurst's appointment is another surprise. Karen Lovelace's husband is a builder/contractor and both husband and wife are on the conservative side of political spectrum. On the other hand, she is a tenacious neighborhood advocate who is known for wading through mountains of data and research about issues that concern her. She has a blunt speaking style, is unafraid to speak her mind, and should be an interesting interlocutor on the commission. I am not so familiar with the other planning commissioners.
As with all such commissions, the effectiveness of this one will depend on how they work together and which members assume leadership roles. I am not too worried about them varying too far from City Council policy, each serves at the will of the appointing councilmember and can be replaced quickly. If the Council had wanted to provide political independence to the commission, they would have established something like set 6 year terms that take a super majority to cut short. They opted instead for "coterminus," "at will" terms, which shows they wish to keep a close eye on things for now.
I vote to stay tuned and watch how the relationships develop and how the commission coalesces over the next six months or so.
I called the NP today to talk to Travis and got his voice mail which said that he was on vacation until the 15th of September. You don't suppose that he has been can.... No, No. Too good to be true. However, it does seem a strange time to take a vacation.
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