Goleta’s Upbeat State of the City

Goleta city officials delivered an upbeat State of the City message on Tuesday, sponsored by the Goleta Chamber of Commerce at the Bacara Resort. From new parks to the reopened Butterfly Preserve, as well as planned improvements for streets and bicycle lanes, Mayor Paula Perotte narrated the city’s accomplishments as a crowd of about 200 people were served lunch by meticulous teams of servers.

Perotte praised the Public Engagement Commission and a new citizen leadership academy, each giving rise to her vision that Goleta residents were the city’s most valuable assets. The city was both fiscally conservative and conservation-minded, she indicated, with a record reserve this year. It joined area governments in vowing to achieve 100 percent renewable energy status by 2030, Perotte said, as she outlined several green initiatives the city was engaged in. She sounded a note of caution, stating Goleta’s groundwater was still depleted from the drought and could take years to recover should another long drought develop.Several city department leaders spoke about the projects on their respective plates, including Planning Director Peter Imhof, who delivered a whirlwind exposition of issues and highlighting the department’s most monumental task: an overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinance. The seven workshops were ongoing, he said, to culminate in a joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting in May. Then it was on to environmental and coastal reviews. For more on the workshops, visit cityofgoleta.org.