As the City of Goleta grows into its second decade, it's splitting into four electoral districts, but the timing of the vote for those districts brought some new voices to the City Council's fifth session on the issue. Notable by their presence on Thursday were Jacqueline Inda, a member of the District Election Committee that threatened to sue the city if it failed to implement the election of councilmembers by district, and Justin Shores, who ran for Goleta council in 2020.
A presidential year election has an increased power of the vote, Inda said, and the agreed-upon stipulation to the lawsuit inferred that an election in the majority-minority districts — those in which a majority of residents were members of minority groups — would take place in such a year. Only one district fits that description: Old Town's District 2, which is home to two councilmembers whose terms end in 2022 and 2024. The next closest would be District 3 in the city's northwest quarter, which is 60 percent white. Though District 3 is home to Mayor Paula Perotte, who represents the city at large, it lacks a resident councilmember.
Inda explained in a conversation with the Independent on Friday that having both of those districts vote in a presidential election year would be important for first- and second-generation voters: "They really crank out the vote during a presidential race," she said, and reach more people through the buzz and excitement of a presidential campaign. In the current plan, District 2 will vote in 2022 and District 3 in 2024.