Goleta is entering the political season. Candidates running for mayor are addressing issues of interest to their voters. Growth, housing, water costs, crime, youth care, and the needs of butterflies are issues spoken to by Paula Perotte and Michael Bennett. But universally avoided by them (and others in elections outside of the City of Santa Barbara and only sketchily address in that venue) is the question of what can be done in Goleta, what should be done in Goleta, about "the homeless."
Historically, while the people of Goleta (and Carpinteria and the unincorporated areas of the county) frequently complain about problems they attribute to the presence of "the homeless" in their community, the only demand they make on their elected officials is that "the homeless" be moved from their community. What is desired is an "out of sight out of mind" policy. This suits politicians well in fact. Not having to address the issue of who is homeless, what is the alternative to homelessness, how did the people become homeless, where do the homeless live, and where do the homeless come from, means that these places can pretend that none of "the homeless" have a claim on their resources and none of their activities have created homelessness.
As a result local focus on the issue of the unhoused and the poorly housed has been seen as one only for the City of Santa Barbara.