 |
 |
cont...
The Status Quo
Isla Vista is thought to be the most densely populated town west of the Mississippi River. But, unlike most urbanized areas, I.V. is unincorporated. That is, Isla Vista is neither a city nor part of another city.
Instead, most municipal services to Isla Vista (police, animal
control, street and bikeway construction and repair, planning,
land-use regulations, building inspection, beach cleaning, and
fire protection) are provided by the County of Santa Barbara.
The County also operates one one-half acre park in Isla Vista
and owns a 12-acre open space that it bought in 1988 next to Isla
Vista Elementary School.
Water is brought to Isla Vista by a special district that I.V.
shares with all of Goleta west of the CIty of Santa Barbara (the
Goleta Water District); it is carried away by a special district
covering I.V. and western Goleta (the Goleta West Sanitary District).
The bulk of the parks in I.V. are owned and operated by the community
through the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District (IVRPD).
For the most part, county governments and special districts are
designed to provide services to rural areas, not urban communities.
Although county governments have recently begun to provide some
technical services (for example, fire, water and sanitation) for
distinct communities within urbanized regions, cities are considered
better able both to coordinate the multiple-service needs of an
urbanized population and to provide the self-government framework
thought to be the cornerstone of American democracy.
One of the major drawbacks to the current situation is precisely
the issue of democratic representation. All County governmental
decisions that affect Isla Vista are made by five members of the
Board of Supervisors, only one of which is elected by Isla Vista
voters. And, that seat also represents most of Goleta (also unincorporated),
and the Santa Ynez Valley over the mountains. Thus, I.V. residents
have only about one-third of the votes in electing one of five
representatives to the Board of Supervisors. Additionally, I.V.
voters makeup only about one-third of the voters in the Go1eta
Water District and only about 40% in the Goleta West Sanitary
District. And that's when most Isla Vistans vote, but participation
in strictly local elections has dropped in Isla Vista from over
70% in the 1970s to often less than 25% by the late '80s.
I.V. residents do make up 100% of the electorate of the IVRPD,
although on-campus and Francisco Torres residents are not allowed
to vote in Park District elections.
In an attempt to improve the quality of municipal-type services
the community receives from this patchwork quilt of governmental
organizations, the Isla Vista Community Council tried, from 1970
until its demise in 1987, to gather a consensus of resident attitudes
on various issues and advocate for these to the actual (empowered)
decision-makers. But a body that can only make recommendations
to the County and University has major limitations in implementing
the community's viewpoints.
pages
1
2
3
4
5
home
|
|