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cont...
Park District Buys Tipi Village
 Just
before the I.V. San. Board asked the Sheriff to evict the Villagers,
the I.V. Park District had purchased the property on which the
Village was located. Almost immediately after the purchase, the
Park District submitted a plan to the County to establish an official
camp ground at the Tipi Village site with chemical toilets. Such
a land-use designation would have saved Tipi Village--at least
until its inhabitants had changed their lifestyles and moved away
under their own volition.
A group of Isla Vista activists and Village residents had gone
to the I.V. San. Board before the Board issued its request to
the Sheriff to evict the villagers, asking the Board to wait on
issuing the eviction notice until the County had decided on the
park District's campsite plan. But, the San. District directors
turned a deaf ear to these requests, and voted unanimously to
seek the eviction immediately.
Many I.V. residents became indignant at this treatment from the
San. District Board, especially since Isla Vistans represented
40% of voters in the District. Even if most people weren't interested
in living the Tipi-lifestyle themselves, they did feel that this
was a valued experiment in alternative living. Plus, the Park
District was taking over the property and trying to make a legal,
up-to-code operation out of what had been an illegal situation
for years.
About the same time, an advisory election was conducted by the
Isla Vista Community Council on the question of Tipi Village.
Over 70% of the 1,700 people voting in the election favored the
Park District's plan to set up a campsite to save Tipi Village.
Recall!
At a well-attended community meeting called by Tipi Villagers, it was decided to launch a recall campaign against the I.V. San. Board for their arrogance in not letting the County permit-process go to its conclusion.
The recall campaign was incredibly popular. Over one-half of the
3,200 signatures to establish a recall election for three of the
five directors were collected within 10 days. People were chasing
petition carriers down the street to get their signatures on it!
"Save Tipi Village-- Sign the Recall Petition" banners
went up all over town. Buttons depicting a toilet seat and. saying
"Get Your Shit Together--Citizens for Responsible Sanitary
Policies" were sold out as soon as they were made. It was
so easy to get signatures that the campaign ran out of petitions
for a few days.
But the campaign was also very divisive in Isla Vista. Some people
were outraged that the Villagers could live in situations paying
so little rent, while others hated the "hippie" lifestyle
of the Villagers. A petition containing the signatures of over
2,000 people had been gathered opposing Tipi Village in the few
weeks preceding the San. District's decision. Most of these signatures,
however, were from Goleta, not Isla Vista; some were even from
the Santa Ynez Valley.
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