We encourage you to attend the Goleta City Council meeting this coming Monday, April 7 at 6:00 pm at the Goleta Union School District, 401 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta. At this meeting the Council will begin to discuss the request for proposals (RFP) for the environmental impact report (EIR) on the Old Town Goleta project, including Highway 217 modifications.

This is a crucial meeting since the statement the City will develop for the RFP might provide a good deal of guidance regarding what projects are recommended at the end of the process. Senior Campus officials have been unable to come to any real agreement about including campus goals for the project in the staff recommendation that the Council will consider, although there have been discussions regarding attachment of UCSB goals to the City staff recommendation. The staff recommendation presumably follows from the results of the scoping hearings, including the one held here on the UCSB campus, that many of you attended. However, we do not know at this point to what extent the testimony at those hearings influenced the staff recommendation.

There remain many unknowns about how the city will address UCSB concerns at this time, but UCSB would do well to have a very strong campus representation at the City Council meeting on Monday, both to monitor the process and to provide campus input. We definitely do not want to open the door to criticism that the campus did not participate in and voice our concerns and opinions regarding the EIR.

Please try to attend this Goleta City Council meeting and be a part of the campus representation. The time, place and date are emphasized at the head of this message for your quick and easy reference.