April 26th, 2000



Supervisor Susan Rose
Chair, Board of Supervisors
County of Santa Barbara
105 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101




Dear Supervisor Rose:

I am writing you on behalf of the Executive Board of the UCSB Chapter of the Staff Assembly regarding the issue of proposed changes to Highway 217. As you may or may not know, the purpose of our group is to support the research, teaching, and community service mission of UCSB by serving in an advisory capacity to the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, senior officers, management and other campus parties or organizations seeking staff consultation. Through my own participation as a member of the UCSB Highway 217 Committee, our group has been directly involved in the ongoing discussions regarding the proposed County plans for the redevelopment of Old Town Goleta and its proposed changes to Highway 217 (Ward Memorial Highway).

Because our group comprises of a diverse cross-section of staff at UCSB, we feel justified in conveying to you that the large majority of staff at UCSB is greatly concerned with the adverse impacts the County's current changes to Highway 217 will have on our workplace. With 99% of the more than 5,000 career and part-time staff at UCSB commuting to work each day, staff have a long-term and vested interest in any proposed changes to our primary throughway to UCSB. Consequently, Staff Assembly strongly supports the recent UCSB Academic Senate call for the County and its staff to impose an immediate moratorium to your redevelopment plans in order to allow the University sufficient time to complete its analyses and to continue to work with County staff and consultants on solutions to Highway 217's design that meet the goals of both UCSB and the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan.

Although Staff Assembly has been somewhat encouraged by Supervisor Marshall's comments in an open letter to the Chancellor, dated February 29, 2000, stating that she and the County are "committed to finding a solution that accommodates all stakeholders, including UCSB," we believe this commitment to be vague and unconvincing. Thus, we feel the County Board of Supervisors must initiate an immediate moratorium to its redevelopment plans in order to assure the UCSB community that their concerns regarding the changes to Highway 217 and the Goleta Redevelopment plan will be adequately considered.

I look forward to your response and thank you for your time and consideration.



Sincerely,



Eric Zimmerman, Chair
UCSB Staff Assembly


cc: Supervisor Joni Gray
Supervisor Gail Marshall
Supervisor Naomi Schwartz
Supervisor Tom Urbanske
Mayor Harriet Miller
Scott Cooper, Chair, Highway 217 Review Committee
Henry Yang, Chancellor
Robert Kuntz, Vice Chancellor, Budget and Planning
David Sheldon, Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services
Philip Demery, Director of Public Works
Matt Dobberteen, Planning and Development
John Patton, Director of Planning and Development
Jonny Wallis, Chair, Goleta Old Town Project Area Committee
Richard Watts, Chair, Academic Senate