Transition to District-Based Elections Communities of Interest Survey

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The Goleta Water District is changing from at-large elections, where all voters in the District elect five people to represent the entire District, to district-based elections, where voters in a smaller area elect one person to represent that area. This means we’ll be drawing five separate voting districts within our boundaries, to go into effect with the November 2022 election.

We need your help! To help draw voting district lines, we’re asking for your thoughts on your community and on water issues.

One important component of drawing voting district lines is to learn how community members see their part of the world. The survey below uses the term “Communities of Interest” to help people describe what they see as important connections they share with others in the Goleta Valley.

A Community of Interest could be many things. It might be an ethnic group or racial minority. It might be a whole neighborhood, or an apartment complex or a homeowners’ association. It could be a seniors’ group; college students; groups of people who share common concerns–such as parents of young children; or many other types of groups that share common social, spiritual or economic interests within the Goleta Valley.

For this important project, Communities of Interest DO NOT INCLUDE political parties, partisanship, or a desire for any partisan outcomes.

In keeping with State law, the Goleta Water District’s goal in drawing voting district lines is to work to keep Communities of Interest together in the same voting district so they are fairly represented in elections.

How will we use any information you share with us?

The Goleta Water District will work with its districting consultant to identify and consider Communities of Interest when drawing voting district lines. We will not use the information for any other purpose. Because districting is a public process, we WILL save the information in our records, which are available to the public.

Please share whatever information you feel will help your Community of Interest be represented in our districting effort. You may, of course, submit information anonymously, and fill out only the parts of this survey that you feel are relevant to your Community of Interest and useful to the districting project.

Thank you for taking part! And, if you would like to be notified of upcoming Goleta Water District meetings on the districting process, please include your email address, if you have one.