Kyriaco vs. Ramirez for Goleta City Council’s newly formed Second District
GOLETA, Calif. - We continue our series of one-on-one interviews with candidates in the upcoming November mid-term election.
The following article profiles the two candidates hoping to represent Goleta’s District Two.
This race pits incumbent councilman James Kyriaco against challenger Sam Ramirez.
Kyriaco is fourth generation from Goleta and is currently on the city council.
Ramirez is currently on the Goleta Planning Commission and touts his two decades of public service.
We asked each candidate the same seven questions, in the same order.
What motivated you to run in this race?
“Well, I think for me the COVID Pandemic really highlighted the need for leadership at the federal, state and even more so at the local level," said Sam Ramirez. "And I think that leadership requires taking a different perspective to problem solving. Goleta has a number of issues related to housing and homelessness that need to be addressed and I’m prepared to offer leadership that’s needed to solve them rather that talk year after year after year.”
"I’m also really motivated to run for re-election because as much as we’ve accomplished in this city in terms of keeping ourselves fiscally sound and healthy and safe, I still feel there are alot of things that I want to accomplish, including improvements to the Hollister corridor, continuing to increase access to child care and affordable housing and continue to work improving our infrastructure," said James Kyriaco.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the city right now?
“The most pressing issue facing the city is really climate change. And our city has done a lot to address that in terms of going fossil free by 2030 by joining Central Coast Community Energy. So our city is really being powered by fossil free alternatives," said Kyriaco.
“Housing, I think Goleta needs better housing options, not just any housing options but housing for our seniors, working families and our veterans like my dad," said Ramirez. "And I think it’s going to require us to take a collaborative approach to solving our housing issues.”
How would you like to see the city grow over the next five to 10 years?
“Well, Goleta’s been a city for 20 years so I think they’ve been able to do some good things but I think there are some areas that are just lacking and I think part of the reason for that is the City of Goleta sends almost 30-percent of its tax dollars to the county and I think we need to do something that addresses that so we can keep our own tax dollars local," said Ramirez.
“Carefully, thoughtfully, you really only get one shot at it when it comes to growth, so if you mess it up there really is no way to reverse it. The City of Goleta has built a lot of housing in the last decade 13-hundred units plus have been built largely approved from prior city councils prior to 2018," said Kyriaco.
