Johanna Chase
491 Pacific Oaks Road
Goleta, CA 93117
[email protected]
310-701-7175
April 7, 2026
Goleta City Council:
Based upon a review of the Mission Statement, Strategic Plan, job descriptions, and interactions with city staff, city government does not prioritize the delivery of municipal services to the Goleta community. This concern seems to be institutionalized across all departments.
While other small coastal cities like Carlsbad, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Pismo Beach and Redondo Beach have mission statements that focus on "the delivery of municipal services, high expectations for public service delivery, public service to residents and visitors," The City of Goleta's mission statement is "an employee mission statement" and does not even mention the delivery of municipal services to the community.
2. The current strategic plan reflects key initiatives but none of them list delivery of municipal services as a key initiative. 2/126 objectives (less than 1%) allude to customer service but omit the importance of strategies to achieve or improve the delivery of services including analyzing customer service feedback.
3. Embedded within the strategic plan and job descriptions in the front facing departments of Public Works, Neighborhood Services and Planning and Environmental Review instead of customer service focused language such as inquiries, concerns, and feedback repugnant language including" irate" and "complaining" citizens is stated.
4. In the city's Department of Public Works, Public Works management salaries make up 13% of the total budgeted citywide salaries while in Manhattan Beach it is 2.5% and in Pacifica it is 4%. City leaders talk about the importance of attracting and retaining talent, yet Goleta continues to promote from within perpetuating the institutionalized concern rather than seeking out leaders who understand the value of building respectful relationships through ongoing reciprocal communication to support the high-quality delivery of municipal services.
Will you commit to:
• immediately without delay cross-training front facing staff in the permit office so staff can provide answers, support and solutions about all permits including those that are outside the scope of building, planning, and environmental review?
• ensuring PW, Neighborhood Services, Planning and Environmental Review each has at least one staff member who follows up directly with customers to identify the level of satisfaction in resolving issues of concern?
• a citywide annual customer satisfaction survey to inform ongoing continuous improvement in the delivery of municipal services?
revise the mission statement, strategic plan and job description to focus on delivery of municipal services? There is a tremendous opportunity for growth by learning from coastal cities outside of Santa Barbara County and emulating their models for high quality delivery of municipal services.