A city on the south coast has just graduated more than a dozen community members from a program aimed at teaching residents about local government.
The city of Goleta’s six-month-long LEAD Goleta class matriculated last week. The 16 residents of the community near UC Santa Barbara took monthly classes taught by the city manager, and met with a number of officials from the city.
One graduate of the class, Danny Fitzgibbons, says the program taught him a lot about the accessibility of his city officials.
"Council Members, the Mayor, the City Manager, they’re all very approachable," Fitzgibbons says. "You can literally pick up the phone and call [Community Relations Assistant] Jaime Shaw, or call [Mayor] Paula Perote, and they will most likely answer and they will talk to you.”
The free program will continue with a second class, and is open to residents of the city 15 and older.
