The Goleta elections sweepstakes have netted more than $145,000 in the campaigns for mayor and city council. If the amount of money given indicates a party’s interest in the race, most interested so far have been real estate concerns, unions, and women in the political world.
Roger Aceves, a 14-year councilmember seeking the mayor’s post, holds the lead with $70,822 raised, about $20,000 of that coming from his previous council war chest. His single biggest donor is Aied Abdullatif, who gave Aceves a total of $10,000 through four stores Abdullatif owns: Hi-Time Liquor on Fairview, the Hi-Time Stop & Shops in Goleta and Isla Vista, and Stop & Shop Gas on Milpas Street.
Aceves also received about $17,000 from real estate interests ranging from the California Real Estate PAC and the Towbes Group to John and Janna Price. The Prices gave Aceves a total of $4,000, including through two businesses, Goleta Properties and Fairview Car Wash. Campaign signs also festoon most of Price’s properties. Aceves was the only Goleta candidate to receive money from the Santa Ynez Chumash tribe, getting $3,000 altogether.