Although I could not agree more with the majority of Robert Skinner’s letter on ending racism, I have a problem with the bigger picture of “calling for an end to racism, bigotry, and hate in all of its forms” as it relates to the Towbes Group. How does the Towbes Group feel about disabled people, seniors, young children, and other people with physical challenges?
I have tried for eight years, as chair of the New Town Goleta Safety group, to get the Towbes Group to respond to our request to address the steps at the Chase Bank in the Calle Real shopping center and to participate in developing safe access options related to the new signaled crosswalk on Calle Real that connects both sides of their shopping center. They have ignored all requests for correspondence and meetings on the subject. Their way of handling the issue in their recent proposal to the Goleta Design Review Board was to hide the stairs behind a truck and to ignore the new crosswalk.
Currently all mobility-challenged individuals must enter the roadway and navigate in traffic when trying to go between Albertsons and the higher Towbes center. To use the new signaled crosswalk, pedestrians must compete with vehicles coming in and out of the driveways.