On Friday, Nov. 8 Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps spoke to the Associated Student Government on Isla Vista Bluff Safety and discussed how they could get involved.

With Isla Vista already being overcrowded and decades of coastal erosion eating away at the shoreline, Capps’ presentation reminded students of the risk they take living along Del Playa. 

Capps urged students to hold landlords accountable and be vocal about what is happening in their homes in Isla Vista. She also advised students to take action by filling out an anonymous form for violations of building or lease codes in places where they live. 

“It takes eyes and ears and if you’re hanging out there for whatever reason and you see something – don’t assume,” Capps said.

An 8-point safety plan was presented that included installing higher fencing along the bluffs, improving lighting, and providing easily accessible bathrooms. The goal would be to make it difficult to climb over fences and overall enhance safety if one gets too close to a bluff. The plan also included a memorial for the 14 lives lost due to incidents at the bluffs. 

14 people in the last 20 years, 5 of which have been City College students, have died due to accidents on the bluffs. On average, there has been one incident per year, two of which happened the last school year: second-year theater major Benjamin Schurmer last September, and UCSB alumnus Jake Parker this past April.

Commissioner of Clubs, Mia Fanucchi recounted her personal experience being in Isla Vista when Schurmer fell over the bluff.

“I didn’t see it happen, it all happened so fast but I remember walking back and seeing a bunch of cars,” Fanucchi said.

The plan also included a memorial for the 14 lives lost due to the bluffs. The memorial is still in the process of being designed but the student government offered to help speed up the process however they could.

“The memorial is so important to me because I didn’t see it happen but I saw the aftermath, and that stuck with me,” Fanucchi said.

The deaths are just a fraction of the number of students that fall off the bluffs with Capps describing how she spoke with firefighters and an ER surgeon who said the bluffs affect them differently.

“[He said] the number of young people that he’s put back together after falling off the cliffs is too many to count, it happens all the time,” Capps said. “I’ll never forget how he described that.”

Isla Vista representative Aefrata Teklai shared her thoughts on the presentation and as a representative has been involved in the Isla Vista community. 

 “I plan on collaborating with the Isla Vista Community Services District, SBCC student advocate groups, and campus safety initiatives to advocate for more safety regulations,” Teklai said. “I am also exploring the possibility of organizing educational tabling and safety forums at SBCC to inform students about the ongoing efforts.”

The next ASG board meeting will be held on Nov. 15