After over two hours of discussion and input from more than 20 members of the public at last week's meeting, the council gave the go-ahead for a bicycle path near the school and for a crossing guard for the corner of Knollwood Drive and DeSanka Avenue. However, council members postponed until January making a decision on whether to allow parking on DeSanka and Goleta avenues.

When the city received 13 letters and emails outlining traffic concerns about parents dropping off and picking up their children at school this past spring, a group consisting of city officials, city staff members, educators and a traffic engineer met to explore ways to improve the situation. The group drew up a plan that called for a controversial move to prohibit parking on DeSanka and Goleta avenues.

Both the residents of the two streets and parents who park there have issues with the current setup. Some residents complain that the street becomes busy with parents and kids opening car doors to step out as they're driving past. In turn, parents dropping their kids off are unhappy that there are no sidewalks on the streets, thus forcing them to walk next to moving cars.

Furthermore, pedestrians making their way out onto the street are blocked from view by parked cars, thereby increasing the chances of a run-in with drivers.

To help resolve this, the group proposed banning parking on the streets and suggested designating a drop-off zone on Goleta Avenue. Additionally, the bicycle path and crossing guard were suggested in part to encourage more children to bike or walk to school.

The council heard varying viewpoints, with a handful of residents admitting to mixed emotions as they identified both pros and cons of the proposal.

After listening to concerned citizens for nearly two hours, the situation reversed, with the public hearing from council members.

Calling out the residents for not putting sidewalks on their streets and the school district for failing to provide an adequate parking lot for parents, Vice Mayor Evan Baker held everyone accountable for the problem at hand.

"You all complain of an unsafe condition, and you all are perpetrators," he said.

"We can't legislate against idiocy, but we can do something to protect ourselves against idiots," the outgoing councilman said in the final hour of his last active council meeting—a comment that led to brief applause among his colleagues and members of the audience.

In a unanimous vote, the council approved hiring a half-year crossing guard and the addition of a bicycle path, but left the parking issue for another day.

Recognizing the fact that almost everyone who came to speak on the issue stayed until the very end—half past midnight—Mayor Nick Streit urged the community to stay together and "keep the energy going."

"We haven't solved anything except put on a few Band-Aids tonight," he noted.