Meet the Candidate

Lauren Hanson has been a proud Californian for the past 26 years and moved to the Eastern Goleta Valley eight years ago. She was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, graduated from Punahou School, then headed to the east coast for college and grad school. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Lauren is a business owner and community advocate. In 2006, she was selected by the 2nd District Supervisor to serve on the Goleta Vision Committee. This citizen group was formed to think seriously about the future of the Eastern Goleta Valley in preparation for an updated Community Plan. Her colleagues on the committee chose Lauren for the group's writing sub-committee and she co-authored the text of the Goleta Vision Document.

After her work on the Vision Committee was completed, Lauren began attending Goleta Water board meetings and sub-committee meetings. For the past two years, she has been one of the active citizens working to nudge the board toward prudent care of our precious water resources. "It's been something of an uphill battle," she notes. "The current board majority has been resistant to citizen concerns and downright hostile at times, which is really odd, since we're not just 'the public,' we're their customers."

Lauren has spoken out repeatedly on matters of water quality, conservation and the need for accurate assessments of the amount of water we have and what we can reasonably expect in an unpredictable future. She is an advocate for customers and a believer in the power of determined citizens.

Lauren is shown in the photo above with Manitou, a family friend.