Goleta chamber honors Blois

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Two-time Goleta Mayor Jean Blois was honored last night by the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce during a ceremony, at which the chamber officially dedicated the Jean Blois Community Room.
Kristen Amyx, president and CEO of the chamber, said the room has been used since the Chamber relocated to new offices earlier this year, but was awaiting a number of finishing touches before being officially dedicated to Blois.

“I was really blown away by the honor,” Blois said. “I really was.”
Blois, who turned 80 on Dec. 3 and wrapped up her second term as Goleta mayor on Dec. 2, said she plans to run for an additional four-year city council term during the 2008 election.
“I expect to run again,” Blois said, noting that her candidacy has not been officially announced yet, but she’s told her intentions to anyone who asks.
“She represents so many of the values the chamber strives for and shares,” Amyx said of Blois. “She’s a long term supporter of the chamber and a pro business advocate, who has given years and years of public service.”
Blois said she’s not sure if she would call herself a pro business advocate as much as an advocate for her city.
“I consider myself more of a Goleta advocate,” she said.
Blois’s record of public service dates far beyond the city council, which she was elected to in 2002 when the city became incorporated.
In 1970 Blois began her long tenure as a public servant when she was elected as a board member of the Goleta Union School District, which she served on until 1983. In 1991, she was elected to the Goleta Water District and served at that capacity until 2002.
Because the position of mayor in Goleta rotates on an annual basis, it generally includes more ceremonial tasks than managerial.
But when Blois handed the gavel over to Bennett during a ceremony earlier this month, she commented that the position could provoke the sudden onset of gray hair.
“You may notice that you’ll have a few more gray hairs,” Blois told Bennett before she handed him a box of hair dye.
Blois said she has enjoyed watching the city evolve over the years and plans to do so for many more to come, hopefully from behind the dais.
“It’s been great,” Blois said. “I never thought I’d live to be this old and I don’t feel as old as I should.”