Santa Maria Sun / Cover Story

The rest of the field

BY JEREMY THOMAS

Council contenders, part deux This is the second and final installment of the Sun’s look at the seven candidates aiming for two spots on the Santa Maria City Council. The election takes place Nov. 2.

Two seats on the council are up for grabs. Democratic councilwoman Hilda Zacarias left her post to campaign for the 33rd District Assembly against Republican Katcho Achadjian, and Alice Patino, an incumbent, is running for re-election.

Last week, the Sun introduced you to three of the seven candidates for the positions: local businessman Jack Boysen, dermatologist Dr. Michael Moats, and city Recreation and Parks Commission chairwoman Terri Zuniga. Two of the remaining candidates have prior experience as city councilmembers: Marty Mariscal, currently president and CEO of an insurance brokerage, served as city councilman from 2003 to 2006. Patino has been a councilwoman since 1999, and was most recently elected in 2006. The other two candidates are newcomers to politics. Tom Davidson is a local machinist experiencing his first foray into campaigning, and Jose Vargas, 29, is a former Allan Hancock College student body legislative affairs commissioner.

So without further ado, let’s get to part two:

The incumbent Councilwoman Alice Patino has served on the Santa Maria City Council since 1999, and was last elected in 2006. She recently lost to Republican challenger Steve Lavagnino in the race for 5th District Supervisor. Patino is active in the Rotary Club of Santa Maria, Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, to name a few organizations. PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Tom Davidson: As a concerned citizen, living in Santa Maria for the past 11 years, I realize that our city is going the wrong direction. I care about the future of Santa Maria and would like to use a commonsense approach to solving the issues in our city. Instead of bloviating about the problems, I would like the opportunity to help fix them. Multiple tools can be applied to ensure that authorized employees are working in our city.

Marty Mariscal: My definition of “qualified” includes things such as real-life decision-making experiences, integrity, a strong work ethic, and empathy. I have been both an employee and employer. For the last 26 years, as a self-employed business owner, it is through my efforts and critical decisions made daily that allow us to make payroll for my employees and profit for my family. We are proud of our reputation built on trust and reliability, and our more than a half-century of customer loyalty is testament to our integrity. I’ve carried that same honor and integrity with me at each level of community and government service I’ve been blessed to perform.

My government experience is quite broad and diverse, and includes serving as a councilman, board member of a number of regional government commissions, board member of two statewide oversight boards, and local city boards and commissions. My entire adult life includes service with nonprofit and community/social service organizations. I’ve been chair of the largest private social service organization in the county, board member of many others, and served as president of local service clubs, my church, and professional organizations. My ability to make informed and fair decisions is well documented, and very public.

Alice Patino: Being involved in so many facets of the city and county government and my experience serving on the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees, assistant to the 4th District Supervisor, as well as a small business owner. I have had to balance budgets not just as a business owner, but also on a school board, with nonprofits and City Council, each with their own unique issues and local impacts. I recently served on the Santa Maria Joint Union High School Budget Advisory Committee. I see people get caught in the web of government bureaucracy far too often. I have taken the time to work with farmers and ranchers on their own land-use issues and water issues.

I have worked with business owners looking to expand their operations, zoning and building issues in the county, as well as the city of Santa Maria. I am a strong proponent of private property rights. In addition to the aforementioned, here is a list highlighting some of my contributions to the City of Santa Maria.

All of my involvement and commitment to my community at different levels gives me a good perspective. I have an understanding of the needs of our residents.

Jose Vargas: I’m born and raised in Santa Maria. I have seen the changes our city has gone through. I’m 29 years old—maybe to some people not old enough, or some people might think I’m not mature enough yet. I say who better than a young person to move our city forward and make changes to make our city greater than it is? I have worked for multiple nonprofit organizations for almost 12 years. I am now a business owner with my dad. A family business is run with lots of love and loyalty, and that’s the same way I will help lead our city: like a family business.

Gangs and gang violence are admittedly problems in Santa Maria. As a City Council member, what would you do to remedy these problems?

Davidson: I support law enforcement and our local police department 100 percent and think they are doing as good of a job as they can with the resources they have available. I would never support funding or personnel cuts to the department. We need as many officers on the street as possible, not behind a desk. Civilians should be utilized whenever possible to fill these positions to free up the sworn personnel, i.e. re-implementing the neighborhood watch. I would not tolerate any interference from outside groups or special interests. I would write a resolution declaring that Santa Maria is a city of laws and not a sanctuary city.

The machinist Tom Davidson, a self-proclaimed “Tea-Partier,” regularly addresses the council on illegal immigration issues and supports the citywide use of the E-Verify program for employers. PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Gang membership is now multi-generational, and many of the gang members’ families benefit from public assistance. I would work to encourage the county to look at ways to remove these families from public assistance roles. I do not believe they should be paid for helping to ruin our community. I fully support the continuance (and strengthening) of California Penal Code 186.20. I do and will continue to encourage the Santa Barbara County District Attorney to prosecute all applicable arrestees whose alleged criminal violations meet the requirement for filing charges under this statute.

Patino: I have been proactive and successful in asking for additional police during budget time. I have seen the need to devote more resources to our Drug/Gang Suppression Team. They are extremely well trained and professional in dealing with our residents. There is also regional cooperation within law enforcement working with ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. It is vitally important that every resident be responsible for reporting crime when they see a crime being committed. We have 111 sworn police with a population of 93,225. We need to support our police department and be their eyes and ears.

As the president of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, an anti-drug and alcohol coalition, I can say that our coalition has been instrumental in many efforts being made across our valley. Now in its second year, the Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative is moving forward to provide a safe school environment for all students, preventing violence and substance use, providing access to mental health services in the schools, and early childhood psychosocial and emotional development programs. This multi-million dollar funding source allowed the schools to implement the PREPaRE program, a program focusing on crisis. This plan is developed through a valley-wide advisory committee to align schools, the city, county, fire and police departments, and the North Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. 

Vargas: Well, I think in order to control gang violence—or at least bring it down—is by focusing on our youth. We cannot keep cutting programs such as D.A.R.E. [Drug Abuse Resistance Education], which helps out our youth. I graduated from the D.A.R.E. program in 1993, and it did teach us a lot. We have to help families out with local resources, such as the Boys and Girls Club. There are many programs offered through this great organization. I grew up at the Boys and Girls Club, and although I have not been perfect, I truly do believe that they had a big impact in my life, with people such as Bill Libbon, Eddie Galarza, and Anna Libbon, who teach programs like Street Smarts, Smart Moves, Torch Club, and Keystone Club, to name a few. (Thank you to the wonderful staff who have affected the lives of many, including myself.) We need to help advocate and promote these programs, invest money in program awareness and not building bigger detention centers. I think that sends the wrong message. I think it also starts from the top; we as a community need to not be so judgmental and judge our youth right away and label them. So, I think we also need programs for adults to help them deal with problems that are affecting our kids. Instead of fearing our police force, we should welcome their help and work as a team. We are an awesome city with the greatest potential.

If elected to City Council, what would you do to bring sustainable jobs to Santa Maria?

Davidson: It is not the government’s job to bring employment to a community. It is up to private industry to create jobs. City Council can see that the regulations are minimal and make it inviting for employers to set up business. The city needs to review all licensing conditions and simplify ordinances and regulations.

The community organizer Marty Mariscal served more than three years as a Santa Maria councilman before losing to Democrat Hilda Zacarias in the 2006 council race. He’s an active board member for many county organizations, including the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County, Air Pollution Control Board, and Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Additionally, I believe that the Regional Development Agency (RDA) should expand to include the entire Downtown Specific Plan area. The city could then review the funding of the RDA, including whether or not to help provide development funds and fully implement the Downtown Specific Plan. After many years of poor planning that chased most of our retail development to the periphery of the city, a new downtown doesn’t stand a chance without focused efforts and help from the city.

Patino: Small-business people are the risk-takers, and they are extremely resilient. It’s so difficult to compete right now with the uncertainty at the national level: health care, taxes, regulations, inability to get loans, and not to mention the National Debt going up. There is huge uncertainty.

However, Santa Maria has so much going for it; we need to be out there with a strong voice, sending a message that we are a “business friendly city.”

We need to be in the forefront to grow our economy, providing incentives such as reducing fees or deferring fees for a year. To be competitive! To work with Santa Barbara County to make sure that Santa Maria receives a fair share of ARRA (federal stimulus) projects and that steps are taken so that local contractors qualify for contract awards. We must encourage commercial/retail development, which not only provides jobs, but also enhances sales tax and property tax revenues.

Vargas: If elected to Santa Maria City Council, I would promote our city to big companies to move into our city, welcome them in with open arms—not shut them down. Yes, we’ve got to also look out for our mom-and-pop shops that are the heart of our city; we cannot forget them. I’m sure there are grants out there for cities to hire and bring in new companies. We should try to award city contracts to local contractors to keep the money in our city and in our residents’ pockets. Time and time again we keep seeing dealerships close down, and telemarketing offices, and stores. We need to agree we are in a pretty bad economical state right now, but we need to work together as a team; whether it’s just the City Council or not, we need to get our community involved. That’s our biggest issue: the lack of involvement from our community. We need to improve that.

Besides gangs and jobs, what do you think are some key challenges facing the city of Santa Maria?

Davidson: Attracting new business to the community via good policies, cleaning up the downtown area (Main and Broadway), and cleaning up neighborhoods. Equal enforcement of all codes and ordinances, including too many people living in a residence, garages being occupied—illegally—street vendors, and people running illegal businesses out of their garage. Code enforcement needs to work on the weekend when the problems exist.

Mariscal: Santa Maria is blessed to have dedicated and conscientious employees. They do a great job and should be fairly compensated. However, we need to get a handle on costs related to our collective bargained agreements. Whether we renegotiate, modify, or create a new tiered system of benefits, we need more reliable information relative to the costs to the taxpayer, and that information should be transparent to the community. I have concerns with our lack of direction. I believe this city has the potential to be a great city, but we have to decide who or what we want to be. Do we want to be a gasoline stop on the 101? Do we want to be another Salinas or Modesto? Or do we take our rightful place as an urban center—the largest city in both Santa Barbara County and the 33rd Assembly district?

We need long-range goals, goals that seek to create a vibrant city that provides effective and efficient services to its residents and provides opportunities for young people and their prospective families and employers. Our long-term success depends on it. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Vote Marty Mariscal for City Council.

Patino: Responsibility: It is a simple fact that you can’t spend more than you take in. More taxes are not the answer. The City of Santa Maria has built:

We have built all of this without borrowing money! Without going to the citizens of Santa Maria and asking for more money. When the new Transit Center is built, it will be paid for. This is a “pay as you go” city.

The volunteer Political newcomer Jose Vargas is a 1999 graduate of Santa Maria High and a former student body commissioner at Allan Hancock College. He wants the city to end the practice of drivers’ license checkpoints. PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER

Illegal immigration: We cannot ignore the impact of illegal immigration. We have an over concentration of families in single-family homes. The safety issue of having unlicensed drivers driving our streets is something at the forefront of each DUI-Drivers License Checkpoint. The services provided by hospitals and social services are impacted. Our schools are filled with children starting school without the knowledge that cultural diversity exists.

These are not just challenges for Santa Maria, but for the entire state of California, and nationwide. These are challenges that need to be addressed at all levels of government in cooperation.

 Vargas: Like I stated before, I think we need to improve in our community involvement. We need to tell our residents that their voice matters. We should have community workshops more often to involve our residents, as this is their city. I think politicians need to remember that they are elected by the people to serve the people, and I think a lot of them lose focus on that.

Affordable housing: We need to change that. We are a city that has grown a lot in the past 10 years; we need to bring affordable housing to our city. Our city needs to see more tourism. We have a bigger population than Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo, yet they hold more festivals, more community events for their residents. We need to change that. We need to put Santa Maria on the map on a national level. Yes, we are an All America City, but let’s show it. So I’ll leave you with this saying: “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. ... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”—Cesar Chavez.

Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can be contacted at jthomas@santamariasun.com.