Santa Maria Sun / News

Candidates for the 33rd District State Assembly Seat get ready for November

BY SARAH SCHWAB

Now that this area’s string of special elections has ended, it’s time to start thinking about November.

When local voters went to the polls in mid-August, they sent Sam Blakeslee to the senate, and now his 33rd Assembly District seat is vacant. There are three candidates vying for it: Republican Katcho Achadjian—who beat out Matt Kokkonen, Fred Strong, and Etta Waterfield for the nomination; Libertarian Paul Polson, who ran unopposed; and Democrat Hilda Zacarias, who also ran unopposed.

With a government deep in debt and a state economy still in recession, who will area voters choose to replace Blakeslee on Nov. 2? Though the big day is still a couple of months out, it’s never too early to start acquainting yourself with the candidates—especially if you haven’t yet.

Zacarias has long been deeply involved in the community. The current Santa Maria City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem started off as a self-employed accountant with a business degree from Cal Poly. She’s worked on a variety of local projects, including the Santa Barbara Family Care Center and the Alliance for Pharmaceutical Access, and has long been involved with education on the Central Coast. She’s a former Cal Poly and Allan Hancock College teacher, and served for five years on the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees. In 2006, she went back to school and received a degree in political advocacy and leadership from Harvard University.

Zacarias believes the main problem with Sacramento is the economy.

“Sacramento did not try to pay off the debt when they had a chance,” she said.

Instead, she explained, leaders created expenditures that, at the moment, are difficult to cut back on. She also believes small businesses suffer under too many regulations, which creates a climate that discourages expansion and growth in the state. The best way to help the economy would be to ease such regulations and taxes on small businesses, she said, which would make it easier for businesses to succeed and thereby improve the economy.

Achadjian also claims a lot of political experience, mostly on a county and state level. The current San Luis Obispo County supervisor has served on the board since 1998 and was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as a member of the Coastal Commission. Achadjian put himself through Cal Poly and received a bachelor’s degree in science. After graduating, he found work through self employment and was eventually able to expand a gas station business to three locations and 30 employees.

Achadjian talked about balancing the budget in San Luis Obispo County without creating new taxes and believes that in order to recover from the current recession, taxes aren’t an option. He said creating new taxes would only harm the economy, since increased financial burden drives small businesses out of California and into states with lower taxes. Instead, he explained, if regulations were eased on small businesses, the current tax structure would be able to help the state’s economy; if small businesses are allowed to grow, they can hire more people and pay higher wages, resulting in more revenue from income tax. As people earn more money, they’ll be able to spend more money, he reasoned, resulting in more revenue from sales taxes—and as the economy improves, the value of properties will improve, resulting in more revenue from property taxes. By encouraging small businesses to flourish in California, the current tax system will be allowed to do its job and decrease the state debt, he summed up.

Polson, the Libertarian candidate, didn’t respond to repeated requests for an interview.

To learn more about Katcho Achadjian, visit his website: katchoforassembly.org.

To learn more about Hilda Zacarias, visit her website: hildazacarias.com.