Santa Maria voters have promoted longtime City Councilwoman Alice Patino to mayor. Patino beat fellow council member Mike Cordero 50.16 percent to 34.80 percent in the Nov. 6 election.
“I’m very excited and very humbled that people came out and put that kind of confidence in me,” Patino told the Sun in a post-election interview.
She said her main goals as mayor are to bring more businesses to Santa Maria—particularly from the manufacturing industry—and to help expand existing businesses.
“My main focus is to be fiscally responsible for the citizens of Santa Maria,” she said.
She also added that the passage of Measure U this past summer would enable the city to preserve public safety by hiring more police officers and firefighters.
According to preliminary results, Etta Waterfield and Bob Orach, with whom Patino shared her election night party, will also be serving on the City Council. Waterfield and Orach beat out fellow candidate Terri Zuniga by less than a percentage point. Cordero will no longer hold a seat.
In Lompoc, mayor John Linn enjoyed a wide victory margin of nearly 30 percent of the votes against challenger Ann Ruhge. Bob Lingl will also maintain his seat on the council, and business owner DeWayne Holmdahl took the seat vacated by Cecilia Martner.
Frances Romero will serve as mayor of Guadalupe along with newly elected council members William Tucke and Gina Rubalcaba.
In Buellton, current mayor Holly Sierra retained her seat on the council. Council member Dave King, however, lost to Leo Elovitz, who served on the board early this year as a temporary appointee.
