A Guadalupe parking lot has caused quite a stir of late, leaving city officials annoyed and bombarded with phone calls.
The “parking lot,” as Guadalupe residents generically call it, sits across from the Far Western Tavern and is the venue for various community activities and events, such as the annual Salad Bowl, car shows, and holiday parades.
According to City Administrator Regan Candalerio, a Guadalupe police officer suggested that city officials give the parking lot a name because it’s the site of so many community happenings.
“We felt that naming the parking lot would brighten it up, help people find it, as well as [help] promote the events that take place there,” Candalerio said.
The Guadalupe City Council agreed it was a good idea and for more than a year, city officials have been asking the community for input on the pending christening.
Candalerio said the top three recommended names—Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, Guadalupe Central Parking Lot, and La Placita—were posted in a poll on the city’s website, asking the community to pick a favorite.
According to Candalerio, there’s been a lot of interest from veterans living in Guadalupe. The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 982 holds its meetings in Guadalupe on a regular basis. For a town with such a small population, a lot of young men from Guadalupe were sent to fight in the Vietnam War.
It was by mere happenstance that local U.S. Marine Corp Vietnam veteran Steve LeBard discovered the Guadalupe poll. He was visiting the city website for an unrelated matter, saw the poll, and decided to cast his vote for Veteran’s Memorial Plaza. He also sent several e-mails to other veterans in the area, asking them to submit their votes as well.
LeBard has been the driving force behind an Old Town Orcutt veterans memorial monument.
“There are a lot of Vietnam veterans in Guadalupe that are alive and well. There is also a war memorial located in the parking lot,” LeBard said in an interview with the Sun.
Veteran’s Memorial Plaza took the lead with the most votes, but then La Placita suddenly jumped ahead. LeBard thought that was strange, so he did a Google search.
That search led him to a popular website for off-road enthusiasts known as Pirate 4×4. There, LeBard found a thread originally posted by a man with the username LibertySand who lists himself as from Montclair, Calif. According to the thread posted by LibertySand, he has a friend who’s allegedly a cop in Guadalupe and who’s not particularly fond of one of the City Council members. Both individuals remain unnamed.
LibertySand claims that no one really cared about the parking lot except for one council member, who wanted to rename it Veteran’s Memorial Plaza. LibertySand and his alleged mysterious cop friend decided this council member was trying to use political influence to sway the vote. So every day for a month, LibertySand and a few other unnamed individuals have been going to the city website and submitting votes for La Placita.
“I do see the irony in voting against Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, but this is a parking lot we are talking about. Plus, the majority of this city is Spanish,” LibertySand posted on the site, adding that La Placita is simply popular because it was suggested by a council member.
There have been many responses to Liberty Sand’s thread, with people casting their votes from such far-flung locales as Oklahoma, Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Missouri, just to name a few.
In exchange for votes for La Placita, Liberty Sand said he would post pictures of his girlfriend’s breasts in various stages of undress. Images followed, including a bare-chested female torso with bottles of alcohol covering the nipples. Slowly but surely, votes began pouring in for La Placita, and until the weekend of March 17, that name was in the lead with the most votes.
The elusive LibertySand never connected with the Sun after the paper sent a request for an interview.
Voting ended March 21 and, as of press time, Veteran’s Memorial Plaza was in the lead with 1,734 votes, while La Placita had just 970 votes.
Candalerio said he’s not aware of any animosity between a police officer and a council member. He also said the suggested names aren’t binding; the council members will ultimately decide how to rename the parking lot.
The city administrator emphasized that none of the council members has been promoting a particular name for the parking lot. A council member approached by the Sun didn’t return requests for comment.
Contact Staff Writer Kristina Sewell at ksewell@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 22-29, 2012.