Steve Lavagnino was set to announce his bid for re-election as 5th District county supervisor on July 19, aiming for a third term representing much of Santa Maria and unincorporated parts of North County in the 2018 election.
As of press time, no one else had announced they were running in that race. Lavagnino told the Sun that he decided to announce his campaign after being approached by a number of locals.
“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Are you moving up? Do you want to run for Assembly or Congress?’” Lavagnino said. “I don’t necessarily consider those moving up. I enjoy what I’m doing here, and I think I’m most effective on the local level.”
Lavagnino grew up in Santa Maria, attended college out of state, and enjoyed a successful career in the Aerospace industry in Arizona before returning to Santa Maria in 1998 to be closer to his family, including former Santa Maria Mayor Larry Lavagnino, according to his biography on the county’s website.
Since he was first elected in 2010, and re-elected in 2014, Supervisor Lavagnino has focused on several key issues effecting Northern Santa Barbara County, like the construction of the North County Jail. That’s a project that locals have waited on for decades, he said.
“The North County Jail is already under construction; it should be open by the end of next year,” he said. “It’s been a chore, a constant chore, to continue to remind the board that it’s projected to cost us $18 million a year to operate, and so we put together a funding plan to make sure that $18 million would be there.”
He also championed the Veterans Stand Down event, which happens every year at the Santa Maria Fairpark and supports local veterans with a number of services for free.
One of Lavagnino’s concerns since he was first elected was balancing the county budget, he said, one that is especially important with the current budget deficit. But his time on the board has also changed the way he approaches the budget, he said.
“When I first came on, my only real concern was budgetary issues and fiscal conservancy,” he said, “and the more I’m on the board, I’ve been opened up to understanding that there are people who—a lot of times through no fault of their own—are in positions where they have to rely on the county as their safety net, whether it’s the mentally ill, seniors, kids in foster care, or even the homeless, and it’s my job to try and apply the most services to those people at the most efficient dollar amount.”
Lavagnino’s re-election campaign received early support from state Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton), Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, county Treasurer Harry Hagen, county Auditor Theo Fallati, Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino, and the entire Santa Maria City Council, according to a press release from his office.
If re-elected, Lavagnino said he hopes to continue serving his constituents and the entire county by focusing on the issues he knows residents care about.
This article appears in Jul 20-27, 2017.