Both Dave King and David Silva want to see the creation of more gathering spaces for activities, and they both believe that they can streamline that process if elected as Buellton mayor.
Regional baseball parks on city-owned property by Riverview Park, the long-awaited bowling alley, reopening parts of the movie theater, renovating the high school swimming pool, and completing the Santa Ynez Valley Regional Trail are on incumbent Mayor Dave King’s list.
“When I came up here in 2004, my kids were pretty small, I realized there’s not a whole bunch of things for kids to do. The valley doesn’t have anything for young families,” King said. “So that’s going to be something that I want to keep pushing forward, and that’s going to get [pedestrians] off the 246, and push for activities like the bowling alley, like ballparks, like the movie theater. I think if people reelect me, I’m going to be able to get those things done in the next couple of years.”
King has been a part of the City Council for 12 years, with 10 as a council member and two as mayor. Buellton City Council members are up for election every four years, but the mayoral race is every two years.
“Two years is kind of a short term for mayor, and I am right in the middle of a lot of things that need to get over the finish line,” King said. “There’s a lot of things that take you four to six months to even figure out what you’re doing. I’m pretty much up to speed on all of those; changing mayors means they are going to have to do that whole thing over again, and before you know it, you’re running for mayor again.”
This time around, King will face 4th District City Councilmember David Silva, who’s completed two years of his first four-year term on the dais. If Silva is elected, the city will either appoint someone or hold a special election to fill the remaining two years of his term.
Alongside the mayor’s race, Buellton voters will decide on an urban growth boundary to allow Buellton to expand its city limits to make way for more housing and a 2 percent Transient Occupancy Tax increase (raising it to 14 percent) for people staying in Buellton’s hotels.
Silva and King said separately that the urban growth boundary would allow the city to thoughtfully develop as the population swells, and the Transient Occupancy Tax increase will benefit residents by bringing in the additional revenue.
The additional TOT dollars could help support more family-friendly activities, Silva added.
Like King, he wants to see the bowling alley and movie theater come online—along with a splash pad for kids and complementary businesses to the movie theater—but he believes he could bring a fresh perspective to the table that could help accomplish some of these goals and serve the greater community.
While serving on City Council, Silva helped the city hire a grant-writing company to advocate on behalf of Buellton for grant opportunities, which funded the Santa Ynez Valley Regional Trail and helped the city establish better relationships with representatives at the county, state, and federal levels.
“I think my approach comes a bit more collaboratively, working with partners at a local community that maybe hasn’t been a part of our strategy for advocacy and funding,” Silva said. “The way we can move forward is to build a vision for what we want Buellton to be and the best way to do that is to make sure voices are heard. I hope I can help bring that culture to light and fruition.”
This article appears in Oct 24 – Nov 3, 2024.
