Lifelong Santa Maria resident Gloria Soto planned to announce her candidacy for the Santa Maria City Council District 3 seat at noon in the Minami Community Center on June 21.
Soto, a nonprofit development manager, hopes to better represent the community’s needs and create a more responsive city government, according to a media statement released on June 18.
“My specific goals are to increase affordable housing, to build more programs and recreation opportunities for young Santa Marians, and to bring more living-wage jobs to our community so that our young professionals can stay in Santa Maria and thrive,” Soto wrote in the statement.
Soto is the first to announce candidacy for the District 3 seat, which encompasses the southwestern portion of Santa Maria. Mayor Pro Tem and two-term City Councilmember Jack Boysen, who represents District 3, announced in a written statement on June 7 that he would not run for re-election.
Santa Marians living in both Districts 3 and 4 will vote on city representatives in November.
“There are many issues that will come before us in the next four years,” Soto wrote in the statement. “I look forward to meeting many more people in the community and solving challenges with them–together.”
This article appears in Jun 21-28, 2018.
