Mayor Alice Patino has been serving the community of Santa Maria since 2000. As a city official for 24 years, she has a proven track record of supporting public safety. Under her leadership, backing, and approval, Mayor Patino has facilitated adding two new fire stations, relocating a fire station, and adding a second fully staffed response unit to Station 1.
To further protect the community and ensure firefighter safety, Mayor Patino supported a quarter cent sales tax in 2012 and committed 90 percent of that revenue to public safety. She not only followed through on her promise, she took another bold step forward in 2018 and asked the community to support a sales tax increase. The citizens overwhelmingly stood behind her and first responders by passing a full 1 cent sales tax and, again, Mayor Patino committed 90 percent of those funds to public safety.
No one can argue that a community would be safer if there was a police officer on every corner and a few more fire stations, but they have to balance that with what they can afford. For two decades the citizens of Santa Maria have demonstrated their support by funding new fire stations and hiring additional firefighters.
And for two decades Alice Patino has honored her oath to protect the community. She and the firefighters do that each and every day, and they will continue protecting the Santa Maria Valley through selfless service for our community.
Mayor Patino and the City Council have consistently demonstrated their support for the Police Department and Fire Department as they were elected to do for the citizens of Santa Maria.
Leonard Champion
Santa Maria/Orcutt
Santa Maria fire chief, retired
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 10, 2024.