We have a clear choice in the Nov. 6 Santa Maria City Council elections. We can re-elect the same old people who will continue business as usual, or we can choose Rafael Gutierrez and Gloria Soto: two visionary, energetic young leaders who will give our city 20-20 vision.
Santa Maria is the largest city between Salinas and Oxnard, but we are still run like a cow town. We have a part-time mayor and part-time City Council members who allow a highly paid city manager to run the show.
Santa Maria City Council is monopolized by good old boys and girls who do the bidding of COLAB, the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business. We are treated as less important than the monied groups who fund council campaigns. Look at some of the major decisions the council has made. Even though 3,000 residents spoke against siting an ICE facility within city limits, the City Council voted for it.
After MS-13 gang members killed several of our young people, the city finally arrested them and made their case. The council members congratulated themselves on their success.
The Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety, supported by all members of the council, was a dog and pony show to make it look like the mayor and council were doing something new. Those directly affected by the violence, youth, parents, and families, were excluded from the task force. As was One Community Action, with their own comprehensive plan to heal the community. As a result, nothing has changed.
Etta Waterfield told youth leaders at a council meeting that City Council was like their parents. They know better than the youth what has to be done. If this were true, the shootings and stabbings in our city would decline, and they don’t.
Then there’s Enos Ranch. The entire development was dictated by businesses from out of town. This includes the parking lot at Costco. One council person has said, “Whatever Costco wants, Costco gets.” Our council does not bargain hard for us. They cave for tax revenue.
Finally, look at downtown. Thirty years of redevelopment plans fill drawers, with no action to make things better.
Now, there is new hope for Santa Maria. When Gloria Soto and Rafa Gutierrez are elected to council, progress will follow. Then, in 2020, we can elect two new council persons in Districts 1 and 2, and a new mayor. We need a new leadership team with open eyes, younger eyes, and a new vision for Santa Maria.
Once elected, Mr. Gutierrez and Ms. Soto will work together to bring good-paying jobs to Santa Maria and to redevelop the downtown core to include mixed-use housing, with stores below and affordable apartments and condos above for young families who can’t afford to buy a house.
Santa Maria needs to be more than a bedroom community for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We need to be a bedroom community for Santa Maria, where our children come back home after college to live and work.
Mr. Gutierrez has proposed a four-year university for Santa Maria. This happened in Merced. Why not here? Vandenberg Air Force Base provides us with a great partner for aerospace education. Students could train here, then work here. Mr. Gutierrez is ready to lobby the powers that be for years to achieve that goal. The economy of Santa Maria would grow exponentially as a result.
Both Ms. Soto and Mr. Gutierrez speak passionately about safe neighborhoods with real neighborhood policing. They both emphasize the importance of youth programs after school and in the summer to keep our children safe. Both grew up and went to school here. They know the challenges ahead for Santa Maria and are focused on long-term plans to address them.
Now it is up to us, the voters. We have candidates to be excited about. We have a reason to register and vote and volunteer. As we walk door to door we can inspire our neighbors to get involved in changing the direction of Santa Maria. Out with the good old boys and girls. In with new ideas, new strategies, new minds and hearts.
We are at a real crossroads in our city’s history with the new voting districts. We can settle for business as usual, or we can elect young Santa Marians who will truly represent the residents in our community and bring about real, forward-looking change. Santa Maria can and will get better. Voting for Rafa Gutierrez and Gloria Soto on Nov. 6 will help to bring about that change.
Gale McNeeley is a resident of Santa Maria. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 18-25, 2018.