Marcia Guthrie
Pismo Beach City Council
| Website: | www.MarciaGuthrie4CityCouncil.com |
| Facebook: | Marcia Guthrie 4 City Council |
| Other: | Instagram: Marcia Guthrie 4 City Council |
| Why are you running for office?: | I'm running to retain my City Council seat and am very proud of our accomplishments which include: The Shell Beach Design Guidelines, Rebuilding of our Iconic Pier, Shell Beach Streetscape, renovation and enlarging the Pier Plaza, replacing the Bello St. Bridge (in process). I'm running to continue this progress and to continue giving the residents of Pismo Beach a voice on the city council. |
| What makes you qualified for the job?: | Prior to my winning a seat on the City Council in 2016, I spent 10 years advocating for projects that would enhance the city and to assure that Pismo Beach remains a great place to live, work, visit and raise a family. We organized and in opposition to a vote, created a referendum which caused the reversal of the vote. The following year in 2014, we had an initiative on the ballot putting the decision of this 990 project in the hands of the voters of Pismo Beach. I've very proud of this fact as not every state in the nation allows citizen legislation. I was looking out the residents before I was held elective office. |
| What are your two main priorities if you win?: | Central Coast Blue, waste water treatment plant which will help stabilize our groundwater basin and protect it from salt water intrusion. This is so important as long term studies show that our droughts will occur more frequently and last longer. Downtown Parking Structure, this will be an essential piece to Pismo's future and will help tremendously with downtown circulation. Continue our General Plan and Local Coastal Plan update that reflects our community vision which will be a "road map" for future city councils. |
| How will you interact with other governments?: | I try to engage, assist and keep in touch with our neighboring city councils. In the Five Cities area you can transition from one city to another without realizing it. Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande recently came together in a Memorandum of Agreement in partnering together for Central Coast Blue, wastewater treatment plant. It's a shared joint effort which will benefit each city in different ways. |
| What are your plans to help overcome COVID-19?: | I'm very proud of Pismo's low covid-19 numbers. We were the first city in our area to put a mask ordinance into place. We were the first city to hold bi-monthly business Zoom meetings to aid our local businesses seeking PPP funds, etc. It proved to be a great, informative round table. |
| Which two issues are most important to you?: | Water and traffic, both are being addressed going forward with Central Coast Blue wastewater treatment plant and the next issue to address is additional storage. Traffic and congestion has gotten worse, especially since COVID-19 and people working from home. Hwy 101 is a long term regional goal of widening the section through Pismo but I'm not holding my breath as CalTrans has no money, so my focus was on updating our own Circulation Element to show the true picture of our local streets and it's not great, with many be E or F. There are several suggestions in the Circulation Element that we have begun to implement and will continue once we're able to take over our section of Hwy 1 which runs through downtown Pismo Beach. The governor has signed off on it so it's just a matter of time. |
