Race For the Northwest: Three Candidates Vying For Santa Maria’s Vacant District 1 Seat
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A candidate forum is scheduled for this Thursday at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.
It’s a chance for the public to meet candidates for County Supervisor and Santa Maria City Council.
Seven candidates running for three Santa Maria City Council seats will be at Thursday’s forum.
“Don't vote because they're Democrat or Republican,” says Ricardo “Richard” Batalla, District 1 Santa Maria City Council candidate. “You really need to do your research on these people.”
Residents in the northwest part of the city will vote for a council member for district one, who will serve through the end of the term in November 2028.
“We're all humans living together,” says Celest Mendoza, District 1 Santa Maria City Council candidate. “We all have our opinions, and that's totally fine. But it's how do we work together?”
The District 1 seat opened earlier this year after former councilman Carlos Escobedo stepped down.
“We need to reinvent ourselves to make sure that we build a more vibrant economy here in our town,” says Gary Janek Michales, District 1 Santa Maria City Council candidate.
The district covers a varied working class section of Santa Maria.
Major issues in the race include community security, facilities for youth activities, and the oversight of low cost housing projects.
“Right now, we're becoming a city of neighborhoods sprawling all over the place with no identity,” says Michaels. “That's what the housing growth boom is doing to us. We can center it, we can collate it and centralize it.”
Three candidates will be on the ballot in November for District 1.
Youth development director Richard Batalla, who was appointed to the seat in April.
“Every job that I've held is I get involved within the community, so I'm not shy about it,” says Batalla.
Non-profit worker Celest Mendoza is running as a community candidate.
“I went to all the local schools around here,” says Mendoza. “So Ontiveros, Tommy Kunst, and Pioneer Valley High School. I went to UCSB and I'm currently pursuing my masters through Cal State San Bernardino.”
and Gary Janek Michaels is running without party affiliation.
“In 2013, I purchased a home up in the Hidden Pines Estates here in District 1 to really primarily move my parents in with me,” says Michaels. “They’ve passed away and I still have the house.”
Thursday’s candidate showcase is being organized by the Santa Maria Valley Chamber and the League Of Women Voters.
Santa Barbara County District 5 Supervisor candidates will speak at 5:30, followed by the Santa Maria City Council candidates at 7:00.
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