Santa Maria District 3 Incumbent Faces Challenger In Showdown For Southwest City Council Seat
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Candidates competing for Santa Maria City Council’s 3rd district seat will be at a League Of Women Voters’ candidate forum tomorrow evening at Hancock College.
They’ll be joining candidates for the other city council seats as well as Santa Barbara County’s district 5 supervisor candidates.
Incumbent council member Gloria Soto faces challenger Corby Poulis in the contest to represent the city's southwest area.
“I am a mother to a young child,” says Gloria Soto, District 3 Santa Maria City Council candidate. “I am raising her in this community, and I hope to be able to continue to serve the city of Santa Maria in the way that I have been for these last eight years.”
The election highlights differing perspectives on how Santa Maria should navigate upcoming demographic expansion and budget modifications.
“I came to Santa Maria in 1992,” says Corby Poulis, District 3 Santa Maria City Council candidate. “It's definitely a different Santa Maria than when I came here, and I think that it would be nice to get back to some of that older times when the direction of the city was a little different.”
Municipal funding is expected to be a major topic during the forum, particularly regarding Measure C, a sales tax extension proposal designed to safeguard essential city services such as public safety, roads and parks.
“It's no secret to folks that the city has been facing some financial hardships,” says Soto. “And so, it's important and critical that we don't balance the budget on the backs of the employees who keep city services running on a daily basis.”
The forum will be held at Boyd Concert Hall located at Allan Hancock College, giving residents an opportunity to hear from the candidates in person.
“I won't say that all of the problems that we have are easy problems to solve, because they're not,” says Poulis. “But what I will promise to do is to show up and be prepared.”
Thursday’s event begins at 5:30pm with Santa Barbara County district 5 supervisor candidates, followed by Santa Maria City Council candidates at 7:00.
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