The Santa Maria mayoral race is heating up, with four candidates vying for the seat — Andrew Foster, Diana Perez, William Smith, and incumbent Alice Patino.
Andrew Foster, a Santa Maria native, is new to city politics but says he brings experience from serving on his local homeowners' association board.
His focus, if elected, is on increasing government efficiency.
"The mayor's job is to make sure that the entire government is running as efficient as possible," Foster said. "I plan on going into every section, meet the people, seeing how they work. Is it working, you know, are they doing an efficient job?”
Diana Perez, an educator at Allan Hancock College and a long-time member of the Santa Maria Joint Union High School Board, is also running for the first time.
Her priorities include addressing the city’s financial deficit and ensuring fair wages for firefighters.
“I was also concerned about fair wages for our firefighters who are first responders, who are the individuals that come and help us when we need them," Perez said. "There's a number of other issues that I was concerned about — traffic, addressing homelessness for the long term, and public safety in general.”
William Smith is running for mayor for the third time. An Air Force veteran and former school board member, he says he was involved in making local schools earthquake-safe.
His goals include addressing homelessness and encouraging more community involvement in city decisions.
“I believe that people should be a part of the solution when, of a problem that affects them," Smith said. "My thing is, I would like to have city meetings in a preferable spot where we can speak with them and say, look, we've got this problem, we've got to get rid of it.”
Alice Patino, the first woman to serve as Santa Maria’s mayor, is seeking a fourth term in office. With more than two decades in city politics, she’s proud of her role in passing infrastructure projects like the new library, parking structures, and parks.
Her goals include city development and public safety.
"We've got to get going and figure out how we're going to grow and where we're going to grow, and that is a big item for us," Patino said. "Public safety is always important. We're putting more money into our budget for the fire department and for the police department."
