Larry Lavagnino | Posted: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:00 am
I don/t know where Debra Braskett heard the rumor that I might step down from the mayor/s position to allow a domino effect that would end in Marty Mariscal being reinstated to the City Council.
Truthfully, I don/t believe there was such a rumor and it could have been a figment of her imagination in order to have a premise for her column criticizing past appointments to the council.
In the past, councils have appointed qualified people to its body to save the money that would be expended for a special election and directed it to services such as police and fire personnel. Three times in the past 12 years, the council has appointed the next-highest vote-getter from a recent election. The vast majority of California cities of comparable population to Santa Maria also make appointments instead of holding special elections, because of the significant expense.
A special election costs between ,100,000 and ,150,000 in Santa Maria.
It is true that I was appointed to the council and subsequently elevated to the mayor/s position. What Mrs. Braskett fails to report is that I have faced the voters for re-election twice and was elected to the mayor/s position in 2004 with more than 77 percent of the vote. Therefore, the electorate has had three chances to send me home.
My name and home phone number are in the phone book. I invite Mrs. Braskett to call me for facts, rather than sink to printing fiction.
In conclusion, it truly is a high privilege to be elected mayor of my hometown and I have no intention of resigning before the end of my term in 2008. Since I will decide at that time whether or not to seek re-election, hopefully any rumor to the contrary will be seen as just that 7 rumors with no substantiated facts.
Unfortunately, we now all live in a time where “spin doctorsC and “rumor mongersC seem to get coverage and a great deal of press on the editorial page of the Santa Maria Times.
I just ask that the readers understand that letters to the editor as well as guest columns on the opinion page undergo no fact checking prior to going to press.
There/s the old adage “don/t always believe what you read in the paper,C and unfortunately, that/s starting to become more of a reality in Santa Maria.
Larry Lavagnino is mayor of Santa Maria.
November 29, 2006