| Strictly Business Magazine |
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| Strictly Business Magazine Copyright 1990-2003 A division of S&S Enterprises, a Floyd Snyder Production. Santa Maria, California. |
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| “Once you come up with a difficult issue, try to blend the ideas, so that everyone comes out a winner,” said Maldonado, who attributes his attitude to his experience with California’s AG Leadership Program. This two-year program, which has been in operation for 26 years, teaches leadership and how to be involved in your community. It is directed solely at people in the agriculture field; and in 1995, Maldonado was the sole candidate selected from Santa Barbara County. The first year challenges the participants, who attend three-day classes each month per year on the national problems that the country is facing. The first session of classes is cultivated in a nation trip to rural communities around the U.S. and a seven day trip to Washington D.C. During the trip, the group visited Indianapolis and St. Louis, Missouri, where Maldonado worked for a day in St. Patrick’s homeless shelter. In Washington D.C., Maldonado was able to meet Leon Panetta, Chief of Staff and Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture. The next session of classes will focus on international travel, with a trip to Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 1997. He added, “This is exciting for me because Cuba is the leading country in organic farming.” Maldonado feels the program has helped the way he approaches his city council duties. He now tried to look at a situation from every angle and not look at an issue only one way. “There are times you are not going to agree with everyone, but we need to come up with solutions that best reflect our community.” One solution that Maldonado would like to see guide Santa Maria into the 21st century is his Jobs 2000 Program. In this program, Maldonado suggests that Santa Maria, as a city, has to select the businesses it wants to attract and market itself to them. “We have to find out who the businesses we want are, and we have to go after them,” said Maldonado, who feels that desirable businesses are not going to come to us. Maldonado would like to see Santa Maria attracting more industrial companies with higher paying jobs and so that sales tax stays here in Santa Maria, their point-of-sale be Santa Maria. Maldonado also feels it’s important that businesses include Santa Maria city officials in their business plan. The councilman feels that if on a quarterly basis, companies talk to city officials and give them a status report then the city can help them where it can. Says Maldonado, “Having this communication, we can avoid having an Arrow Automotive, where we wake up and overnight they’re gone and have the city say, “Well, we didn’t even know.l” In the Jobs 2000 Program, Maldonado also feels that with the Santa Maria Airport Board, we can come up with some kind of ideas to let that land work for the benefit of the city. Also, an important part of Maldonado’s plan is a joint effort with the Economic Development Association, Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce and Space Technology Alliance in their efforts to attract high-tech employers to Santa Maria. “I feel in my heart that working together we can accomplish the jobs that we want,” said Maldonado. “We just have to forget about who is going to get the credit.” Also, Maldonado knows that his Safety First Program, a crime-fighting action plan, could benefit the residents of the Santa Maria community. This program would include local summits on issues including gangs, crime and drugs. Guests would include such speakers as Dan Lungren, California’s Attorney General, the Santa Maria Chief of Police and other crime fighting agencies. “We need to work more with community-based policing, with high touch, high-tech policing,” said Maldonado. Also included in the program is starting a youth sports program, that is funded by private industry and where it is mandatory that parents are involved, strengthening the We-Tip and Neighborhood Watch Programs, and cracking down on the graffiti problem. He adds, “Graffiti is not the problem; it is the symptom of the disease that we have. We need to shut it down.” |
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| November 1996 Abel Maldonado Working towards a better community by Lisa Lopez Coffey City Councilman Abel Maldonado has a purpose: Make Santa Maria a city that businesses seek out, a city where citizens and police have a working relationship and a city where everyone works together for the benefit of the community. And he will continue to work on these goals whether as a city councilman or mayor. But in order to reach these goals, Maldonado feels that all the “bickering” in local politics has to be put to an end. |