Try something new or stay with the same?

That is the question this November as Buellton residents will choose between a new mayor or re-election of the incumbent.

The first candidate is Mayor Dave King, running for re-election. Current Vice Mayor David Silva is running to unseat him.

As King hopes to continue his role as mayor, he has touted his record and projects he hopes to complete in a second term. He says he can accomplish these goals if given more time to get them over the finish line.

King stated that one of his initial reasons for running for mayor was the amount of speeding and car accidents on Highway 246. He says that he has made progress on this issue during his first term.

“(People) drive on it like a freeway, so narrowing those traffic lanes will make people feel a little hemmed in,” King said. “And once they feel hemmed in a little bit and the lanes are narrower, I think we’re going to get slower traffic going through town.”

King said he is in negotiations with Caltrans to narrow the roads on Highway 246 and says the city has recently sent a study over to the agency detailing how the plan would work.

King has also lobbied to have the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department provide motorcycle officers to patrol the stretch of road. He said they currently have two part-time deputies but have been promised a full-time patrol officer by the end of the year.  

Looking ahead, King says that one of the big issues the city is facing is housing. Several projects have been proposed for Buellton, and King says that one of his main criticisms for the plans has been parking.

Some of the proposed development was introduced with few or no plans for parking lots, which King has pushed back against.

“I’m very diligent in trying to make those developers have ample parking and making sure it doesn’t impact the city streets,” King said.

King has expressed support for expanding the city’s urban growth boundary, a measure on the November ballot. He says that by expanding the boundary, the city can add new construction.

If the boundary is not moved, King says the city will need to build taller buildings within the limits, which he hopes to avoid.

King has also expressed support for raising the transient occupancy tax, or hotel tax, saying that it will not have an impact on residents and will put the city in line with other cities that are raising their tax to the same amount.

“Services, road maintenance, and things like that are getting more and more expensive. So, we’re going to take this opportunity to raise that from 12% to 14% to kind of stop gap some of those increases in fees,” King said.

As residents prepare to cast their vote, King says he should continue in his role to provide consistency and experience. He believes that with another term he can finish the projects that he has started and take advantage of the relationships he has built over the last two years as mayor and his 12 years on the city council.

King added that he is already settled into the role and that getting up to speed as mayor takes time.

“I can move forward and progress with all these things that I have in the works,” King said.

David Silva

Silva’s goal if elected as mayor is to improve social services in the community and build bridges between the city and residents.

Silva was elected to the City Council in 2022 and has worked to expand social programs offered by the city. He works at UC Santa Barbara as its director of development for annual giving.

Silva says he realized that there were holes in the city social services after his husband was diagnosed with cancer. He says his neighbors in Buellton stepped up by bringing food, offering rides to appointments, and more.

Even though he was grateful, Silva realized not everyone would have neighbors who could provide this kind of help.

“I wanted to run because I realized that there was a lot of areas that we could improve with social services, (like) ensuring that we have our seniors properly fed (or) ensure … walkability,” Silva said.

On the council, Silva has worked to make Buellton more welcoming by recognizing Pride Month, Juneteenth, and Hispanic Heritage Month. He says the goal is to make Buellton more inviting at a city level.

Moving forward, his goal is to push the city to invest more in services that benefit the community.

He referenced one situation with Meals on Wheels, where the program almost went unfunded. Silva says the program in Buellton serves about 400 seniors.

The council ultimately decided to fund the program, but Silva said the fact that it was almost unfunded is an issue and that the city’s budget is a “representation of values.”

If elected, Silva says he wants to be more proactive in identifying where the city can help.

“As mayor, you can be more proactive in identifying issues and dealing with them, or finding … resources to solve them, and I think that that’s something that could really improve the area,” Silva said.

Silva supports increasing the city’s transient occupancy tax to 14%. He believes it is the best way to support and improve the city without burdening Buellton residents.

Silva has also expressed support for expanding the urban growth boundary, saying that growing it now will pay off in the future. He believes that expanding the boundary will allow future city leaders to make better choices about where to build.

Silva continued by saying that the areas the boundary will grow will allow the city and developers to take advantage of land that is not suitable for agriculture. Instead, the additional space can be used for a mixture of single-family and density homes that the current boundary cannot support.

One of the issues that Silva believes will affect Buellton in the future is Highway 246. While King is concerned with speeding, Silva believes the highway cuts off part of the community and businesses, contributing to a need for cars and hurting walkability.

Another issue Silva mentioned was the price of homes and a changing age demographic. One aspect of this is young adults who leave for college or work, and do not move back.

At the same time, the city is not adapting to younger families that are moving in.

“Buellton’s gotten younger over the last 10 years, and our infrastructure, our amenities, our businesses, don’t reflect that yet,” Silva said.

Silva’s goal as mayor is to bridge the gap between residents and elected officials. He said that many people he has met while campaigning do not pay attention to local politics due to work, family, or other reasons.

Silva believes that in a small town like Buellton, the city can do more to connect with residents. One way he thinks the city can do this is by hosting more town hall meetings in different neighborhoods.

“The best decisions we can make as a community are ones that are with as much input as possible,” he said.

Buellton Ballot Measures

Along with its next mayor, the city of Buellton also has two measures to consider that will affect the city’s future.  The measures include an increase in the transient occupancy tax and expanding the boundary of where the city can develop.  

Measure D would raise the transient occupancy tax from 12% to 14%. The tax applies to visitors staying at hotels, motels, and short-term rentals.

Measure C concerns the city’s borders or urban growth boundary. The boundary establishes limits to where municipal services like water or sewers can be built.

The boundary was first approved by voters in 2008 and will expire in 2025. The new measure would move the expiration date to 2036 and expand the boundary to allow new housing and businesses.