A political newcomer and the only applicant to never run for public office has been appointed to the Santa Maria City Council.
With a 3-1 vote, the council appointed Ricardo Batalla, youth development director for the Santa Maria Valley YMCA.
During a swearing-in ceremony, he immediately took the oath of office before joining the other four council members on the dais late Tuesday night.
The seat became vacant when Carlos Escobedo abruptly resigned near the start of the March 3 meeting saying he had moved from District 1, made up of neighborhoods in northwest Santa Maria.
This was the council”s first meeting since the resignation and solicitation of applications from those seeking to fill the vacancy.
Saying she recognized the importance of elections, Mayor Alice Patino urged the four council members to make an appointment Tuesday night and not leave the seat vacant until the end of the year.
“We’ve got so many decisions that we have to make and I feel very strongly that we need another person sitting here,” Patino said.
Councilmember Gloria Soto and Gloria Flores said they agreed.
“Let’s move forward,” Flores added before nominating Batalla and the vote occurring immediately without discussion.
Eight people applied for the seat by the late March deadline, but only five were qualified. One withdrew, one didn’t live in District 1 and the third resided outside the city.
Along with Batalla, the other applicants were Gary Michaels, a telecommunications consultant; Diana Perez, director of the California Student Opportunity and Access Program, or Cal-SOAP, at Allan Hancock College; Maria Salguero, an attorney for the Santa Barbara County Immigrant Legal Defense Center; and Osvaldo Sotelo, mission service director for Goodwill Industries of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Four of the candidates spoke about their decision to apply while Perez was unable to attend the meeting.
Batalla said that in addition to the YMCA, he also has worked as a special education teacher and financial supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service.
“These experiences prepared me to lead with both compassion and a financial responsibility,” Batalla said.
He said his involvement in the community began at a young age and included a stint as a Santa Maria Police Explorer “which helped shape my commitment to service and public safety.”
He also is president-elect of the Santa Maria Noontime Rotary Club.
He listed his three priorities if chosen to serve on the council including supporting youth, addressing affordable housing and boosting public safety.
“I am committed to listening, being accessible, and representing our community with honesty and integrity,” he said.
His wife, mother and three children along with other supporters were in the audience.
Of the five applicants, only Batalla has never run for a seat on the City Council or other public office.
Sotelo sought the District 1 seat in 2020 and Salguero challenged Escobedo in 2024. Perez ran for mayor in 2024 and previously served on the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District board.
Michaels ran for the State Senate in 2020 to represent the Central Coast and the California Assembly in 2022 to represent the Palm Springs area.
Batalla will serve on the council until the end of the year but if he wants to remain on the dais, he would have to run for the seat in the Nov. 3 election to finish the remaining two years on Escobedo’s term.
It’s been more than a decade since the Santa Maria council dealt with an empty seat.
The prior vacancy occurred in 2013 after Patino’s election to mayor while she served on the City Council.
That led to 14 applicants from throughout the city and a divided council before they picked Willie Green, the first Black member of the council.
He ran for the role in 2014 but placed last in a field of five candidates seeking two seats on the council, which at the time still used the at-large voting system.
Santa Maria City Council now has district-based elections and candidates must live within the district they are running to represent.
