The Santa Maria City Council has rescheduled for Thursday this week’s abruptly canceled meeting.

An hour before the regular meeting’s scheduled start Tuesday, city staff announced the cancellation. They initially cited the lack of a quorum but said Wednesday that it was called off for safety reasons.

Assistant City Manager Chuen Wu said his boss, City Manager Dave Rowlands, made the decision to cancel Tuesday’s meeting because of social media posts in the wake of immigration enforcement operations in the community this week.

“Out of caution, we thought it was best not to have the meeting,” Wu said.

The panel has five members, so at least three are required to attend to make up the quorum.

Cancellation notices said that agenda matters would be handled at the next meeting, but they didn’t identify a date beyond noting that the panel regular session would occur Oct. 20.

Late Wednesday afternoon, city staff said the meeting would take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 110 E. Cook St.

Councilwoman Gloria Soto said she only learned of the cancellation — and the lack of quorum as the reason — at 4:50 p.m. on Tuesday, which was about 40 minutes before the start and while she was en route to City Hall. The agenda can be found by clicking here.

She arrived to find several community members, intending to speak out against federal immigration enforcement efforts, who also had just learned of the cancellation.

Several other vehicles were leaving the area, she said. 

“This really irks me because it’s unfair to residents. It’s unfair to the process. It’s especially unfair given the times that we’re living in,” Soto said. 

In eight years she has served on the council, Soto said she can’t recall another meeting being cancelled less than an hour before its start. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly detained more than 15 people during operations Monday, including a student’s parent at Allan Hancock College.

More people were detained in the Santa Maria Valley on Tuesday, according to community groups such as 805Undocufund that monitor and record these operations.

Soto attended a press conference at Allan Hancock College on Monday to condemn the detention of a student’s parent. She has also advocated for the city to take significant action to show support for the immigrant community in the Santa Maria Valley. 

The Santa Maria council’s majority has been reluctant to speak out strongly about immigration enforcement efforts, claiming it’s a federal matter. Earlier this year, the panel stopped short of adopting other stronger measures and statements sought by activists or approved by neighboring agencies.