Ask Maribel Aguilera what it takes to get things done in government and she returns again and again to one central idea: you’ve got to be at the table.
Pragmatism supersedes ideology, she says. Negotiations matter more than gratuitous confrontations. And relationships are essential.
“That’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learned in my career and living in Santa Maria and serving this community,” Aguilera said. “You need to get to know the people who can deliver the results that you’re looking for.”
Building on an eight-year stint on the Santa Maria Planning Commission and her soon-to-end four-year term on the City Council, Aguilera, 45, is running for Fifth District Santa Barbara County supervisor.
She’s a registered independent endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Republican Party—a dynamic seized on by critics that include her opponent Ricardo Valencia, a high school teacher, school board trustee and Democrat running on a progressive platform.
Aguilera—an attorney who grew up picking strawberries with her parents—says she’s a proud centrist. She also acknowledges people find her hard to pin down politically.
“I don’t believe in performative, empty actions,” she said. “A lot of people are like, ‘She’s a fighter. She’s divisive.’ You watch me on the Planning Commission, on the City Council, I’m trying to bring consensus.”
From farm fields to the courtroom
Growing up in Santa Maria in a family of Mexican immigrants, Aguilera said that as a child she lived in public housing and relied on food stamps. At one point, she said, she shared a two-bedroom house on Mary Street with 21 other people.
“How does a little girl working in the field at the age of five, who doesn’t speak English, get to be an attorney in this community and advocate for others?” Aguilera said, adding her childhood taught the value of hard work and inspired her to pursue higher education.
The first in her family to attend college, Aguilera earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2003 from La Sierra University in Riverside. She returned to Santa Maria and earned a law degree in 2009 from the Santa Barbara Colleges of Law.
She’s worked with nonprofit organizations and legal aid providers. She also worked briefly in the oil and gas industry as a business development landman for ERG Operating Company.
Aguilera became a partner at Kirk & Simas in 2018 before returning to her own practice in 2023, focusing on business and real estate law.
To this day, she also works as a court-appointed representative of children. However, she’ll pull away from that commitment if she wins election, she said, to avoid any courts-related conflicts of interest.
Housing, jobs and public safety
At campaign forums and knocking on voters’ doors, Aguilera pitches affordable housing, public safety and programs to benefit young people.
On housing, she emphasizes opportunities for working families to become homeowners. She’s discussed encouraging construction of homes priced around $550,000 by streamlining development approvals.
Aguilera sees opportunities for new construction around Guadalupe and Tanglewood, along with infill projects in Santa Maria.
She also supports the proposed development of 4,000 homes along Highway 101 between Los Alamos and Orcutt. After touring the site, she praised the Solomon Hills proposal’s emphasis on putting everyday necessities within walking distance.
“I think it’s a good project,” Aguilera said, adding shorter vehicle trips would reduce pollution.
On public safety, Aguilera points to her City Council tenure, during which she says crime fell.
In addition, she’d like to help students explore vocational careers and other pathways to employment, particularly those who don’t plan to attend college, she said.
Aguilera recently documented her housing, public safety and youth empowerment ideas. Her 14-page Youth Empowerment Initiative, for example, proposes gang prevention along with trades, leadership and life skills education. At an estimated cost of $632,000, the proposal calls for funding to come through a combination of public and private sources.
While Valencia supports phasing out oil and gas production in favor of new union jobs in clean energy, Aguilera says that she like her opponent sees a future for solar and other alternatives—but also questions whether displaced oil workers without college degrees would find new jobs.
“I believe that it’s irresponsible to shut an industry down without having an ability to make those workers whole,” she said.
Dollars and cents
Aguilera points to her nearly 12 years at City Hall as evidence she understands the challenges of local government, and how to address them.
That tenure has also placed her on the governing body of a city struggling with a significant structural budget deficit—leading Valencia to criticize Aguilera’s fiscal record.
The latest adopted Santa Maria city budget projects annual shortfalls of more than $7 million in each of the next two fiscal years.
Aguilera in January moved to approve a package of budget amendments aimed at reducing the shortfall. She noted the city successfully closed the gap by $17 million.
Valencia, a member of the Santa Maria-Bonita school board, also takes aim at an August vote by Aguilera. She joined Mayor Alice Patino and Councilmember Gloria Flores to approve 20% increases to council stipends.
Defending the 3-2 vote, Aguilera at the time noted the $341-a-month increase would not benefit her directly because her term is ending. However, it would encourage public service, she said.
“This is, at least for me, an attempt to get other people to serve our community who would be really good at bringing new ideas, especially the young people who don’t make a lot of money and don’t have flexible schedules in their jobs to come and serve the city,” Aguilera said at the time. “This is a way for me to leave things better.”
Councilmember Gloria Soto in response called the pay boost ill-timed. She noted employee wage negotiations were underway, and that the city would soon be asking voters in November to approve Measure C, a 0.5% sales-tax increase.
Independence and alliances
Aguilera and Valencia are competing to succeed Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, an independent and former Republican retiring after 16 years.
In one of his biggest criticisms of Aguilera, Valencia challenges her claims of independence.
“She wants to play both sides,” said Valencia, a fierce critic of ICE and President Trump. “In this environment we’re in right now, you can’t do that.
“Even though Maribel presents herself as somebody who’s here for the people, that hasn’t been the case,” he said. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
Aguilera says being an independent centrist means she isn’t beholden to either major political party. At the same time, she acknowledges people often perceive her as a conservative.
“I grew up Catholic,” she said. “You grew up with certain ideals, certain perspectives, and that could be seen as conservative. Sometimes being common sense is seen as conservative. Supporting first responders is seen as conservative… I have four cousins who are police officers in Santa Maria. My extended family is a bunch of Marines.”
Police, labor, growers
In addition to the county Republicans, Aguilera is endorsed by Santa Maria police and firefighter unions, SEIU Local 721, the Central Coast Labor Council and the Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.
The county Republicans in May circulated an AI-generated attack ad depicting Valencia as a sad-faced clown. Aguilera said she had no advance knowledge of the ad and criticized its content.
Aguilera by Monday had reported raising $200,220 this year through Sept. 19, plus an additional $61,986 in large donations of $1,000 or more through Oct. 13—from labor, business, agricultural and public-safety interests.
Valencia at last count reported raising $198,599 this year through Sept. 19, plus an additional $16,150 in large donations since—drawing substantial support from labor and Democrats. He’s also benefited from small donors whose contributions over the past month aren’t yet public.
Valencia finished first in the June primary with 41.87% of the vote, followed by Aguilera with 31.15%. It’s likely, Aguilera said, that she split a significant portion of the vote with Cory Bantilan, a top aide to Lavagnino who pulled 26.59%.
Because none won a majority, the top two finishers are now competing in a Nov. 3 Election Day runoff.
‘Hot button issues’
To Aguilera, Valencia as too ideologically driven, she said, adding he devotes too much attention to politically charged national issues and not enough to demonstrating how he’d govern.
“He likes to talk about things that are hot button issues. It’s the vibes, what’s popular,” Aguilera said. “If I go apply for a job in tech, I don’t go and talk about NASA and space, even though it’s cool. I’m applying for a county board of supervisors job. I’m going to tell you what I can and cannot do. I’m not applying to be an astronaut.”
Valencia has proposed greater county oversight of ICE activities, including a prohibition on transferring county jail inmates to immigration authorities without a judicial warrant.
Looking ahead, Aguilera said she’d expect to find common ground with fellow supervisors, despite political differences.
She compared that part of the job to her courtroom work. Opposing attorneys can battle it out, she said, then go get lunch.
But Aguilera also insists building relationships doesn’t mean avoiding disagreements at all costs.
“You could be my sister,” she said. “I will disagree with you and I will tell you why.”
