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closeThe eight candidates vying for two spots on the Morro Bay City Council have focused their campaigns on improving city finances, on infrastructure or on maintaining the city’s small town character.
Some candidates have years of experience in local politics. Others are hoping for a chance to improve the city’s communication with local residents.
Business owner and 12- year resident Mick Theis said his experience running a successful business is necessary to run a city.
“I think it’s important that we get someone in there that has been through the learning curve,” Theis said. “With a guy like me that owns three corporations, my life revolves around getting it done and getting it paid for.”
Candidate Jack Barrett agreed that experience should count. The former police officer and 10-year resident touted his role as past president of the city’s Chamber of Commerce.
“We need to enhance tourism and search for other means of income besides tourism,” Barrett said.
He said he would try to make Morro Bay more visible for tourists around the world, including exploring the possibility of turning the seaside city into a port for major cruise lines.
Candidates Joey Racano and Roger Ewing favored capitalizing on ecotourism to attract visitors to Morro Bay.
Racano, a four-year resident, suggested using the Morro Bay Estuary as a selling point and said events such as the annual Winter Bird Festival should be expanded over a series of days to attract more visitors and create a strong source of income.
“I want to see a transfer of the Morro Bay Mission Statement — exploiting the estuary for the benefit of the few to capitalizing on the estuary for the benefit of the many,” Racano said.
Ewing, a resident for nearly two decades, said he’d encourage visitors from Europe and Asia to visit the estuary. With the decline of the fishing industry, the city “needs to attract tourism to our bay,” he said.
But, Ewing would also focus on providing services for local residents, including attracting businesses that cater to them.
Candidate Noah Smukler, a six-year resident and chairman of the Morro Bay chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said he would push to maintain the city’s small-town character.
The slowed housing market provides a time for city leaders and the community to discuss possibilities for future growth and how to incorporate smart-growth practices in new development, Smukler said.
Business owner Carla Borchard said she’d focus on making the city more business-friendly by pushing for development in tourist-driven areas. Borchard, a 30-year resident, stressed the importance of promoting city events and encouraging business owners to take advantage of the city’s seaside location.
Incumbent Bill Peirce is running for his fourth term. Peirce, a businessman and resident for more than 30 years, said his experience on the council puts him ahead of the learning curve. If elected, Peirce said this would likely be his last term on the council.
“This is the time the council needs some experience,” Peirce said. “We need some business sense.”
Andrew Wilkie, a teacher at Atascadero High School who has lived in Morro Bay for almost 11 years, decided to get involved with local politics as a way to reach out to young families.
“I want to be involved in decisions being made,” Wilkie said.
As a renter, Wilkie said he’s seen the need for more af fordable housing, something he’d push for as councilman.
Voters will be asked to select two candidates in Tuesday’s primary. If two win more than 50 percent of the vote, they will be on the council. If only one candidate receives more than 50 percent, he or she would be elected and the next two candidates would be in a runoff in November.
If none of the council candidates receives more than 50 percent of votes, the top four candidates will compete in the general election.
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