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DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOSMark Infanti, who announced his candidacy for mayor in Solvang, stands with his wife, Gay Infanti, outside the city government complex.
Mark Infanti made it official Wednesday morning..
He’s running for mayor of Solvang.
Standing outside the Solvang city government complex, Mr. Infanti stood with Mayor Charles Uhrig, who decided not to seek another term and persuaded Mr. Infanti, a current Solvang City Council member and the mayor pro tem, to seek the office.
“He made the point that I had two years left in my city council term,” Mr. Infanti told the News-Press after his announcement. “He said, ‘Why don’t you just move over to the center chair and serve your two years there?’
“I thought about that,” Mr. Infanti said. “I was hesitant. I wasn’t going to run. But I talked to a bunch of people who supported me. These folks said, ‘You can do it,’ so I’m running.”
In addition to Mayor Uhrig, current council members Claudia Orona and Jim Thomas and former council member Joan Jamieson stood with Mr. Infanti to show their support during the announcement, which was primarily attended by a few reporters.
From left are former Solvang City Council member Joan Jamieson, Solvang City Council members Claudia Orona and Jim Thomas, Mayor Charles Uhrig and candidate Mark Infanti. Mayor Uhrig is reading his endorsement of Mr. Infanti.Mr. Infanti said the city’s budget and infrastructure are among his top goals. Like the city of Goleta, the city of Solvang is putting a 1% sales tax increase on its November budget, which Mr. Infanti said will add an estimated $1.7 million a year in revenues.
Solvang, which stands out for its Danish-themed exterior, needs improvements to its water system, Mr. Infanti said. “We just had a water main break down by Nielsens Market (on Alamo Pintado Road). It was a big main.
“We need the money to rebuild this very old water system,” he said.
Mr. Infanti noted that keeping part of Copenhagen Drive closed to traffic would have cost the city money. It is now fully reopened to traffic.
“One thing that nobody ever thinks about is you have to have ADA compliance to get over a curb,” he said. “It was going to cost a million and a half dollars to make that street be closed permanently.”
“We did it (close the portion of Copenhagen Drive) because it helped the businesses at the time. It was a good decision,” Mr. Infanti said.
But he said the city had to reopen the portion to traffic when emergency pandemic measures, which protected the city, ended.And while restaurant and wine tasting room owners liked the closure, retailers didn’t, Mr. Infanti said. He explained that’s because stores benefit from people walking down a sidewalk and looking into their windows, something they’re not doing if they’re walking down the center of the street.
More about Mr. Infanti will appear in Friday’s News-Press. And there will be more about Solvang in Friday’s News-Press: The Danish ambassador visited the city on Wednesday.
email: dmason@newspress.com
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