Scott Fina, Ph.D.
November 3, 2025
Honorable Mayor Patino and City Council
City of Santa Maria
RE: Public Comment on the Donation of a Model of the Original Santa Maria Ship
Dear Mayor and City Council:
Some of you are aware of my efforts to challenge the City of Santa Maria’s use of an image of Christoper Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, as its official seal. Below I quote the City’s Municipal Code which established the seal:
Section 1-3.01 of the Municipal Code of the City of Santa Maria: The seal of the City shall be a design bearing upon it the words, "City of Santa Maria," with a representation of Columbus' flagship, the Santa Maria.
A memo written by Chen Wu, Assistant City Manager, as part of the Council Agenda Report for the November 4, 2025 City Council Meeting, indicates that a city resident has offered to donate a detailed model of the Columbus flagship. Mr. Wu’s memo reads, in part: “City staff have arranged space in the display case for the ship located in the lobby of City Hall.”
This statement suggests that City staff are in support of accepting and prominently displaying the Columbus ship model in City Hall, or may have been directed to prepare this arrangement by an elected official.
I note how the prominent placement of the Columbus ship model in City Hall, is in agreement with the October 9, 2025 Proclamation by President Trump in which he honors Christopher Columbus, and reestablishes the second Monday of every October as an official national holiday.
Here I quote the proclamation in part:
“Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus — the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth.” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential- actions/2025/10/columbus-day-2025/)
I also note that Mr. Trump uses strong words in his proclamation, against people like myself who have a different perspective on Columbus, where he states:
“Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage. Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.”
President Trump would include me in this condemnation. And I certainly see the history surrounding Columbus—a figure from the 15th and 16th Centuries who never stepped foot on North America—in a very different light.
Moreover, there is no historical connection of Columbus or his voyages, whatsoever, to the founding, history, populace (predominant ethnicities), current cultures, and commerce of the City of Santa Maria. In fact, there is historical evidence that Columbus mistreated indigenous people in the “New World” he discovered: land which had been occupied for many centuries before Columbus’s arrival.
It was similar observations statewide that led the California Senate and Assembly to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain from the California Capitol rotunda, in the summer of 2020. (https://www.courthousenews.com/lawmakers-announce-plans-to- remove-columbus-statue-in-california-capitol/)
I question the timing and context in which the model of Columbus’s ship is to be prominently placed in City Hall and its connection to the President’s Columbus Day proclamation. Here I refer to President Trump’s intent to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants across our country, which impacts the populace of the City of Santa Maria and its vital workforce. As I understand history, Columbus’s treatment of indigenous peoples was harsh and inhumane; so is the contemporary, gross deportation of undocumented peoples in the U.S. which results in the separation of families, and often lengthy incarceration of undocumented residents in detainment centers.
Holding the President’s Columbus Day proclamation in one hand, and his extensive deportation of undocumented immigrants in the other, makes me wonder about the city government of Santa Maria and what strikes me as its alignment with the President’s broader agenda that disserves a large portion of the city residents.
I remind the Mayor and City Council of the controversy over the ICE deportation processing facility on Century Street in Santa Maria. As you know, City Council ultimately granted the permitting of the ICE facility, which operates today—and I would say, to the detriment of City residents and the City’s economy.
Astonishingly, Santa Maria City Council later named a street after the developer/agent who was most responsible for getting the ICE facility constructed and the ground it was built on, rezoned.
I urge the Mayor and City Council to carefully consider the appropriateness of placing the Columbus ship model in prominent view inside City Hall.
With all due respect,
Scott Fina