Ceremony held to celebrate renaming of Santa Maria Post Office in honor of former mayor Larry Lavagnino
Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – A ceremony was held Monday morning to celebrate the official renaming of the Santa Maria Post Office in honor of former mayor Larry Lavagnino.
With family, friends, and many former city government colleagues on hand, Lavagnino said he was touched so many people came out to share in this very personal and meaningful recognition.
“It’s like I said in my speech, my life was a jigsaw puzzle,” said Lavagnino. “Every one of these people were a part in my life and that means a lot to me, so when I looked out and saw those faces, it was unbelievable. I love them all. Every every one of them played a part in my life.”
In January 2024, Congressman Salud Carbajal unveiled federal legislation to formally rename the Santa Maria Post Office after Lavagnino.
After several months of waiting, Congress officially voted and approved the bill late that year in December, and the bill was later signed into law by President Biden in early January 2025.
“Can you believe that?” asked Lavagnino. “It’s hard to believe that it takes an act of Congress and President to sign this and it was done. I’m very, very proud, and of course, I’m very proud of my family. My family has done well and the City of Santa Maria has done well by my family.”
A Santa Maria native, the 89-year-old Lavagnino is a graduate of Santa Maria Union High School and Allan Hancock College, and a Navy veteran.
He served on the Santa Maria Planning Commission before a six year tenure on the Santa Maria City Council beginning in 1996, and later as Mayor from 2002 to 2012.
During his tenure as mayor and councilmember, Lavagnino helped lead the city through some of its most significant improvement projects, including the rebuilding of the Santa Maria River Levee, the construction of the new Transit Center, police station, fire stations, Abel Maldonado Youth Center, widening of Highway 101 to three lanes, and much more.
“Santa Maria and the citizens of Santa Maria have always been so good to me,” said Lavagnino. “They’ve always been very kind to me. I grew up in an era where my dad and mom told me, you treat everybody the way you want to be treated. I hope that I lived up to that because I tried.”