Soledad City Council transition to districts
(831) 223‑5000, cityofsoledad.com/city‑council
Of Mice and Men concerned itself with power struggles in Soledad. Lennie and George would’ve probably been mad, but unsurprised, to watch Soledad City Council of today deliberate about how to carve up the city into districts. The idea of transitioning from at‑large City Council elections to district elections is to empower under‑represented voters to select candidates of their choosing. Instead, it became a political bloodbath with political allies voting in predictable blocs. By a vote of 3‑2, council approved a map that takes the city to five districts with a rotating mayor, rather than four districts with an at‑large mayor. That means the current mayor, Anna Velazquez, cannot seek re‑election in 2024. Oh, and the map that was selected was drawn by the former mayor, Fred Ledesma.