Fourth-term Salinas City Councilmember Steve McShane resigns.

Halfway through his fourth term as a member of Salinas City Council, Steve McShane announced his resignation, effective May 10. 

McShane's announcement came at the end of a two-hour City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 9 that had gone through the normal scope of council business with a proclamation celebrating National Library Week and comments from the public asking for better overnight security at local parks, among other things. 

At the beginning of the meeting, McShane had distributed tomato seedlings to his colleagues on council, which he said in his concluding remarks were meant "to spread goodwill," and he then went on to say he was resigning to focus more on his family and because he believes the current council is dysfunctional. 

"I can no longer be effective in this environment as an elected leader," McShane said. "I pray that our leadership can focus more on results and less on going after one another and staff. I know it’s possible."

By “going after one another” McShane is referring to a variety of allegations regarding his own conduct, as well as colleagues on council and elsewhere within the city. Councilmember Andrew Sandoval raised the issue of McShane’s former role as CEO of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, resulting in a conflict of interest investigation. Part of that examined city funds disbursed to the chamber. 

Sandoval asked the District Attorney to investigate McShane; the DA is waiting for the California Fair Political Practices Commission to complete an ongoing investigation, initiated by the commission in October and still in progress, before determining whether to initiate its own proceeding. McShane resigned from the chamber, and the city terminated its membership in the organization. 

In a press release he issued just after his announcement on April 9, McShane added: “The nature of public service has changed dramatically, and I don’t like the growing culture of distrust, divide and polarization on our City Council. I choose my faith in God, wife, kids and aging parents over elected office.”

Perhaps ironically, his resignation announcement came after a civil but substantive discussion during a council meeting on one new policy that was approved unanimously, 7-0, implementing guidelines for the city’s sponsorship distributions to community groups seeking city support. It was exactly this kind of support for the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce that drew scrutiny from Sandoval in the past. 

McShane’s accomplishments during his 14 years on council include championing downtown revitalization efforts; creating the widely used app Salinas Connect that enables residents to report issues; establishing the city’s seven-member Public Art Commission; developing the city’s Neighborhood Services program, which hosts cleanups in various neighborhoods throughout the city, among other initiatives. 

He estimates that he spent over 25,000 hours serving as a councilmember. “I love our city,” McShane said in his remarks on April 9. “I love Salinas and there is so much I look forward to celebrating at the appropriate time.”

McShane was first elected in 2010 with 44 percent of the vote in a four-way race for District 3, besting three-term incumbent Janet Barnes, retired police officer Joe Gunter (who went on to become mayor) and city planning professional Joel Panzer. (He had previously served as a Salinas planning commissioner and a Hartnell College trustee.) 

He was re-elected in 2014, 2018 and 2022, each time drawing just one competitor. In 2020, he ran for county supervisor in District 4 and lost by a 6-point margin, or 2,000 votes, to Wendy Root Askew. 

McShane says he has no intent to seek higher office or any political seat in the near future, citing a desire to focus more time and attention on his family at midlife—he has a 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, and aging parents and in-laws.

“You can never rule out what happens in your life decades down [the road], but I have no intention of running for office in the near future,” McShane says. 

In recent years, McShane has sold two businesses and resigned from the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2023. He says he is actively interviewing for positions in the nonprofit sector, another transition as he steps away from public office.

McShane’s departure on May 10 comes midway through a four-year term that concludes at the end of 2026.

City Council has two options to fill the District 3 seat for the two-and-a-half-year remainder of McShane's term: They can appoint someone within 60 days, or hold an election to fill the seat.

(The South Salinas district includes Hartnell College's main campus, downtown and Salinas Valley Health, among notable locations.)

McShane also currently serves on the boards of the Monterey Bay Air Resources District, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments and Central Coast Community Energy (3CE).

“I am incredibly proud, and I feel so peaceful,” he adds.

Before his last day on May 10, the City will host a reception to honor McShane for his service at 3pm on Tuesday, May 7.