Soledad City Council moves forward with a five-district council map, prompting community outcry.

The people packed into the chambers of Soledad City Council on Wednesday, Sept. 6 expressed a swirl of emotions. About 70 members of the public attended in person, some standing outside due to capacity. More participated online.

An important decision was at stake: choosing a map for district elections, a new direction for Soledad, where the five members of council, including the mayor, have previously been elected at-large. (The concept behind district-based elections is to empower underrepresented voters to elect a candidate of their choosing for their community.) 

The council was presented with two options: the “Tan” map with four districts and a mayor who would be elected at large, or variations of “501” with five districts and a rotating mayor. 

Divided, the council voted 3-2 to move forward with the five-district map 501B. Mayor Anna Velazquez and Councilmember Fernando Cabrera opposed.  

501B puts Velazquez and Cabrera in the same district (District 2). Cabrera's term ends in 2026; that means Velazquez, a former councilmember who was elected as mayor in 2020, will not have an opportunity to run next year—her district would not be up for re-election until 2026.

The districts up for election in 2024 will be District 3 (where Councilmember Ben Jimenez lives) and District 4 (where Councilmember Maria Corralejo lives). 

“It’s shameful,” Velazquez said. People in the chambers chanted “recall, recall.” (Residents who support the mayor say they are already mobilizing to start a recall process.) 

The 3-2 divide on council was part of the discussion throughout the evening. Cabrera moved to put the options out to Soledad voters asking which option they preferred. (In 2003, voters opted for a mayor to be elected at-large every two years.) That motion was defeated 2-3, with Jimenez, Corralejo and Alejandro Chavez opposing. 

Opposing factions in the council cited similar reasons to back up their decisions, including equity and increasing the chances for residents to successfully run for office. 

"I'm trying to understand how this is equitable when you're going from everybody at large—every single councilmember at large—to breaking it down into districts and having an at-large mayor," Chavez said. "That just doesn't make any sense to me." 

Velazquez countered: “I just don’t understand how we can think that this five-district map and having an appointed mayor process is going to be better for the residents of the City of Soledad." 

Some residents in the packed council chambers carried signs reading, "Yo elijo mi alcalde" (I choose my mayor), and "Don't let them take our right to vote."

The presentation and discussion lasted for about three hours. Only five out of 52 people who spoke favored the five-district map; those included family members of current and former councilmembers (Jimenez’s daughter, Corralejo’s husband and former mayor Fred Ledesma’s wife). The family support also ran on both sides of the contested vote, with Velazquez’s husband and niece, and Cabrera’s wife, speaking in favor of the four-district option. 

Among local cities that have recently transitioned to district elections (Greenfield, Monterey, Marina and Gonzales) Soledad will be the only one with a rotating mayor.

All of those cities opted for the transition after receiving letters indicating they might be violating the federal Voting Rights Act. In Monterey County, only King City has five districts with a rotating mayor model.