Two candidates challenge Jose Castañeda for Salinas City Council.

Longtime Salinas community volunteer Brian Contreras announced this week he will challenge City Councilman Jose Castañeda for his District 1 seat.

Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Davis is also running for the seat.

Contreras says his top priorities will be bettering community relations with City Council and the Salinas Police Department and putting an end to youth violence.

“No one is doing it right now, and it is a time when there is still an anti-law enforcement mentality in the community,” Contreras says.

Contreras also hopes to focus on District 1’s homeless issue, which includes Salinas’ Chinatown area. This has been a big focus during Castañeda’s tenure.

Davis, who announced his candidacy a couple months ago, has 13 years of law enforcement experience as a sheriff's deputy and says solving youth violence, improving infrastructure and creating jobs are at the heart of his campaign. Davis grew up working in the fields at his family’s farm in Salinas.

In 2009, Scott ran unopposed for a seat on the union board of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and has spent the past couple of years serving as their president.

As the race starts to take form in time for the November election, Contreras says he plans to set in motion his campaign in mid-June. Davis launched his campaign earlier this month with a Cinco de Mayo fundraiser, with all you can eat tacos.

In the meantime, Castañeda prepares to face a jury—and possible time behind bars—after being criminally charged for allegedly stalking, hitting and using force to kidnap and restrain his ex-girlfriend in a van for several hours last September.

His trial is scheduled for Aug. 22, a few months before the election.