While five seats on the Salinas City Council are on the ballot Nov. 5, there is also attention on the two councilmembers who are not up for reelection this year.
A new PAC called Protect Salinas has raised over $165,000, mostly focused on contested seats. But it also reports spending nearly $5,800 each against Tony Barrera and Andrew Sandoval, whose terms are up in 2026.
On Sept. 27, opponents of Sandoval’s leadership took it a step further and formed a committee called Citizens Supporting the Recall of Andrew Sandoval. The founding paperwork names three people, including Salinas resident (and appointed Planning Commissioner) Tyler Burrola, as well as two attorneys from the firm Rutan Tucker LLP: James Sutton, based in San Francisco, and Thai Viet Phan, based in Irvine. They did not respond to requests for comment.
Sandoval has represented North Salinas’ District 5 since 2022, when he won by a 14-percent margin against incumbent Christie Cromeenes.
His leadership, both in substance and style, has been controversial since day one. His inquiries about a potential conflict-of-interest by his former colleague Steve McShane led to a pending investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission and McShane’s resignation.
Candidates for other districts have criticized Sandoval’s governance style, including Aurelio Salazar, who is running in District 6 and describes Sandoval as a bully.
“If there is an elected [official] that makes a decision based on their personal feelings toward me and not serving the people, then they shouldn’t be in office,” Sandoval says.
He worries that the Nov. 5 election could lead to a shift in the dynamic on council, potentially overturning rent stabilization.
It is unclear if the recall committee has started collecting signatures. The group needs 2,275 signatures to get a recall election; District 5 has 11,376 registered voters.
(3) comments
We need more people like him to uncover the corruption and entitlement of some of these people who hold seats in our city and county. Had he lied about McShane, why would he resign, if it wasn't true? My point is, someone is going to be the bad guy for trying to clean up the unethical, entitled and privilege, that McShane and Kimberly have been doing for years. Kimberly was up next, so she was smart not to run for mayor again. She did the same by asking the city for money for Monterey County Business Council where she works, and when asking she never recused herself, which is against the Brown act. When asked for the annual financials (tax returns) which by law she has to provide as its a none profit, she refused to give them. So yea, Andrew is not the bad guy here, he's just the one that is shedding lite on what has been in the dark for years. And every past and seasoned councilman and woman knew about it all. Funny how the past wants back in ALL OF A SUDDEN.
Watchdog Sandavol does nothing but snarl at the inconsequential. Watchdog Sandavol let the most pristine farmland go to Amazon, for what is now know as "Project Goat." The man watches nothing and cares not for the history of Salinas. Hope he's recalled. To the dog-house!
But was he the only one? And for the record he does care for Salinas, to the point that he is seeing unethical stuff going on and when he calls it out, he gets slandered. But thats good ol Salinas, HOME OF THE GOOD OL BOYS!!!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.