The Weekly Tally 02.02.17

FREE SPEECH

On Jan. 24, six days after a police shooting killed 16-year-old Marlon Joel Rodas-Sanchez, the Salinas Police Department released the names of the two officers connected to the shooting, Manuel Lopez, Jr. and Jared Dominici, at a press conference. But there’s no response on a separate request the Weekly filed a few hours after the shooting on Jan. 18, seeking body-worn camera footage of the incident. That was submitted to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating the shooting. “This information is exempt from the California Public Records Act,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon says. That’s the case for all evidence in a criminal investigation, he adds. “I can’t have evidence out in the public domain,” he continues, because it would potentially jeopardize the right to a fair trial. “The cops may be criminal defendants in a case.” The District Attorney’s Office may choose to release footage later, Brannon adds, but not under obligation of the PRA.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT

Heading east at the four-way intersection in front of Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, drivers in the right-hand turn lane encounter a red light and a yield sign. A reader wants to know which to honor. City engineers say the light is intended for the intersection, and the yield sign for the turn-only lane.

WHO’S IN TOWN?

A man with a lot of brass on his chest, Vice Adm. Frank Pandolfe, visits the Naval Postgraduate School this week as the Secretary of the Navy guest lecturer. Pandolfe serves as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with a focus on international relations and “politico-military concerns.” He also acts as military representative to the Secretary of State. In his military experience, Pandolfe commanded three ships, served as sea combat commander of a destroyer squadron in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and led a carrier strike group in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

3pm Tuesday Feb. 11. King Auditorium, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. Not open to the public. www.nps.edu.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

It was a good week for land deals in Salinas. On Jan. 26, residents of Acosta Plaza celebrated CHISPA’s acquisition of the 1-acre Sanborn Ranch House property, where the nonprofit plans to build a community center that will serve the 305-unit condo complex. “I grew up in Acosta Plaza,” says Joel Hernandez of the nonprofit Center for Community Advocacy, which helped organize the effort. “Residents see the lack of a community center is putting them behind. They have no gathering space.” CHISPA’s $400,000 purchase was financed with grants from the California Endowment and the Packard Foundation. In a separate transaction about two miles away, the nonprofit Big Sur Land Trust celebrated the $3.95 million acquisition of 73 acres at Carr Lake on Jan. 25, the culmination of eight years of work to purchase farmland there and begin creating a recreational space.

BAD:

City employees, represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 521, as well as the Police Managers Association, gave the Salinas City Council an earful during a meeting Jan. 24. Two cops with supervisorial roles told the council their subordinates receive higher compensation than they do, after a recent agreement with the Salinas Police Officers Association. Meanwhile, the PMA has been working without a contract for more than a year. The Salinas Municipal Employees Association spoke of chronic staffing shortages. Dozens of employees rallied outside Salinas City Hall.

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