With appointments to regional boards, newly elected officials realign.

Newly elected county officials were quietly sworn in just before the end of the year to begin their duties. Before they convened on Jan. 17 for a ceremonial swearing in, county supervisors had already been on the ground, immersed in storm response. Supervisors Chris Lopez (who represents South County) and Luis Alejo (Salinas) knocked on doors together in North County (represented by newly elected Glenn Church) to help with face-to-face, bilingual outreach to residents about evacuation orders. Church and Alejo appeared together as a unified front at a press conference in Pajaro on Jan. 8. Days later, Alejo joined Supervisor Wendy Root Askew for a follow-up press conference, again unified in public safety messaging.

The storm required an urgent and unified response, and county leadership rose up to offer it. But when they got to some of the first orders of business of the year – a week behind schedule, on Jan. 17 – division began to show.

Getting elected to the board of supervisors, or a city council (or the House of Representatives, for that matter) is just the first step in serving. Next comes a series of appointments that give certain powers and topic areas to focus on. Only two of five supervisors will be appointed to the county’s budget committee, homelessness committee, cannabis committee and so on. Then there are regional boards, composed of representatives of a range of local agencies – some may be directly elected, and serve alongside a mayor (selected by the mayors of all 12 cities) or a supervisor (selected by the five supervisors) or a similar combination. Such boards include Monterey One Water, Monterey-Salinas Transit and Central Coast Community Energy. It’s through these governance roles where much of the work happens, guiding policy for water, transit and more.

And who gets these powerful positions can be political. Two issues in the last year have thrust the regional planning agency LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) into the public spotlight. Commissioners voted against the recommendation of LAFCO staff on whether to authorize Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to proceed with a public buyout of Cal Am (they voted no), and whether to approve a 654-acre annexation expanding Soledad for new development (they voted yes). It’s no wonder supervisors would be eagerly eyeing the two influential LAFCO seats reserved for county supervisors.

As the 2023 chair of the board, Alejo recommended appointments to the various positions. His recommendations included reappointing himself and Lopez to LAFCO. But Askew offered up her own suggestion: Appoint herself and Church, axing Alejo and Lopez from the influential commission. Lopez suggested a compromise plan: Reappoint himself, and add Church to the roster.

It was a political hot potato, testing the alliances on the new board. Would Church adhere to the status quo and wait a year for his turn, go for a compromise, or upend the power structure? He chose the latter.

“It’s a jurisdictional mess in my particular district,” Church said. “I have [unincorporated communities like] Boronda and Bolsa Knolls that in many ways are just being bullied around, as well as communities on the county line. I really feel it’s important for me to have a seat.”

Lopez and Alejo, as the only two Latino supervisors and currently the only two Latinos of seven LAFCO commissioners, argued the change would unjustly disenfranchise Latinos. “From our point of view, when we are being disenfranchised, our communities are being disenfranchised – it’s insulting,” Alejo said.

There was unfortunately no discussion from the three white supervisors about racial equity, a topic that deserves more attention at all levels of government. But principles of equity include more than getting Latino supervisors appointed. Askew represents diverse cities like Marina and Seaside, and Church represents majority-Latino communities like Pajaro.

And there are no other Latino LAFCO commissioners because other decision-making bodies have not appointed them to LAFCO. Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez, who is also Latina, has voiced dissent on the public water buyout and her own city’s annexation. But Velazquez has been relegated to a non-voting position as an alternate commissioner. Lopez and Alejo are not the only voices who can represent those constituencies.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com