Celia Jiménez here, thinking about District 3 in Salinas. For the first time in decades, there won’t be an incumbent seeking this city council seat, and it’s already attracting several potential candidates to fill it.
This rare opportunity will become available because Councilmember Steve McShane announced his resignation during a city council meeting on April 9. His last day is May 10.
"I can no longer be effective in this environment as an elected leader," McShane said. "I pray that our leadership can focus more on results and less on going after one another and staff. I know it’s possible."
The news took some people by surprise. Some others, maybe less so. McShane’s own colleagues have raised questions about conflict of interest due to his former role as CEO of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce. While he’s long since resigned from that position, Weekly Editor Sara Rubin shared a letter showing that issues that surfaced from that dual role—on council, and working for the Chamber—are still troubling city business.
On April 18, Christopher Wood, an attorney representing the dispensary Cannacruz, wrote to members of Salinas City Council regarding an appeal the company has filed regarding a proposed project. The dispensary wants to upgrade to a larger space in South Salinas in a former furniture store, and Wood argues McShane has been openly and subtly advocating against it. He’s asking that McShane recuse himself from voting on all votes related to the project. In his letter, Wood claims McShane pressured a Cannacruz owner (Grant Palmer) to join the Chamber when they met to talk about issues, such as parking, related to the permit. “Though Cannacruz had no plans to join the Chamber, Mr. Palmer felt pressured to do so and paid the McShane-suggested membership fee,” Wood wrote.
Meanwhile, McShane has just a few weeks left on council. Per municipal code, the City of Salinas has two options to fill the remaining two-and-a-half-years of his term: appointment or election.
Appointment is a popular choice because it is cost-effective (if the special election is not concurrent with another election, it would cost between $232,688 to $349,032, according to a city staff report) but it also has consequences: The council’s dynamics could change and it may increase a faction’s political power, similar to what happened in Soledad when mayoral candidate Maria Corralejo was appointed in 2022 for a council seat, and the discontent Greenfield residents felt when Drew Tipton was appointed last year.
Recently, voters have been more vocal about exercising their right to vote, and Soledad and Hartnell College have opted for special elections instead of appointments.
A post circulating on social media encourages District 3 residents to attend tomorrow’s meeting and advocate for people’s right to vote. “No city council appointee, our vote our choice,” the post reads.
“I don't want the council making an appointment. I want the people in the district to vote for whoever that council member is going to be,” David Bigham Jr. says. “If it was a super short time, it might be one thing. We're talking a couple of years, so it only makes sense if the folks in the district vote on it.”
Some words that caught my attention from McShane and Bigham were the suggestion of making Mayor Kimbley Craig District 3’s interim representative, citing the time former District 5 Councilmember Christie Cromenes served as the mayor and District 5 representative after Mayor Joe Gunter’s passing in 2020.
I know of two people who are interested in the seat: Margaret D’Arrigo, a Hartnell College trustee, and educator Cary Swensen, who ran against McShane in 2022.
Another option is making a temporary appointment, and then proceeding with elections in November.
The meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23 at City Hall. The meeting begins at 4pm, but if you are planning to show up for this agenda item, the discussion is scheduled for 7:30pm.