Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez says she will not seek reelection in November and will take a break from local politics.
“I love both community and policy work, so I will be back. I'm just taking a pause for a moment,” Velazquez told Salinas Valley Now on July 21.
Velazquez’s professional life in transition. She is the district director for Senator Anna Caballero, D-Merced, whose term ends in December 2026. (Caballero termed out).
“It was a time for me to just take a pause, and really make sure that I closed out my employment with the senator that has been just an extraordinary, amazing mentor to me, and close out that chapter,” Velazquez says.
Velazquez has been on the Soledad City Council for nearly 10 years, four as a councilmember and three two-year terms as mayor. In 2020, she made history in the city, becoming the first female mayor since the city’s inception, ousting longtime mayor Fred Ledesma.
While campaigning and as mayor, Velazquez increased participation among young residents and voters. Among her accomplishments, she advocated for Orchard Lane Park, the first inclusive park in South County, and the creation of the Soledad Youth Council.
The city also secured $2 million in state funds to purchase a ladder truck that will allow the city to grow vertically, building three- and four-story buildings, and encampment resolution funds for the Sendero Program, a transitional housing development for unhoused residents who lived along the Salinas River in Soledad.
Velazquez also worked with a divided city council in her earlier years as mayor, and when the city was transitioning from at-large to district-wide election, she opposed the council’s decision to have a rotating mayor. In the end, voters overturned the council’s decision. The city now has an at-large mayor and four councilmember districts.