10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY september 28-october 4, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com During harvest season, the industrial area around Abbott Street and Harkins Road in South Salinas buzzes with dozens of trucks transporting fresh produce. Abbott Street is an important artery in Salinas, connecting travelers between the Peninsula and Highway 101. It’s also a major route for shipping and distributing fresh produce. And the road shows its use—it is worn and rutted with potholes. Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, and Christopher Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association, have contacted the City Council asking them to prioritize Abbott Street for repairs. “We urge that Abbott Street (from Blanco Road/Sanborn intersection south to Harris Road) be considered a high priority for roadway enhancement funding,” Groot wrote in a letter. He has sent eight such letters. Mark Kennedy, co-owner of Green Rubber-Kennedy Ag, has run two businesses—one on Hartman Drive near Abbott Street—for over 25 years and says he’s never seen the street in this state of disrepair. “It’s to the point that I actually tell my guys to take another route because it’s so hard on our trucks to drive down Abbott,” he says. Groot and Kennedy say road conditions not only affect business owners, but also thousands of workers and visitors who commute on Abbott. In its budget, the City of Salinas allocated $7.8 million for street repairs for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. That amount will be divided equally among the city’s six political districts, each represented by a different city council member. Each district will receive $1.3 million for road repairs, which is insufficient for long-term road projects. This money is just a fraction of the estimated $1.3 billion the city needs to repair its roads—full repairs to Abbott alone are estimated at $8 million. Many streets are covered with potholes and lines have faded. In the past five years, road conditions have worsened, according to a Public Works report. There are multiple reasons cited, including lack of funding, a staff shortage and the winter storms of 2022-23. These factors “have caused many of the City’s roadways to require costly and extensive reconstruction,” a the report reads. On Sept. 12, the city council approved a prioritization road plan and Abbott Street is number one on the list for repairs in District 3. The street is also a candidate for a full pavement restoration project in Salinas’ Pavement Management Plan. The recent discovery of “jail-made weapons” at Monterey County Jail prompted jail officials to briefly require that inmates be belly-chained during attorney visitations—a policy that prompted a backlash from some defense lawyers. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office officials informed attorneys that they had found knife-like weapons made from pieces of metal removed from the ceilings at the jail’s attorney visitation rooms. That led to an emergency policy requiring that incarcerated people be belly-chained when meeting with their lawyers in those rooms. Less than 24 hours later, jail officials informed attorneys that they were able to reposition the cuffing eyelets and had tweaked procedures to ensure incarcerated people are not left unattended—meaning that they would no longer have to be belly-chained during attorney visits. But the move still sparked an outcry from local defense attorneys like Salinas-based William Pernik, who wrote to jail leadership on Wednesday, Sept. 13, urging them to “suspend implementation of this policy” and citing the “state and federal constitutional rights” of the jail’s incarcerated people. MCSO Chief Deputy Garrett Sanders, who leads the department’s corrections bureau, says that the policy was meant “to give us time to address the issue” of inmates fashioning weapons out of building materials. Sanders says he consulted with Monterey County Public Defender Sue Chapman on the move, which was made before jail officials knew how quickly they would be able to reposition the eyelets to prevent handcuffed people from accessing the ceiling. Chapman confirms those discussions, saying she worked with Sanders “on a less restrictive policy to be implemented as soon as possible.” “When time is not on your side, you make an emergency policy to make sure nobody gets hurt,” Sanders says. He adds that the jail’s incarcerated people are again able to be uncuffed at their attorney’s request during visits. Deep Hole With limited funds for roads, a major ag corridor finally gets on Salinas’ priority list. By Celia Jiménez news Save a Life Pacific Grove Unified School District hosts a Narcan distribution (Narcan is the commercial name for naloxone, which reverses an opioid overdose). These monthly distribution events are an opportunity for students to have access to this potentially life-saving drug in the event of an emergency. 3:30-4:30pm Friday, Sept. 29 at all PGUSD school sites. Free; available to the PGUSD community. 646-6553, pgusd.org. Clean Air The City of Soledad and Ecology Action host a healthy, environmentally friendly fair. The fair provides nutritional information, snacks, arts and crafts, music, bike helmet fitting assistance and more. 10am-1pm Saturday, Sept. 30. Orchard Lane Park, 1505 Metz Road, Soledad. Free. 223-5000, cityofsoledad.com. Future of the Alisal If you want to participate in developing a new face for the Alisal neighborhood, the City of Salinas is hosting the Alisal Design Workshop, where residents can provide ideas for implementing the Alisal Vibrancy Plan—including art for public spaces, how to highlight the community’s identity and more. The event includes free food, raffles and interactive activities to gather community input on this topic. 11:30am-2:30pm Saturday, Sept. 30. Firehouse Recreation Center, 1330 E. Alisal St., Salinas. Free. To register, visit bit.ly/ADWrsvp; for more information, call 758-7381 or visit cityofsalinas.org. Better Transit The city of King City wants to hear from you about upcoming upgrades on Division Street. The project will include bike lanes and crosswalks designed to increase safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. Friday, Sept. 29 is the last day to submit a survey. For English, visit surveymonkey.com/r/HPRGJMM. For Spanish, visit es.surveymonkey.com/r/ NVXYYS2. Free. For more information, call 385-3281. Good Citizen If you want to serve in local government, the City of Monterey is now accepting applications for various boards and commissions, including the Planning Commission and Board of Library Trustees. Priority review for applications received by noon on Monday, Oct. 2. For more information about eligibility and what is required, visit the City Clerk’s Office at 580 Pacific St., Monterey, or email cityclerk@monterey.org, call 646-3935 or go to monterey.org. Chained Up Jail-made weapons prompt revised attorney visitation rules at Monterey County Jail. By Rey Mashayekhi Norm Groot from the Monterey County Farm Bureau shows an example of damage on Abbott Street. Conditions cause slow downs for travelers as well as ag truck drivers. e-mail: publiccitizen@mcweekly.com TOOLBOX “I tell my guys to take another route.” Daniel Dreifuss
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