4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 12-18, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH Voters elect city council members, and when voters are displeased, they have a few options. One is to push for a referendum. After a 3-2 vote by Soledad City Council on Oct. 4 approving Ordinance 765— establishing district elections with five council districts and a rotating mayor—voters are mobilizing under the name Soledad Committee for Voting Rights to seek a referendum vote that would overturn the council’s decision. “They weren’t persuaded by the overwhelming voice of the constituents, and that’s always disappointing. That’s not what democracy looks like,” says Monica Andrade, the committee’s spokesperson. (Andrade is married to Councilmember Fernando Cabrera, who was one of the dissenting voters, along with Mayor Anna Velazquez, who cannot seek re-election under the approved plan.) “Let’s call this what it is. It’s voter suppression.” To get a referendum vote on the ballot, the group will have to gather at least 840 signatures of registered voters—10 percent of the city’s total registered voters at last count. The California Secretary of State is expected to update that figure soon, so the signatures required could change. Good: The Jeopardy category: “Good Week in Education.” The clue: “CSU Monterey Bay students will see more than $50,000 in additional scholarship money available thanks to what Jeopardy know-it-all from Pacific Grove.” The answer: “Who is Sam Buttrey?” More accurately, Buttrey, the Jeopardy-winning professor from the Naval Postgraduate School, and his wife Elinda, who decided to donate more than half of Buttrey’s first $100,000 winnings from the show’s Professor’s Tournament to a CSUMB scholarship fund, the university announced on Oct. 2. “We saw it as found money,” Buttrey said. He and his wife wanted to help local students. “We’re interested in helping children from the community who might not have the resources to attend college.” A fan of the show since the 1970s, Buttrey auditioned numerous times until he finally made it in 2021. He’s won three times. GREAT: Great news for housing in Salinas comes courtesy of Salinas City Council, which voted in September to rezone five commercial areas from commercial or industrial to mixed use. They are: Alisal Marketplace; the edge of downtown (at Front and John streets); the Foods Co. shopping center at Alisal and Sanborn; the Laurel West Shopping Center; and the former Sears (a portion of Northridge Mall), comprising 54 acres in total. “The project is intended to encourage future housing development,” according to a report to council. This change could produce 2,513 housing units. The plan for this rezoning comes thanks to a 2019 grant of $310,000 from the state Housing and Community Development Department. These funds are from Senate Bill 2, which aims to increase housing production and streamline the process. This rezoning paves the way for potential development proposals. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY Assets held by Monterey County Bank, the oldest locally owned bank, which after next year will no longer be under local management. In a deal announced Oct. 2, it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Orange County-based PCB Financial. Source: Monterey County Bank $212 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “There is never a ‘perfect’ time to step away.” -Pete Delgado, president/CEO of Salinas Valley Health, announcing his resignation on Oct. 9. A process to replace him is to be determined (see story, mcweekly.com). million PRESENTED BY
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