20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY october 10-16, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com infrastructure needs, she helped convene Monterey Undergrounding to reduce wildfire risks in the wildland urban interface. Her initiatives for economic development are thoughtful and detailed, suggesting expansion of the hubs of education, research, health care and technology that exist at Ryan Ranch. She supports the rental registry. She also represents a more traditional Monterey City Council predisposition to neighborhood needs, and we hope she continues to keep an open mind about other demands on the city. Eric Palmer is also a first-time candidate who graduated from CSU Monterey Bay in 2007 when, as he repeatedly stresses, two-bedroom homes rented for $1,000 a month. He worked for the City of Monterey for many years in communications, and knows how local government makes sausage. Those are his two primary talking points. He is a thoughtful and capable candidate, however we think Rasch is the more experienced choice. Gino Garcia for City Council District 4 The Casanova Oak Grove and North Fremont neighborhood is now represented by one of its residents for the first time in the city’s history. This November’s election will be the first for voters from this area to select their councilmember in district elections. Brian Perez is a Marine Reservist and sergeant in the Del Rey Oaks Police Department; he lists enhancing public safety as his priority. He is campaigning against the rental registry, which he views as a tax on landlords, and against the possibility of rent stabilization, but offers no other alternative. He is uninformed on public water ownership, Monterey’s infrastructure funding mechanism and says revitalizing North Fremont is something he looks forward to accomplishing. He does not understand the issues and seems unprepared. A transportation planner by trade, Gino Garcia is a first-generation Guatemalan American and was appointed by a unanimous vote of the current council to fill a vacancy in 2022. In two years, Garcia has worked his neighborhood to make sure the representation is backed by engagement. He has been a reliable vote for Williamson’s initiatives. He voted to create the rental registry and is in favor of public ownership of the water utility. We endorse Garcia for a full term to continue the initiatives he’s started. Yes on Measure V, W, X and Y Measures V, W and Y are common-sense measures that help align the city’s charter with current reality. Measure V updates language to use gender-neutral pronouns, and deletes outdated language on staff positions. Measure W clarifies the timing and process through which a councilmember is replaced midterm in the event they run for mayor and lose, forcing them to vacate their council seat. Measure Y amends the charter to allow Monterey to lease city property at below-market rate to education, nonprofit or government entities. (The city leases out 90 properties, about 11 percent of which are currently rented to nonprofit organizations.) The only controversial adjustment is Measure X, which would implement term limits for members of City Council, including mayor, of 12 years. We think this is better for democracy and encourages more people to serve. Coupled with the city’s new districts, it would lead to a churn of new leaders and new ideas—it’s a model we hope other local jurisdictions adopt as well. Pacific Grove Nick Smith for Mayor Running for mayor for a second time is Dionne Ybarra, a former chair of the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women and executive director of the nonprofit Wahine Project. She would bring a fresh outlook and a revitalized interest in transparency and inclusion to a city that could use more of those qualities. She is also direct, sometimes blunt and has proven to be thin-skinned when faced with differing opinions. The fact that our reporting revealed that she has not voted in the four of the last six elections sealed the deal for us; she needs more civic experience and perspective before becoming mayor. We encourage her to speak up at council meetings and bring a public voice to her views. Dan Miller is a hard no. His temperament is disqualifying. His politics are retrograde. Nick Smith boasts that he is both even-tempered and experienced. While not a hothead, neither has he distinguished himself as a leader in his eight years on the council. He says his actions speak for themselves. In the past few years he has often looked like a pawn of controversial Councilmember Luke Coletti: refusing to enact a code of conduct with any teeth, voting to spend city’s money replacing restaurant parklets, failing to discipline outrageous behavior of an appointed commissioner and voting against a skatepark concept. He has on occasion bucked Coletti and voted for a roundabout, a cannabis dispensary and for the hotel at the American Tin Cannery—and those are votes we support. We are endorsing him for mayor from an aspirational standpoint, and hope he’ll find the courage and wisdom to become the mayor for all of Pacific Grove, especially when that means crossing some entrenched constituencies. Chaps Poduri and Tina Rau for City Council There are six candidates for three seats, but we are only able to endorse two—many are unprepared, vague and/ or want to take P.G. backward. Since being elected to the City Council in 2020 as a freshly minted U.S. citizen, Chaps Poduri has proven to be to be a bright light among local politicians. He rightfully voted in favor of the hotel project at the former American Tin Cannery, pledged his support for the takeover of Cal Am, voted for establishing a cannabis dispensary in P.G., advocated for a skate park in town, he has sought to add support and defense for the much-maligned Diversity Equity and Inclusion task force, voted against requiring restaurants to dismantle their parklets and using city funds to replace them. He spearheaded the process to study the dangerous five-way intersection behind P.G. High School, and that work has produced a $5 million grant from TAMC and approved plans for a teardrop-shaped roundabout. He earns our endorsement to be reelected. Running for the second time (after she lost in 2022 by 52 votes), Tina Rau has been busy in the intervening years. She rehabbed a dilapidated building in the heart of P.G. that today is home to Pop & Hiss, a record store/performance venue/bar. To call that an upgrade is an understatement. On the policy front, Rau is in favor of expanding the DEI task force from five to seven members and giving it more support so that citizens will want to serve on it. She supports the roundabout, eliminating Sloat Avenue to allow the hotel at the ATC to move forward, and enhancing the council’s code of conduct. Most importantly, she is running as a problem solver: “I am looking forward to helping the city find solutions to challenges in a holistic approach, so the solution not only works for a small group, but the entire group as a whole,” she says. A few words about the polarizing candidate Luke Coletti. On the one hand he is always well prepared and well informed for council meetings. He puts in the work; he is smart and dedicated. He is also a candidate who was captured on camera removing yard signs of a campaign he didn’t favor in 2016; was the subject of multiple complaints of workplace harassment by P.G. city staff, including three sustained findings of mistreatment against the former city manager; and has sent bullying letters to the Weekly when he didn’t like our coverage. While his temperament seems to have improved since he got the former city manager to resign, we’ll wait to make any lasting conclusions. And lastly, it’s his policies that prevent us from endorsing his candidacy: His vision for Pacific Grove is rooted in a bygone era. We hope the P.G. of the future is more welcoming, diverse and enterprising than the Mayberry of yore. Yes on Measure Z In most ways it’s just math: Pacific Grove is a tiny city with 15,000 residents. It doesn’t need a seven-person THE ENDORSEMENT Edition 2024 Celia Barberena for MPC Board of Trustees
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