10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MAY 1-7, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS An ambitious grassroots cultural center, Palenke Arts, that has been delivering arts and culture programming in Seaside for almost a decade, will finally have its own home. The new multicultural art center is expected to be 25,000 square feet on the Seaside High School campus. “It’s a response to consistent need and a result of natural collaboration between Palenke Arts and Seaside High School,” says PK Diffenbaugh, superintendent of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. Under an agreement approved by the MPUSD board on April 22, the district will lease the ground to Palenke for $1 a year. It’s still unknown where exactly the facility will be built, but Diffenbaugh stated there is plenty of space on the campus. All members of the MPUSD board commented that district students’ already greatly benefit from the organization’s activities, even if operating, until now, from just a locker room at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, in addition to a small teen center that opened in 2024 in Seaside. The board unanimously voted to approve the lease to support a project that has long been the vision of Juan Sánchez, founder and executive director of Palenke. Naturally, this is just the beginning of the journey. Palenke Arts has secured a $1 million grant from the state for the building, and Sánchez estimates another $12 million will be needed to complete construction. Besides Palenke’s center, MPUSD plans to build a brand-new theater. Project details will come after studies, conducted by the district, and listening sessions with the community. Palenke offers classes in music, dance, painting and more, in addition to hosting festivals and concerts. Up Stage Nonprofit Palenke Arts is on a path to building a 25,000-square-foot arts center in Seaside. By Agata Popęda On Tuesday, April 22, Salinas City Council voted 5-2 in support of steps to rescind four ordinances, including Monterey County’s first rent stabilization measure. Councilmembers Andrew Sandoval and Tony Barrera, who are the only remaining members of council from 2023 and 2024 who voted in support of the policy last year, cast the two dissenting votes. The vote on April 22 was not binding, but directs city staff to bring a formal ordinance to council that will rescind four ordinances following up on a request to do so in March. The council is expected to take a formal vote as soon as Tuesday, May 13. The council moved to revoke a suite of three passed last fall: a tenant anti-harassment ordinance; a just cause eviction ordinance requiring landlords to provide three months’ relocation assistance in the event of a no-fault eviction; and rent stabilization, capping annual rent increases at 2.75 percent for units in buildings built before 1995. The fourth was a residential rental registry approved by council in 2022 that took effect May 4, 2023. The registry requires property owners to list their rental properties with the city and pay a fee of $45 for units built after 1995 and not subject to the rent control ordinance, and $170 per rent-stabilized unit. As of April 14, city housing staff reported that 50 percent of suspected rental units—10,963 units—have been registered. Of those, two-thirds (7,317) are rent stabilized. Real estate broker Mike Handley of Town ‘N Country was one of many voices in support of revocation. “You cannot legislate affordability,” he said. “These types of policies, while well intentioned, tend to backfire.” In addition to the revocations, City Council also voted to pursue a potential rental assistance program to help struggling renters, dozens of whom addressed the council on April 22, as well as to provide monthly reports on new construction to improve accountability on increasing housing supply. Boosting supply was a primary motivation several councilmembers gave in explaining their votes. “We need to work on the supply side,” Councilmember Jose Luis Barajas said. “Other jurisdictions have helped stabilize rents by increasing supply. That’s simply economics. Emotion aside, the data tells us we need to focus on building.” Organizers in a coalition that led the charge on rent stabilization over the course of two-plus years— from groups like Building Healthy Communities, Center for Community Advocacy, and others—plan to meet with Barajas before the vote. “He needs to hear that residents are concerned about the decision he is making,” says Joel Hernandez Laguna, executive director of CCA. Hernandez also serves as an elected official on the board of Salinas Valley Health, and says that like a group of physicians and other health professionals who spoke out in support of rent stabilization, he sees the ordinances as a health issue. “Highcost rent is causing overcrowding,” he says. “Overcrowding is a health issue.” Coalition members are also asking church leaders at St. Mary’s of Nativity Church in East Salinas to hold a mass in support of rent stabilization on Sunday prior to the vote. A longer version of this story appears at montereycountynow.com. Doctors for a Healthy Salinas (including, from left, physicians Juan Magaña, Jaime Gonzalez and John Silva) spoke on April 22 in support of rent stabilization. Rent or Own Salinas City Council votes 5-2 in favor of rescinding four renter-protection ordinances. By Sara Rubin Palenke Arts Founder/Executive Director Juan Sánchez, shown in the nonprofit’s teen center that opened in 2024, envisions a dedicated, dignified space for performance and creativity. “Emotion aside, the data tells us we need to focus on building.” DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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