www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 6-12, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 Politics is not known for being a friendly sandbox in which to play. One thing I like about local politics as compared to the national horror show is that people generally get along—they not only work in the same community, but they live in the same community. This might have a tendency to influence a culture of groupthink, but plenty of elected and appointed officials refuse to go along to get along, saying unpopular things instead of deferring to a vocal group of constituents or special interest groups. This is often respected as leadership. Salinas City Councilmember Andrew Sandoval takes a distinctly different approach. Before Sandoval ran for government office, he was a watchdog taking aim at government. He was elected in 2022, ousting an incumbent with 57 percent of the vote. But he never dropped his watchdog streak. He has continued relentlessly to submit inquiries—filing California Public Records Act requests that might unearth some wrongdoing by somebody, even his own colleagues, filing complaints with the Fair Political Practices Commission, asking the District Attorney to look into allegations of wrongdoing. Sandoval concedes that he is aggressive. “Yes, I do think my approach is aggressive. I approach government a little differently than everyone else,” he says. “People say, think about the long game. I need to accomplish what I can [now], not push it to a further time.” However, his reluctance to be conciliatory and his embrace of conflict is not always conducive to achieving his policy goals. He sent a text message to County Supervisor Luis Alejo, who represents Salinas constituents in District 1, asking if they could meet about the city’s rent stabilization and tenant protection ordinances. Alejo said no. “I don’t know if many want to work with you, Andrew,” Alejo responded. “You bullied and disrespected a lot of people unnecessarily when you were in the majority.” Now Sandoval is in the minority, after a slate of councilmembers opposing the old majority were elected in 2024. And on Tuesday, Oct. 28, the new majority spoke up in lockstep, endorsing a censure of Sandoval. (A censure is symbolic only, a formal reprimand.) Councilmember José Luis Barajas raised the issue first with a prepared speech. “We all ran for office to serve, to make our city stronger,” he said. “We all know that disagreement is part of democracy. But what we’ve seen from you has repeatedly crossed the line from disagreement to dysfunction. Your actions have built a pattern—one of hostility, of unnecessary conflict and of personal attacks that have extended far beyond healthy disagreement.” Barajas repeatedly mentioned Sandoval’s social media presence, which to me is actually the least problematic behavior. He routinely posts clips of video footage—publicly available clips of public meetings—with his snarky commentary on what he views as colleagues’ bad decision-making. Well-heeled campaign strategy firms might make these same clips. Sandoval does it himself. “If a teenager acted the way you do online— the taunting, the name-calling, the personal attacks—we’d call it bullying,” Barajas said. Councilmember Aurelio Salazar was quick to pile on with his own childish insults. “His videos only get like 400 views, it’s probably Councilmember Sandoval playing his videos over and over again so he gets more likes,” Salazar said. “I don’t have time for childish antics yet it takes up my time when people call and say, ‘Did you see Andrew’s video?’ No. I don’t care what he says, don’t care what he thinks.” This council has an opportunity to rise above the antics. Instead, Salazar used the occasion to go low and pile on with remarks that many would call bullying. “You’ve got a lot of time on your hands,” Salazar said. “If you focused your time on being a real city leader, the city of Salinas would be a better place.” Despite his aggressive tactics, Sandoval is invested in being a good city leader. He has big dreams on parks, pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure, affordability and opportunities for youth. He’s more likely to make lasting progress on all of these things with an approach that includes compromise—but he remains uncompromising in his approach. A censure is unlikely to change that. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Gloves Are Off Salinas City Council moves to censure member Andrew Sandoval. By Sara Rubin PARTY POOPER…Squid drove Squid’s jalopy around to a few Car Week parties this year, but Squid was not invited to one McLaren party in Carmel Valley (perhaps due to the jalopy?). Turns out, according to a lawsuit filed on Nov. 3 in Monterey County Superior Court, that the County of Monterey was not invited either, but they did issue a citation to the property owners for throwing a party without any of the requisite permits. Those property owners—Open AI executive Fidji Simo and chocolatier husband Remy Miralles—paid the citation, but now they are suing the party planners, McLaren International, Inc. and its agent BMF Media Group, for wracking up quite the bill. The internationally renowned supercar brand, associated with a world-champion Formula One team, signed a “Location Agreement and Event License” contract to use the $6.5 million mansion, promising to complete a list of tasks to host their event from Aug. 11 to Aug. 18. Among those contractual to-do’s: pay a location fee and security deposit totaling $225,000, obtain insurance for no less than $2 million, and ensure that all persons behave in a “gentle and courteous fashion,” the contract states. (The contract also included a page advising CAUTION! in bold, underlined text, alerting guests of the hazards of the property—“many types of potentially hazardous plants and animals, including but not limited to: mountain lions; bobcats; deer, and poison oak.” Squid remains unclear on what hazards deer pose to partygoers if those partygoers are not a piece of grass.) However, McLaren and BMF Media missed the mark on one important party-planning promise: county approval. According to court documents, despite their contractual agreement to obtain the proper permitting they failed to do so, prompting county officials to show up on Aug. 12—in the middle of the event—to hand-deliver a citation for $505,359 to Rachel Newman and Dan Rosenthal of BMF Media. But the party must go on—after all, there were six more days of Car Week festivities to be had. So, BMF Media allegedly assured the hosts that, while the county had swung by, no issues lingered. One month later, the County of Monterey issued a revised citation, this time for $761,975 plus $900 in administrative costs—roughly $100,000 shy of how much it would cost to purchase a 2022 McLaren 765LT Spider. Simo and Miralles paid up, then sued the planners. A hearing is set for March 3; McLaren’s attorneys filed papers seeking to move an earlier version of the case to federal court. Squid will be munching on shrimp-flavored popcorn as the lawyers fight out their First World Problems. Maybe someone will earn enough to buy a McLaren. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “Disagreement is part of democracy.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
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