6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 1-7, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS First approved in 2014, Measure S, formerly Measure P, is a 1-percent sales tax to fund street, sidewalk, storm drain and ADA repairs and improvements in the City of Monterey. Slated to expire March 31, 2027, it is up for an eight-year renewal this November. Monterey Public Works Director Andrea Renny stresses how important the tax revenue is to maintain critical infrastructure. “A brand-new street has a Pavement Condition Index of 100,” Renny says. “If you’re able to maintain it, you spend a lot less money and you’re expanding the life of the street. Before Measure P/S, we were at [PCI] 54, which is at risk of failing. Our streets were in very poor condition. After Measure P/S, for the past 12 years, we went from a pavement condition index of 54 to 79.” Renny points out that a PCI of 79 is better than about 90 percent of Bay Area cities. But without the funding, which is roughly $12 million per year, she expects that score will ultimately drop. “What we’ll see is that the index is going to degrade from 79 over the years without that continuous maintenance,” Renny predicts. Measure S funding has provided $6 million for storm drain pipes, pump stations and channel upgrades—more than 1,000 repaired and rehabilitated street segments—$7.5 million in sidewalk repairs and has been used for 375 ADA-compliant curb ramp installations, among other improvements and repairs. According to the argument against the initiative, filed by Monterey resident Lori Mazzuca, homeowners are frustrated that they are still responsible for the cost of repairing sidewalks adjoining their property when Measure S funds are intended to fund sidewalk repairs along with streets, storm drains and ADA improvements. Street Talk City of Monterey officials warn streets will degrade if Measure S fails. By Aric Sleeper South County cities have banded together to ask for $3 million from U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, for automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, to address public safety concerns. Led by the District 3 county supervisor, the mayors of Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and King City, along with Supervisor Chris Lopez, signed a draft letter asking for funding for surveillance technology, citing increased violent crimes and inadequate law enforcement staffing. In a July 16 version of the draft letter, the mayors and the supervisor said they would use the funding specifically for Flock cameras on a threeyear contract. An updated draft no longer specifies that they would seek the money for a Flock contract. The most recent draft is generalized to describe license plate reader technologies. The money could come through a Congressional Directed Spending request. If submitted and approved, members of Congress can direct funds from annual federal appropriations bills to projects in their own communities. Soledad would be the fiscal agent. Lopez says public safety requires multiple solutions. The letter highlights $10 million in funding for youth and after-school programs in South County as part of the solution. The funding request has not yet been submitted to Lofgren’s office. Lopez says he does not have a specific deadline for submitting it. But the landscape for ALPRs has changed since the first version circulated in July. On Sept. 22, Lopez was one of two dissenting votes, along with Supervisor Luis Alejo, when the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to end the use of Flock cameras by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. In a statement, Lofgren acknowledged concerns about the misuse of Flock cameras by immigration law enforcement agencies. California law enforcement agencies have previously broken state law by sharing data with immigration enforcement. Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez says the sharing of Flock data with ICE greatly concerns her. In March, the city implemented rules to prevent use by immigration enforcement, given the many immigrants and mixed-status families in Soledad. She signed the letter after two “egregious and heinous” murders in Soledad, in which Miguel Godoy was shot and killed in front of his daughter while leaving a soccer game, and when Elizabeth Saavedra and Aldo Mandujano were killed in what police believe was a gang-related shooting. Velazquez says she has not received much feedback from the community about the use of ALPRs. For Soledad, its proposed share of the federal funds would be $400,000 for 14 license-plate reader cameras, 16 public safety cameras, a Drone-asFirst-Responder system and more. After the Flock cameras for the Sheriff’s Office were voted down, Velazquez says it signaled that they needed to revise the letter to not commit to any one company. Not all ALPRs are owned or run by Flock. For example, King City contracts with SurveillanceGrid. “[Flock] is just a business to me,” King City Mayor LeBarre says. “The technology is what’s important.” As he cast a dissenting vote in favor of keeping Flock, Chris Lopez described a need in South County. “We don’t all live in the same Monterey County,” he said. Flock Together South County cities plan to ask for $3 million for surveillance technology. By Chrissa Olson “If Measure S doesn’t renew, we are not going to be able to make the same investment that we are making now,” Monterey Public Works Director Andrea Renny says. “[Flock] is just a business to me.” DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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