Sunday, June 21, 2015

[Monterey County] Editorial: Salinas: All-America City and All-America Embarrassment


Last weekend, Salinas delegates were in Denver at the National Civic League where they won the title All-America City; Salinas was one of only ten communities to win. The award is not given for being a "perfect city," but rather for a city facing challenges and dealing with them with innovation and engagement.
Unfortunately, the same weekend that the city delegation was receiving this honor in Denver, City Councilman Jose Castaneda was back here once again embarrassing Salinas. Our KSBW Editorial Board does not wish to give Castaneda more publicity here for his disrespectful behavior; you can go to KSBW.com to read the details in the news story from last Monday night.
The only good news here is that it seems the mayor and the Salinas City Council have finally had enough, and we understand that they will move this coming week to formally censure Castaneda. They sure have demonstrated more patience with this fellow, than would have our KSBW Editorial Board!
Also this past week, the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury presented the Salinas City Council with a Final Report focused on Mr. Castaneda. It is a sober and frank detailing of Castaneda's disrespect for the law and his disregard for his position of leadership.
The Civil Grand Jury demands that Castaneda pay his outstanding $5,000 fine and that the City of Salinas explore amending its City Charter to allow removal of a Council member "upon conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude or the failure to pay a fine imposed by a court."
That’s fancy language for saying the majority of the city council should be able to vote off a councilmember who is found to be violating the law. And this Grand Jury action is not just some hollow recommendation; Superior Court, Presiding Judge Marla Anderson requires a formal response from the Salinas City Council. Good! It’s long overdue. And we’ll continue to report on this situation on our newscasts.
June 19, 2015
KSBW Action News 8
By Joseph W. Heston

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