Politics

You're Footing the Bill: Monterey City Salaries

Submitted by kiki jones on Wednesday, August 4th, 12:57 pm

Central Coast News is making a commitment to you to go to as many cities as possible to find out how much their leaders are making.

We started making requests for city salaries last week. Tuesday, we found out what top city officials make in Monterey and how much it's costing you.

Today 30,000 people call Monterey home year round, but that number doubles during peak seasons. So, when the city considers its population to comparable cities for salaries, it thinks 60,000.

"Salaries have changed little over the years, no cost of living increases, in general salaries have been flat for the last 3 or 4 years," said assistant city manager Fred Cohn.

We'll use Monterey Police Chief Tim Shelby as an example of the three part system the city uses to get their numbers.

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General Apichart Penkitti Will be Inducted into the NPS Hall of Fame

Submitted by Cassandra Jones on Wednesday, July 28th, 5:44 pm

General Apichart Penkitti, Permanent Secretary of Defense, and the Ministry of Defense of Thailand, will be inducted into the NPS Hall of Fame during a ceremony on the NPS campus. He will join 11 other distinguished NPS alumni and friends in the Hall of Fame for his exceptional contributions to the NPS community, our nation, and Thailand!!

You can view General Apichart Penkitti complete story and information on this honor at

http://www.nps.edu/About/Events/NPS-Events_HOF-General-Apichart.html

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Churches take stance on Arizona Immigration Law

Submitted by Lucero Benitez on Tuesday, July 27th, 4:47 pm

Immigration Reform is a hot topic right now.

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Monterey County to Discuss Vaccines & Immigration

Submitted by kiki jones on Tuesday, July 13th, 10:09 am

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors will tackle big issues Tuesday – swine flu and Arizona's tough immigration law.

Supervisors will take up a motion to buy 27 refrigerators for extra vaccine space. This stems from high demand for H1N1, or swine flu, vaccines when they were first released.

Monterey County officials say they didn't have sufficient storage space at the height of that demand.

Documents show the purchase is fully funded by the Centers for Disease Control's Public Health Emergency Response program.

But, with millions of expired swine flu vaccines incinerated at the beginning of the month, there may be some debate over whether those fridges are needed.

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The Board of Supervisors will also take up a resolution urging Arizona to repeal the nation's strictest immigration law.

The resolution claims the law encourages racial profiling by allowing law enforcement officials to stop anyb

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Monterey County Sheriff Candidates Get Ugly

Submitted by kiki jones on Thursday, June 3rd, 4:18 pm

Click here to watch the video from KIONrightnow.com

"I'm not going to sit here and sling mud, the radio ad was to counter what he said about me," said Scott Miller.

And what sheriff Mike Kanalakis said about Scott Miller he stands behind.

"He stands to makes a substantial amount by double dipping receiving a pension from CalPers as well as elected office of sheriff," said Mike Kanalakis.

But Central Coast News investigated the loophole in the state CalPers system allowing Miller to keep his pension while taking the sheriff's salary, and this is what he told Brooke Holmquist just a couple of weeks ago, "I would not take the money and double dip, I would freeze my pension and just take the sheriff's salary."

"If you believe him that would be the case, but then there is the issue of trust and Scott Miller just can't be trusted," said Mike Kanalakis.

It's

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City of Monterey Outlines Budget Options

Submitted by Marc Cota-Robles

Monday, May 24th, 10:19 am

PUBLIC MEETINGS: The City of Monterey will outline its options for balancing the 2010/11 budgets in light of a $2.6 million dollar state "takeaway" of city redevelopment funds. Plus, the city has brought in lower-than-anticipated revenues.

The two meetings are Tuesday, May 25 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 26 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.

The 2011 budget year, which begins July 1st, will require more austere measures, including possible layoffs if employee concession goals are not met.

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You're Footing the Bill for Vacation Payouts

Submitted by kiki jones on Thursday, May 13th, 9:33 am

Click here to see the video

Mandatory furlough days for state employees were supposed to save your tax dollars, but Central Coast News learned they may be costing you more. Consider this.

The state controller's records show that last year state workers used 1/3 less paid vacation time than in 2008, when furlough fridays weren't around.

And the state controller's office also told Central Coast News that in the last few years the state spent close to 500 million dollars in vacation payouts. This isn't a coincidence.

We might be saving money by paying for one less day of work for a state employee.

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Tea Party Protesters In Monterey

Submitted by Marc Cota-Robles

Thursday, April 8th, 10:28 am

Members from the Monterey Tea Party Patriots were out by Window on the Bay on Wednesday. They are pushing for "smaller government and fiscal responsibility," according to a protestor in Monterey.

One sign read, "Fire Sam Farr."

They want to kick out the Republicans and Liberal Democrats and "anybody not supporting our Bill of Rights."

Members come from Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties. They plan to protest in Salinas near Star Market later today, April 8th.

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Monterey County gets 'dismal' financial forecast (The Salinas Californian)

Submitted by Central Coast News on Wednesday, March 17th, 2:37 pm

Monterey County's hiring freeze will continue after the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received a three-year financial forecast that Supervisor Dave Potter greeted as "dismal."... Read More

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Cities Halt Some Services To Save Money

Submitted by kiki jones on Monday, December 21st, 4:42 pm

Beginning Monday, cities around the Central Coast are shutting down most of their services through the first of the year in an effort to save money over the holiday.

Salinas, Santa Cruz and Watsonville are among those modifying their city schedules.

In Watsonville, services such as street repairs, the library, building permits, facility rentals and City Hall will be closed until January 3rd. Garbage pick-up, parking services, and the animal shelter are among the services that will remain open.

In Salinas, residents can expect the closures of recreation and community centers, City Hall and limited hours at the library. Services such as sanitation, police and fire will not be affected.

In Santa Cruz, the Louden Nelson Community center and the library will remain closed. The library will only be open December 27th through December 30th.

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