Monterey voters will have the opportunity to select a mayor and two council members next month.

With less than a month until election day, issues have included the future of water supply and its effects on development, representation for the city’s touted Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program and the city’s election process to name a few.

The city adopted an ordinance in 2022 that converts the city’s election process from an at-large to a by-district system, meaning each of the four city districts will be elected by one council member who lives in that district, but will represent the city.

Mayor

Monique Kaldy, 52, is a businesswoman and housing advocate with a background working as a paralegal for more than 20 years. She returned to California four years ago and made Monterey her home. Kaldy is a supporter of the city’s Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program and Monterey’s Neighborhood Association and supports providing tax incentives and streamlining the city’s approval process to create more housing. She has spoken out against the city’s rental registry program. In addition to housing, she’s supported more resources for public safety and infrastructure.

“I’m focused on critical issues like enhancing public safety, securing a permanent, sustainable water supply, and ensuring open communication between concerned citizens and the city council,” Kaldy said.

Kaldy said her top campaign issues are public safety, including forest management, water, housing affordability and fiscal responsibility from the city council.

Incumbent Mayor Tyller Williamson, 37, is a Monterey native, becoming a council member in 2018 and then elected mayor in 2022. Williamson has advocated for affordable housing in Monterey, voting yes on the city’s recent proposal to create a rental registry. He’s also supported the expansion of Pure Water Monterey, the recycled water plant. Williamson has focused on the positive moves the council has made in the past two years during his campaign.

“This is the first council to ever pass policies related to the rental community,” Williamson said. “Since taking office, I’ve worked tirelessly to address key issues facing our city. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, from expanding affordable housing projects, sustainable water supply and bolstering our rainy day fund.”

District 3 council

Eric Palmer, 40, is a public education coordinator who moved to Monterey when he was 18 and is a CSUMB graduate. Palmer worked for Monterey’s Communications Office for 15 years and now works at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District. Palmer is supporting more resources for public safety, especially firefighters and ensuring community spaces for kids and families are kept up. Palmer wants to use his city government experience to help support more building in Monterey. He supports the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program and extending Measure S, a repair fund that city officials say has been successful in getting major road improvements done.

“As an Architectural Review commissioner it makes me cringe to think some developer building whatever they want in our neighborhoods,” Palmer said. “We need to make sure the housing element does a great job so it can serve as a roadmap.”

Palmer’s key campaign issues are housing, rebuilding dilapidated community spaces, and supporting Monterey Fire Fighters.

“Together, we need to address urgent housing and water supply challenges; threats to our forested neighborhoods and power infrastructure posed by extreme weather; major deferred maintenance to public facilities’ and fiscal and environmental stewardship,” Palmer wrote in his candidate statement.

Jean Rasch is an attorney and business owner who worked as nurse for 25 years and has served on the Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association Board for the past 12 years. Rasch supports the rental registry and has advocated for a deep dive into the results and watching cities such as Salinas, that have had recent results with curbing rent costs and getting more housing built.

“I’m interested in the rental registry and studying the data. Are we dealing with a lot of corporate holdings? Are those corporate holdings really just families with small holdings, or are we looking at a nationwide grab onto large corporations running real estate inventory? I want a very deep dive with all stakeholders as to the research on this,” Rasch said.

Rasch said if elected, her background in neighborhood improvement would serve the council to better understand the role of those in the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program and their concerns when brought up.

Rasch said her biggest campaign issues are supporting the expansion of Pure One Monterey and infrastructure in Monterey.

“The challenges of balancing the Monterey budget are real,” Rasch said about spending in Monterey. “The first issue to look at is the lack of pension funding, and those numbers are big, so we need to look at reinvestment strategies, negotiations with unions, we need to look at salaries.”

District 4

Incumbent councilman Gino Garcia, 45, is a transportation planning program specialist who was appointed to the council unanimously in December 2022 after a council member lost his bid for mayor. Garcia is supporting more community engagement and focus on economic development and housing in North Fremont.

“North Fremont is overdue for attention, in my tenure I’ve tried to look at opportunities where additional businesses can come into the area and really develop the potential that business district has for housing,” Garcia said.

Garcia said he supports the idea of extending Measure S, but would want to hear from the residents before making a decision. He also raised concerns about fiscal responsibility and taking time to ensure the council has all the information before moving forward.

“With a background in community engagement and transportation planning, I am dedicated to amplifying the voices of our diverse community,” Garcia wrote in his candidate statement. “I am a staunch advocate for the economic development of our community. This is why I have supported cannabis retail along our North Fremont business corridor. I also strongly support local housing initiatives.”

Brian Perez, 51, is a police supervisor in Del Rey Oaks and Marine Corps veteran. He moved to Monterey in 2019 with his family and plans to retire here soon. Perez supports a revitalization of North Fremont, which he says will be a priority of his if elected, along with more resources for law enforcement.

“A couple months ago our chief of police came in asking for resources, I want to give them those resources,” Perez said. “We’re down men, we’re down training, we’re down facilities and security is vital, especially when we host these big events like Car Week.”

Perez wants to watch the city of Salinas closely and its recent decision to cap rent prices, though he does not support that action for Monterey.

“I think government infringement at the local level is just a bad thing regarding getting involved with the tenant-landlord relationship,” Perez said.