In February of 2022, the City of Soledad received a letter asserting that the City’s election system violated the California Voting Rights Act.  The letter contained a demand that the City transition to a by-district election system.  Although the Council initially rejected the transition demand, it subsequently reconsidered its position and on July 20, 2022, adopted Resolution No. 5833 which commenced the City’s effort to move to by-district elections.

In at-large elections, voters can vote for any candidate for city council and/or mayor. By contrast, under a by-district voting plan, the City is divided into voting districts with the voters of each district voting only for a candidate residing within their own district.  In a city such as Soledad with a five-member Council, the City may have a 4-district plan, where four councilmembers are elected by district while the mayor continues to be elected at-large, or a 5-district plan where all members of the Council are selected by district with the mayor thereafter being selected by the Council from among the five sitting councilmembers in accordance with a Council-approved process.  

The district transition process involved conducting noticed public hearings, community workshops to educate the public on districting and to explain how to use district mapping tools, and receipt of input from a Council appointed Soledad Advisory Community Districting Committee. All of the aforesaid activities were overseen by the City’s outside consultant, National Demographics Corporation (“NDC”). As a result of this process, a total of 7 districting maps were received, 5 prepared by NDC and 2 submitted by citizens (four 4-district maps and three 5-district maps).

On September 6, 2023, the Soledad City Council voted by a 3-2 vote to adopt Ordinance No. 765 approving a districting plan using Map 501b, a 5-district map. Under the 5-district scenario, all members of the Council are selected by district and the mayor’s position is no longer selected by the voters at large, but rather, will be selected by the Council from among the elected council members.  As adopted, the transition to district elections would be phased commencing in November of 2024.  

Subsequently on October 30, 2023, a community group, Soledad Committee for Voting Rights, submitted a petition to the City with enough signatures to put a referendum pertaining to Ordinance No. 765 on the March 5, 2024, primary election ballot. A referendum is a political challenge by voters to an action taken by a legislative body. On December 8, 2023, the Council voted to approve placement of the referendum on the March 5, 2024 ballot.   

The referendum, which has been designated as Measure P by the Monterey County Elections Department, places the following question before Soledad voters:  

“Shall City of Soledad Ordinance No. 765- Establishing and Implementing By-District Elections, by which all City council members shall be selected from newly established voting districts and the Mayor’s position shall no longer be elected at-large by the public but rather, shall be selected from among the seated council members, be adopted?”

The links below contain the City Attorney’s Impartial Analysis of Measure P and arguments that were prepared by parties in favor and against Ordinance No. 765.  All of these documents were prepared in accordance with City of Soledad Resolution No. 6029 and applicable provision of the Elections Code. These documents may also be accessed on the Monterey County Elections Department website at montereycountyelections.us.