Davis defeats Castaneda in Salinas District 1 race

UPDATE 11/9/16 1:31 PM: Former Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scott Davis is taking the lead in the race to oust Councilman Jose Castaneda in Salinas’ District 1.

Davis has 30 percent of the vote and in a close second, candidate Brian Contreras has 29.6 percent. More vote by mail ballots still need to be counted. But so far Davis is leading by just 6 votes.

PREVIOUS STORY: The latest numbers show candidate Scott Davis in the lead with 501 votes for the City of Salinas, City Council District 1 seat. He is followed by Brian Contreras, Juan Sandoval and lastly incumbent Jose Castaneda with 275 votes.

Candidate Brian Contreras runs a community based counseling agency. He said if he wins he wants to crack down on the high crime rate and homelessness.

Sentiments echoed by candidate Juan Sandoval, a maintenance worker for Alisal School District.

Also throwing his hat into the ring is Scott Davis who has been with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office for 13 years. Violence, affordable housing and jobs are at the top of his priority list.

Incumbent Jose Castaneda said if he stays in office, youth, small business and holding police responsible will remain his top priorities.

“There’s a major number of unsolved homicides, bringing accountability to the police department,” said Castaneda.

“My priority is to make District 1 at the top of the list instead of at the bottom of the list right now,” said Contreras.

“Higher paying jobs is what we need to bring here,” said Davis. “Being very business friendly is a good place to start.”

“To see more housing built so some of the long term tenets from Salinas and some of our agriculture businesses could have somewhere to stay,” said Sandoval.

While Castaneda has a lot of support in the community, he has come under fire for being disruptive and divisive instead of making positive changes in District 1. Castaneda told KION those accusations are just dirty politics.

Castaneda said he did not raise any money or do any campaigning. He said he’s leaving it up to the people to decide on their own who they want in office. Other candidates spent anywhere from $700 to $50,000.