Salinas Valley mayors write Governor Newsom a letter asking for south county courthouse

Several mayors of Salinas Valley cities have written a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom asking him to intervene in the decision about where the next Monterey County courthouse will be built.

The mayors of Greenfield, Gonzales, Soledad and King City have signed the letter and a representative says Salinas mayor Joe Gunter will be sending his own.

In the letter, the mayors say they have tried to work with local judicial leaders with the commitment that a courthouse would be built in Greenfield to serve southern Monterey County, but that has not happened.

The letter reads in part, “Much to our dismay, as is often the case in Monterey County, the well-financed interests of our coastal neighbors have successfully influenced our local judicial leaders in making a decision that goes against the very idea that access to justice is equally accessible to all.”

One of the reasons they say this is so important is that the cities in southern Monterey County are growing and there is a plan to add 4,000 new homes in Gonzales and Soledad over the next five to ten years. There are plans for more housing in other cities as well. They point out that many residents of those cities work in agriculture and the trip to a courthouse in the Monterey Peninsula can be a financial burden.

In closing, they add, “To us, the courthouse is more than a building, it is a symbol that clearly states that every single member of our county matters. The access to justice is a basic right that should not come down to who is better financed.”

Full letter: