Monterey County staffers tour new office building in Salinas

A big move is underway for government employees in Monterey County as they get ready to move into a newly renovated office building in south Salinas.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted three to two in favor of buying the old Capital One building in town back in 2014.

Buying the building did not come without some controversy, but county workers were looking happy with the renvonations at an open house on Thursday.

The new Monterey County Government Center has an updated permit center that is vibrant with color.

“Having this type of environment with an open counter that everybody is nearby I think is going to be a nice environment for the group to work in,” said Carl Holm, the county’s Resource Management Agency director.

The building cost the county $13 million to buy and about $17 million to renovate it. Staff from 12 county departments are moving into the building over the next three months. They include a few health department services, the water resources agency and the elections department.

Right now, the Monterey County Elections office is located right next to Nob Hill on South Main. They say they are not going to be moving to the new building until June.

“They were in a facility that was in dire need of renovation and modernization and to really service the public,” said Project Executive Sponsor Dewayne Woods. “When you look at the new elections facility that we’ve designed out here, it not only promotes efficiencies for the operation and the staff and the volunteers that conduct an election, but also presents an opportunity for great transparency for the public to watch the election unfold.”

Relocating staff to the new office space is a good investment, the county says. Some business associations, however, say it is bad for local shops who could lose traffic.

“When there’s fewer people around, then there are fewer bodies to fill seats in restaurants or buying things that are for sale in downtown. So I guess we just have to wait and see,” said Susan Gibbons, the owner of Portobello’s.

The county hopes the new government office will also create an economic center in that section of Salinas.

For business owners like Gibbons, time will tell how things are affected.

“I’m slightly worried, but in my experience of being in business for a long time, I’ve always found that when people leave, other people come,” she said.

County officials say they are working on a report comparing the cost of having offices scattered throughout Salinas with the cost of maintaining the new, larger facility.