California’s longest serving mayor steps down

As the sun sets on Sand City, it’s another day closer to the retirement of long-time mayor David Pendergrass. He’s been the mayor since 1978 when The Eagles “Hotel California” ruled the airwaves. Pendergrass had just gotten out of the service at Ford Ord and thought he’d give politics a shot.

“Green back in my day meant you didn’t know about the subject,” said Pendergrass. “And I didn’t.”

Sand City looked quite a bit different back then. It was just a sand mining town where all the businesses looked pretty similar.

“The city had a lot of moving and storage companies, a lot of auto repairs,” said Pendergrass. “So when I came aboard I said ‘whoa we’ve got to have a balance here.'”

When you walk through Sand City now you’ll still see auto shops and storage places but it’s more of a mixed-use community. Look one way and you’ll see an art studio or a brew house with apartments on top. Keep walking and you see homes and then a rock climbing gym. It’s not the way many other cities on the Central Coast do it, but it’s perfect for some.

“You know, Sand City has its own unique vibe,” said Sand City artist Logan Norton. “It’s more open and inviting than some areas.”

Pendergrass also helped bring in two major shopping centers that employ 3,000 and attract more than 50,000 shoppers each day generating millions for the city.

“He got that (shopping center) because he went out and worked for it,” said Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter. “He got Costco before Salinas did.”

Pendergrass had his work cut out for him though. Back in the 1970s, few people even knew where Sand City was.

“I saw this bumper sticker, only once, but I knew what it meant because our city was run down. Not my vocabulary, but it said “where the hell is Sand City,” said Pendergrass. “I said I don’t know who did that but I am going to make them eat their words.”

It didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t easy. Pendergrass says he was often at odds with the Coastal Commission over a proposed eco-resort slated to be built on the beach. The city agreed they would still leave 70 percent to 80 percent of the coastline for open space, but the hotel still attracted lawsuits.

“It was a fight, I will tell you, but we won,” said Pendergrass. “We stuck with the developer/property owner…he won.” Pendergrass also didn’t make too many friends in the medical marijuana industry when his city banned the sale and cultivation of the drug. But he got work done serving on board after board year after year.

The mayor says his proudest accomplishment is the city’s roughly $12 million desalination plant.

“Council was kind of leery about it,” said Pendergrass. “They said that’s a pretty big expense, but it was worth it.”

The mayor’s health isn’t the same as it once was so he and his wife are moving to Redding where his grandchildren live. He’s happy and ready, but folks say they are sad to see him go.

“I think he leaves behind the legacy of true leadership and true caring about his community and that’s all an American asks,” said Gunter.

“What I really appreciated about him and his wife is that in earlier days when we were here they would walk by almost every morning with their poodle to see how we were doing, to see what the city could do to help,” said Andy Briant, owner of Fashion Streaks in Sand City.

“Having the mayor here he helped me along and gave me the background I needed to be successful,” said Sand City administrator Todd Bodem.

Pendergrass says he’ll miss the challenge and that he is humbled to have served the city for nearly four decades.

“When I go away, it’s not like a computer and erase my memory,” said Pendergrass. “No. My heart is here and it will never leave.”

Once the mayor leaves, the council has 45 days to appoint a new mayor. That person will serve out the term until an election in November, 2018.

The mayor’s last day is April 30th.