Monterey County Due for Hispanic Supervisor
The land that inspired John Steinbeck and Cesar Chavez will have a Hispanic county supervisor for the first time in a century.
In an election Tuesday, none of the four candidates for Monterey County’s District 1 supervisor got a majority--50% plus one vote. But the top two finishers are Hispanic.
Salinas city councilman and college teacher Simon Salinas and lawyer-activist Jesse Sanchez will meet in an Aug. 3 runoff.
The last Hispanic to serve as a county supervisor was Juan Bautista Castro, founder of nearby Castroville, who sat on the board from 1890 until 1893, said board of supervisors clerk Pamela Olivas.
Monterey County is largely agricultural and was a focus for some of Chavez’s early efforts to organize farm laborers. It was the setting for several Steinbeck novels, including “Tortilla Flat,” the tale of a group of poor Hispanics.
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