Protect Salinas Renters at Renters Reception with CADEM Renters Council in Monterey, CA

"So, our other city that's going through a lot of serious issues when it comes to housing and rents is the city of Salinas. I have Dr. John Silva that's here and he's going to start the group off because we have a couple of people speaking from Salinas.

The Salinas situation is extremely extremely disturbing because as you will hear it can literally happen to any city and Salinas is 160,000 people, they are majority renters, they are a farmworker community, they are very active with their city council who is not listening to them.

So the big push and I'll reiterate what I said earlier: WE NEED EVERY SINGLE RENTER VOTE out there!

When we have cities that are majority renters, WE NEED TO SPEAK TO ALL OF THEM! Our elected officials need to make sure they feel heard so that they turn out and vote. And of course, this coming election is extremely important because we need to win back the house!

It's gonna be speaking to them about what things are going on locally that will affect them but also nationally and we can't afford to keep ignoring the renter vote. S

I'm gonna have Dr. John Silva come up. The unique thing about what he's been doing, and I've been watching him speaking so well to the city council, is he's brought other medical doctors to the conversation to show people that this isn't just a income and expense issue.

We need to preserve people's mental health, their physical health!

Not having affordable housing affects EVERYTHING in your life." - Esther Malkin, Monterey County Renters United


"Dr. John Silva, I practiced in Salinas since 1987, mostly over on the Eastside, El Barrio, and I got a chance to see the hardships that families have had to go through housingwise for many years.

Just before the pandemic, 2017-2018, we started to do some uplifting of voice over on the Eastside and I participated in a several month workshop. The main project of that workshop, as far back as 2017-2018, was affordable housing.

We initiated a program at that time called Viviendas para Todos, or Housing for All. It was a very interesting thing to be part of. Then the pandemic hit, and all the protections that came with the pandemic. But as you know since the pandemic has gone away, things have started getting rough again.

Right now I do a lot of work with a group for Doctors for a Healthy Salinas trying to gather that energy. Why?

So we learn, we providers in Salinas as I said before here, story after story several times a week about emergency housing needs of not just individuals, although there are many homeless in in Salinas, also families, a mom with three or four kids living in a car. I field one call a week like that. 'John, can you help me get these people housed?'....

The data generally tracks along with the poverty data. The housing challenges that people face and the outcomes really track along with the poverty data....

I heard 20% McKinney-Vento at the MPUSD, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. In Salinas the numbers are much higher. So the McKinney-Vento is the federal homeless indicator and it includes all those people that I just referred to, where they're living in a car or there are families, children, young people that are couch surfing.

Right now as of June of this year, Monterey County had the highest number in the state of people with McKinney-Vento and it was 16% of school kids in Monterey County are considered homeless. The next closest counties are like 10 and 12%. I think they're Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. So, we're above that just to give you an idea of the poverty that we're experiencing in Monterey County.....

When we're considering that, we're considering the mental health and behavioral health consequences of moving every two or three months, of waking up in a car every day sometimes. How can you learn like that?"

Renters Reception
Sponsored by:
CARENT: California Democratic Renters Council
Housing is a Human Right
Former California State Controller Betty Yee
Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels
Board of Equalization Member Tony Vazquez
State Senator Ben Allen
Congressman Jimmy Panetta
Alameda County Democratic Party Chair Igor Tregub
Paula Pelot, John Mothershead, Alfred Twu

Cypress Room, Hyatt Regency
Monterey, CA
October 25, 2025