SALINAS, Calif. -- A heated city council meeting Tuesday night in Salinas as the mayor and council members discussed the issue of Jose Castañeda also sitting on the Board of Trustees for the Alisal Union School District.
While Salinas City Council members try getting to the bottom of it, the school board isn't taking any action.
"We didn't know how far it was going to go," said Adella Lujan, board president.
But to Lujan's dismay, the community outcry continues and now there's pushback as supporters of Castañeda want to recall Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter.
All because Castañeda decided he's going to be both a council member and trustee on the school board.
Still, Lujan said that's his business, not the board's.
"We decided we were not going to get involved with it and that he would take care of this on his own, on his personal time, as a citizen, because we were just wanting to focus on education of our students," Lujan said.
Something Salinas Councilmember Kimbley Craig said she doesn't understand.
"If I was a trustee on that school board, I would have a concern about the fact that I had a trustee that was holding two offices," Craig said.
All the while, the Castañeda drama is taking away from city business. While the city got to every agenda item last night, it had to create a lighter agenda in order to have enough time to discuss the hot-button issue.
"Sometimes the staff and the council accommodates for plenty of time for public to weigh in on that," Craig said.
Lujan said she questions whether there's even a conflict of interest, and said if Castañeda has to step down it would be a huge loss to the board.
