It is with greater honor and pride that I had the privilege of representing District Three on the Salinas City Council from 2010 to 2024. Assisting residents to overcome neighborhood and City challenges offered a daily opportunity to serve the community.

I am so proud of my time representing our City on regional boards addressing electricity, air quality, regional planning, water and more. One of my greatest achievements was ushering in a “Downtown Revitalization” effort in Salinas resulting in tens of millions of dollars invested by the private sector. Our downtown saw hundreds of new housing units pop up and a walkable city center emerge.

During my time on Council, some of the highlights are the new police station and North Salinas library we built. Improvements such as the blight ordinance and adaptive re-use ordinances I authored improved quality of life dramatically. Then there are the many traffic calming projects I brought to South Salinas aimed at focusing on and slowing motorists.

The Adopt-A-Tree program and the neighborhood services department were also put in place by me. I will never forget the 14 years of “Holiday Home Lighting” competitions I chaired around Christmastime and the Salinas “Tree for Peace” ushering in an official Christmas tree for the City in our Downtown. During my years I sponsored more than 50 community meetings on topics ranging from homelessness and graffiti to emergency preparedness and housing.

It was a privilege to lead several Electric Vehicle “Test Drive” events and chair our City’s “Founders Day” to celebrate our 150th birthday as a City. One final achievement that stands out was the opportunity to establish our City’s Public Arts Ordinance, Public Arts Fund and Public Arts Commission. It is by the grace of God that I was elected to serve our community in such a unique way.

Moving forward, prioritizing my faith, wife and kids is what lay ahead. I remain thankful to the voters, our City employees and the many other elected officials I served with. May God protect them and guide them in their decision making, service and family.

-Steve McShane

Thank you for the terrific “Retirement Send Off” organized by the City of Salinas on Tuesday, May 7^th, 2024 just prior to my final City Council meeting. Here is a video put together to capture the event:

In the spring of 2014, a short video was created capturing my time serving as a Salinas City Councilman, candidate for public office and community leader. You’re invited to watch that video here: