Outgoing Watsonville Mayor Maria Orozco on Tuesday handed her gavel to Kristal Salcido, as the Mayor Pro Tempore seat went to Casey Clark.
Under Watsonville ordinance, the council members rotate through the mayor positions every December.
Before she ceded her seat, Orozco said she completed 26 of the 32 goals she set for herself at the beginning of the year.
Among those, she said, is making council work transparent by providing monthly public updates, and approving an $82 million spending package for road and infrastructure improvement, which she said was the largest in the city’s history.
The city also launched its new pavement management plan, completed traffic calming projects and upgraded more than 3,000 street lights, Orozco said.
In addition, the council adopted the city’s first homelessness plan, expanded its homeless outreach program and advanced hundreds of affordable housing units, she said.
“When I look back at this year, I don’t start with the policies we passed or the projects we completed,” she said. “I start with the people we served. I think about the students who told me about their dreams, the families who asked for safety and stability. The seniors who reminded me of our duty to protect dignity, and the small business owners who continued to show up for their customers and the community even in the hardest moments. Those conversations stay with me.”
Salcido graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2007, and in 2010 earned her juris doctor degree from UC San Diego School of Law.
She was then hired as a deputy district attorney in San Benito County before coming to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s office, where she works in the sex crimes unit.
She was elected in 2022.
Addressing several high school students in the council chambers who are working to earn their State Seal of Civic Engagement, she said that each of them has dedicated some aspect of their lives to serve others.
“…and your service inspires me and shapes my hopes for Watsonville in 2026,” she said. “There is unequivocally so much to hope for in 2026.”
She said her goals for the coming year include a focus on civic health, with projects such as increasing voter registration and bolstering public health, recreation and economic vitality.
Thanks to funding from the American Rescue Fund approved by the Biden administration, the city will open the renovated Ramsay Park and begin refurbishing Watsonville Plaza, she said.
Clark, who was also elected in 2022, said that the council can “sometimes messily” disagree on various topics.
“But we still come together and we move things forward, and that’s what I really want to accomplish for the city,” he said.
