Alejandro Chavez

Alejandro Chavez was elected to the City Council in November of 2010. He served as Mayor Pro Tempore from 2012 until 2020. Council Member Chavez is the representative on the  Transportation Agency of Monterey County Board of Directors and TAMC Rail Policy  Committee. Council Member Chavez is the representative for the City of Soledad for the South Salinas Valley Broadband Authority (JPA). He also serves on the City’s Parks and Recreation  Committee and past Budget Committee. 

Council Member Chavez graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a B.A. in  History with an emphasis in Chicano and Mexican History and is presently enrolled in graduate  school to receive his MBA in early 2024. Alejandro has vast experience working in the public  sector along with the private sector as he is currently is the Executive Director of a business  association representing more than 600 businesses. Alejandro Chavez previously worked as  Chief of Staff for Monterey County Supervisor Armenta representing District 1 from 2000 until  2017. Formerly Alejandro worked for the United Farm Workers of America and before that, he  had been an Executive Director of non-profit dealing with substance abuse and gang issues in  Santa Cruz County. Alejandro worked as Youth Programs Manager for a non-profit organization  and worked a counselor for youth and families that had issues with substance abuse and other  high-risk behaviors. Alejandro has been on numerous Boards throughout the County of Santa  Cruz and Monterey over the years, including the Pajaro Valley Affordable Housing Corp, Central  Coast YMCA and the South County YMCA to name a few. 

Council Member Chavez is first generation born comes from a farm worker family from Mexico.  Council Member learned how to speak English a few months into being in Kindergarten as no  Spanish was spoken at school. His family worked in the fields and canneries. Council Member  Chavez began working in the fields at the age of 8 years. He worked in the fields each summer  in order to assist his family. When Council Member Chavez was 17 years of age he began  working in the canneries because at the time he would earn $3.50 more per hour than working  in the fields which paid minimum wage of $3.25 per hour. He did this until he started attending  community college before transferring to UC Santa Cruz. 

Alejandro Chavez has been a coach at various levels and different sports. These sports include  baseball, softball, football, volleyball, and basketball. Alejandro has over 18 years of coaching  experience from T-ball to travel ball in baseball, from Iddy-Bitty Basketball to the High School  level and coached several teams from Elementary to Middle School in volleyball. In addition,  Alejandro was the Athletic Director at a Middle School in Salinas for 6 years. Alejandro and his  wife Erica Padilla-Chavez are proud to call Soledad their home and have lived here for over 20  years. They are parents of two wonderful children, both are college students and pursuing their  dreams in their respective fields of study.