Soledad property owner disputes news coverage; food-truck operator raises permitting concern

Two residents addressed the Soledad City Council during public comment on March 19: a downtown property owner seeking to correct a local news report, and a food-truck operator who asked for clarification after an enforcement contact.

Veronica Savala, who identified herself as a commercial property owner on Front Street, told the council she bought several downtown buildings in 2024 and said a recent KSBW news article contained inaccuracies. Savala said she grew up in Soledad, purchased the properties in 2024 at market prices and used a hard-money loan with an 11 percent interest rate to finance the purchase.

Savala said she raised rents to “fair market value” because mortgage, insurance and retrofit costs left the new ownership unable to cover expenses otherwise. She said the former owner had held the properties for roughly a century and that the ice-cream tenant had purchased their commercial property in December 2024, according to public records. Savala also said an arrangement for one hair-salon tenant to share space with a new tenant fell through after the article appeared.

“As the owner, I had to make difficult financial decisions after purchasing older buildings that require upgrades and have high carrying costs,” Savala said. She asked council to note inaccuracies in the local coverage and to consider context about the financial demands of owning century‑old commercial buildings.

Cesar Flores, who identified himself as a food-truck owner, said an enforcement contact the previous day told him that each person working in a food truck must hold a city authorization. Flores said he has a health-department permit and a business license and that it is not reasonable to require every temporary worker to have separate city authorization because workers can be employed for short periods.

“I hold a permit from the health department and I have my business license,” Flores said. “It’s not reasonable to ask that every person that is in the food truck has some type of city authorization…sometimes people only last a few days in the employment.” He said he searched city regulations online and could not find the rule he was told about and asked staff whom he should contact for clarification.

Council did not respond directly during public comment, noting the council does not discuss non-agendized matters during the comment period. Staff later acknowledged translation assistance was available for commenters who needed it.