Soledad council backs letter supporting $3 million federal request for South County public-safety technology

Soledad — The Soledad City Council on July 14 authorized a letter supporting a $3,000,000 congressional directed spending request for a regional South Monterey County public-safety technology project, city officials said.

City Manager Megan Hunter told the council the request, led by Supervisor Lopez, would fund a package of equipment including 12 fixed license-plate-reader (LPR) cameras, two mobile cameras for patrol vehicles or trailers, about 16 additional safety cameras to expand coverage, a drone configured as a first-responder tool, and roughly three years of cloud maintenance support — an award the city estimates would provide approximately $400,000 of direct equipment and maintenance value to Soledad.

"Supervisor Lopez would request $3,000,000 of congressional directed spending for the South Monterey County Public Safety Technology Project," Hunter said, adding that the city is being asked to authorize the mayor to sign a common letter from participating cities and that the council would later decide whether Soledad would act as fiscal agent if funds are awarded.

Why it matters: council members and residents described a recent increase in violent incidents across South County and said new technology could help investigators and act as a force multiplier for a department with unfilled officer positions. Hunter and staff also emphasized existing local policy limits on data sharing, telling the council that Soledad’s LPR policy adopted in May 2026 prohibits sharing device data with immigration enforcement except when required by law.

Public concerns and staff responses: residents in the meeting asked who currently monitors cameras and whether the city already uses drones. Hunter said the police department operates the existing Flock Safety cameras and a separate Surveillance Grid; two city drones exist but one is nonfunctional and operator licensing is pending. Hunter said the city would negotiate any administrative or fiscal-agent fees before accepting a fiscal-agent role.

Council reaction and vote: council members broadly expressed support while asking staff to plan for ongoing maintenance and long-term costs after any three-year maintenance period ends. Council moved to authorize the mayor to sign the letter supporting the CDS request; the motion passed by voice vote.

Next steps: the council directed staff to forward the letter as drafted and to return with details about administrative costs and any proposed fiscal-agent agreement if funding is awarded.