City of Salinas City Council Councilmember Kimbley Craig

The second woman to serve as mayor of Salinas (the first was U.S. Rep. Anna Caballero), Kimbley Craig is the president and CEO of the Monterey County Business Council, and also the current executive director for Leadership Monterey County. Craig has held positions at many nonprofits in the county.

When she won a City Council seat in 2010 she was the youngest woman ever elected to office in Salinas. Later, when she took office in 2020, Craig told Monterey County Weekly that her priorities were to hire a city manager, get people back to work after the pandemic, and stimulate the economy. “If we continue going down the path that we are going down now, we will end up having to cut services because we don’t have the revenue for it because the sales tax isn’t there.”

Craig was reelected to serve another two-year term as mayor in the November 2022 election.

First elected: 2020

Alma maters: Naval Postgraduate School (master’s degree, Homeland Security Studies); University of LaVerne (bachelor’ degree, criminology)

Other office held: Salinas City Council, District 5 (2010-2018)

Notable quote: “The city is at a crossroads,” Craig said in 2020. “I could step in and do the job seamlessly.” (Source: Monterey County Weekly)

Board and committee assignments
Salinas Rodeo Committee
Finance Committee
Legislative Committee
Community Alliance of Safety and Peace (Co-Chair)
Animal Shelter JPA
Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority
Transportation Agency of Monterey County