Amanda Saltray to be sworn in to Hanford City Council Tuesday
Jun. 14—The Hanford City Council is expected to swear in a new member Tuesday evening, one who wants to see improvements to local parks and the downtown area.
Amanda Saltray will replace City Councilmember John Draxler, who announced his resignation in late April. On June 4, Saltray was picked by the council out of a pool of four applicants for the seat, winning by a 3-2 vote. The other two votes on the council went to Hanford Elementary School District teacher Travis Paden.
Saltray moved to Hanford from San Jose seven years ago to be with family, and says she quickly came to love the city.
"When we moved here, I fell in love with the town. When I fall in love with something, it means I'm passionate about it — and I'm very passionate about this town," Saltray said. "And because of that passion, I want to see Hanford thrive."
While this is her first time in political office, Saltray says she served in student council for all four years of high school. She added that there are aspects of her life and work experience that she believes will be an asset in the coming months, including being active in her church and community, engaging in reaching out to the homeless and volunteering at Refuge House in Armona and Hannah's House. She also has experience as a bookkeeper for her church in San Jose.
While serving on the City Council, Saltray wants to see improvements made to Hanford's parks, including new walking trails and bike paths, as well as recreational courts. Another point of interest for Saltray is to revitalize downtown and see tourist packages for visitors.
"I would love for Hanford to be a destination and not just a place you pass through," Saltray said. "Wouldn't it be great if people hopped on a train to spend a day here? I have these ideas and I think we could bring people to our town and revenue."
Mayor Francisco Ramirez was one of the councilmembers to cast his vote for Saltray. He noted he was impressed by her orientation towards family and volunteer work, also appreciating that she's not a politician, as polished persons often tend to veer towards the preferences of their political parties.
"The one thing I guess that really made me gravitate towards her was that I really didn't want a polished person in there — I really didn't," Ramirez said. "This is a city where party preference is not really key unless you're running for state senator, or something of that nature, or supervisor or Assembly. And I want somebody who's not been in the political arena, so to speak."
Draxler was one of the two people to cast his vote in favor of Travis Paden. However, he stated he believes Saltray will be a good fit.
"All four candidates were very highly qualified and I felt all four of them had their different strengths and any one of the four would be able to do a fine job in the City Council," Draxler said.
Ramirez echoed this sentiment and has encouraged all candidates to run in the future. Saltray's term will last until the end of 2022.
"Amanda has one-and-a-half years to prove herself. If she decides to run, that's going to be on her," Ramirez said. "But I encourage all of them to run."
