DRAFT MINUTES
SALINAS CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
2:00 P.M.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Dennis Donohue and Councilmember Margaret D’Arrigo
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Rene Mendez, Finance Director Selina Andrews , Fire Chief Sam Klemek, Info Systems Manager Carlos Ortega, Community Relations Manager Sophie Rome, Police Commander James Arensdorf, Deputy Director of Economic Development Nath an Kieu, and Administrative Analyst Nick Luciano.
Mayor Dennis Donohue called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.
1. PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
2. MINUTES
The minutes of the December 2, 2025 meeting were unanimously approved by motion of Mayor Donohue, second by Committee Member D’Arrigo.
3. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Artificial Intelligence Technology Update
Info Systems Manager Carlos Ortega gave the presentation, covering the high -level objectives of AI adoption for the City of Salinas. This included the Zencity, Citibot and Microsoft Copilot applications, specific use cases, and how they can contribute to operational efficiencies and improved service delivery to our constituents. He also provided an overview of the implementation timeline for these three applications and the next steps in the implementation process.
4. NEXT MEETING
No future agenda items comments.
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
5. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 2:22 p.m.
SUBMITTED BY: ________
Nick Luciano, Administrative Analyst