Public records, made public.
Transparent Salinas takes the campaign finance filings already on file with the City of Salinas and puts them in a visual, searchable format. No editorial, no endorsements — just the numbers that are public anyway.
Where to start
Six views into the same data. Pick the one that matches your question.
Cheat Sheet
The race at a glance — who’s running, who’s funded, what’s on the ballot.
02 · The moneyMoney Trail
Top donors, biggest checks, and which candidates pulled them in.
03 · The donorsDonor Directory
Search every contributor by name, employer, or amount given.
04 · The networksConnected Donors
Corporate families and shared employers grouped as donor networks.
05 · The spendExpenditures
Where campaigns spent their cash — consultants, mailers, signs.
06 · The measuresReferendum
Ballot measures and the committees that funded each side.
What this is
An independent, volunteer project run by a small group of Salinas residents who republish city campaign finance records in a more visual, more searchable format. No parent organization, no outside funding, no political affiliation.
What it isn’t
Not affiliated with the City of Salinas, the FPPC, or any candidate or committee. There’s no editorial agenda — if a number looks wrong, please check it against the original NetFile filings and let us know.
The Data
Source
City of Salinas NetFile Public Portal, the official electronic filing system candidates and committees use to submit FPPC campaign finance disclosure forms.
What’s included
- FPPC Form 460, Schedule A — monetary contributions received
- FPPC Form 460, Schedule E — campaign expenditures
- 2024 & 2025 calendar-year filings
- “Export Amended” data, deduplicated to the most recent version of each transaction
- Council candidates, PACs, and ballot-measure committees
- $1,387,864 in expenditures across 1,132 Schedule E transactions from 7 committees
Known gaps
- Non-monetary (in-kind) contributions. In-kind goods and services live on Schedule C, which isn’t pulled into this site yet. The exclusion is methodological, not editorial.
- 2026 filings. No 2026-cycle filings exist on the portal yet. They’ll appear automatically once committees report.
- Tony Barrera 2024–2025 contributions. His most recent filing on NetFile is from 2022. If he files for the 2026 race, those records will appear here.
Methodology
Data is exported as Excel files from NetFile, converted to JSON, and rendered client-side. No amounts or donor information are modified. Where multiple amended filings exist for one transaction, only the most recent is shown.
From filing to page
Every number on this site can be traced back to a public FPPC filing. Here’s the route it took.
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Step 01
NetFile
Candidates and committees file FPPC Form 460 with the City of Salinas through the NetFile public portal.
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Step 02
Export
Filings are pulled as Excel “Export Amended” workbooks — the official deduplicated record.
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Step 03
Dedupe
Multiple amended versions are collapsed to the most recent. No amounts or names are altered.
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Step 04
Publish
Records are converted to JSON and rendered client-side in your browser. Same data NetFile shows, just easier to read.
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Sourced from NetFile The same records the city publishes.
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Deduped against amendments Only the most recent version of each filing.
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No editorial modification Amounts and names are never changed.
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Open methodology Every step from filing to chart is documented above.
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Public corrections welcome Errors get fixed in public, with a note.
What the words mean
Campaign finance has its own vocabulary. Here are the terms you’ll meet across this site, in plain language.
Common questions
How often is the data refreshed?
The full dataset is re-pulled from NetFile whenever new filings appear — typically after campaign filing deadlines (semi-annually during active cycles). The footer date reflects the most recent pull.
Why aren’t in-kind contributions included?
FPPC Form 460 Schedule A covers monetary contributions; in-kind goods and services live on Schedule C, which isn’t pulled into this site yet. The exclusion is methodological, not editorial — in-kinds may be added in a future pass.
How do I report an error or correction?
Email tips@transparentsalinas.org. Include the page, the number you believe is wrong, and the NetFile filing that supports the correction if possible. Fixes are made in public.
Are PACs and candidate committees treated the same way?
Both are pulled from the same NetFile portal but surface in different views: candidate committees on the council and elections pages, PACs on the dedicated PACs page, and ballot-measure committees on the Referendum page.
Why does Tony Barrera show no 2024–2025 contributions?
His most recent FPPC filing on the city’s NetFile portal is from 2022. If he files for the 2026 race, those records will appear automatically on the next data pull.
Is this site affiliated with the City of Salinas?
No. Transparent Salinas is independent — not affiliated with the City of Salinas, the FPPC, any candidate, or any committee. No funding, no organization, no political affiliation.
Who’s behind this
Transparent Salinas is built and maintained by a small group of Salinas residents who believe campaign finance data shouldn’t require a public-records request and a spreadsheet to understand.
Public records, made public — but actually usable.
We’re a small, independent group — no parent organization, no outside funding, no political affiliation. The data was always there; we just made it easier to read. If you’ve got a tip, a correction, or a question, the inbox is open.
Disclaimer. This site is not affiliated with the City of Salinas, the FPPC, or any candidate or committee. All data is public record. If you believe any data is inaccurate, please verify against the original filings at the NetFile portal and email tips@transparentsalinas.org.