AGENDA
ITEM
9 AGENDA
CALEXICO California ITEM
WHERE CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO MEET
9 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: November 19, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
APPROVED BY: Benjamin A. Martinez, City Manager fam
PREPARED BY: Diana Nuricumbo, Mayor Ah
SUBJECT: Authorize the Mayor to E-Sign the pledge on behalf of the City of Calexico to commit to meeting the criteria for becoming a designated Clean California Community within the next year
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Recommendation:
Authorize the Mayor to E-Sign the pledge on behalf of the City of Calexico to commit to meeting the criteria for becoming a designated Clean California Community within the next year.
Background:
The State of California has established the Clean California Community Program to honor communities that embody the values of cleanliness, sustainability, and civic pride.
Discussion and Analysis:
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has launched a statewide designation to reward communities for their hard work in staying clean and beautiful.
Aside from maintaining a clean and beautiful city, the benefits of this designation include:
• Personalized signage to be posted on-site with the Clean California Community designation seal;
Recognition on state websites and social media posts, and state-partnered media outreach; Right to officially promote our community as a Clean California Community committed to the Zero Litter goal;
Priority access to national grant opportunities, educational materials, and volunteer cleanup kits from Keep America Beautiful, a Clean California partner; Automatic membership with the state organization, Keep California Beautiful; Individual technical assistance and resources from Keep California Beautiful to help fulfill our designation requirements.
By taking the pledge, we are stating that the leaders and residents of our community share a deep sense of pride and a vision for a cleaner, greener community, and that we aim to elevate our community to greater heights. Our goal is to be recognized as a model of excellence, known for our dedication to cleanliness and environmental stewardship.
We pledge to uphold the principles of the Clean California Community program by achieving 10 of the 15 required criteria listed below within the next year:
• Sign the Pledge
• Establish an informal Clean CA committee or some other advisory body. • Get community input to gather feedback from the public on our community's approach. • Conduct an initial litter assessment to establish our baseline and identify litter hotspots in our community.
• Organize community cleanups. At least 4 each year, big or small are recommended. • Establish metrics and measures to regularly track our clean community's progress. Things to track include # of volunteers, # of cleanups, and pounds of litter removed. • Educate the broader public on the impacts and solutions to litter by providing signage, educational programs, or other public awareness & behavior change strategies. • Provide K-12 educational programs to help inform anti-littering behaviors among the youngest generations. Communities can leverage the K-12 Clean CA educational resources to meet this requirement.
• Place anti-littering infrastructure in key locations. This can include trash and recycling bins that are emptied regularly or utilizing street sweeping
• Establish policies, technologies or programs that prevent or deter future littering. • Hash out a long-term plan or strategy to ensure the sustainability of our efforts so that our community stays clean.
• Complement cleanups by implementing greening and beautification activities - plant trees, gardens or flower beds, or create public art to make our community more vibrant. • Schedule or host collection drives such as "dump days" or "amnesty days" for hard-to-recycle or bulky items like mattresses, e-waste, or household appliances. • Engage local stakeholders and businesses to partner with us and support our campaign.
Partnering with at least 3-5 businesses is recommended
• Provide cigarette litter receptacles to help contain the most widely littered item on Earth.
This pledge signifies our community's commitment to the Clean California Community Program and combines our efforts with our recent grant application submitted for the Community Cleanup Grant Program (CCEP). Through our combined efforts, we promise to maintain a clean, green, and vibrant community for the well-being of all residents.
Fiscal Impact: No Fiscal Impact is Anticipated.
Coordinated With: Megan Brown, Keep California Beautiful team Attachments):
1. Clean California Community Designation Checklist
2 ATTACHMENT NO. 1
Community Designation Checklist
CLEAN
CALIFORNIA To attain designation, communities must
COMMUNITY
meet at least 10 of these 15 criteria
O Sign the Pledge • Infrastructure
Designate a community leader to e-sign Place anti-littering infrastructure in key locations. thepledge. For a town, this could be a mayor; This can include trash and recycling bins for an organization it could be the Executive that are emptied regularly, or utilizing street Director, for a school it could be a principal, for sweeping to clean as you go. a district a supervisor, and so on.
• Enforcement
• Advisory Body Establish policies, technologies or programs that Establish an informal Clean CA committee or prevent or deter future littering. some other advisory body. This could also be
an existing committee. O Long-term Planning
Hash out a long-term plan or strategy to ensure
• Community Input the sustainability of your efforts so that your Get community input through a public community stays clean. meeting, survey, special event, virtual call or
another means of gathering feedback from the • Greening & Beautification public on your community's approach. Complement cleanups by implementing greening and beautification activities - plant
• Litter Assessment trees, gardens or flower beds, or create public Conduct an initial litter assessment to establish art to make your community more vibrant. your baseline and identify litter hotspots in
your community. • Collection Drives
Schedule or host collection drives such as
• Cleanups "dump days" or "amnesty days" for hard-to-
Organize community cleanups. We recycle or bulky items like mattresses, e-waste, recommend at least 4 each year, big or small. or household appliances. • Measure Progress • Partnerships
Establish metrics and measure regularly to track Engage local stakeholders and businesses to your clean community's progress. Things to partner with you and support your campaign. track include # of volunteers, # of cleanups, We recommend partnering with at least and pounds of litter removed. 3-5 businesses.
• Community Education • Cigarette Litter
Educate the broader public on the impacts Provide cigarette litter receptacles to help and solutions to litter by providing signage, contain the most widely littered item on Earth. educational programs, or other public
awareness & behavior change strategies.
• Youth Education
Provide K-12 educational programs to help
inform anti-littering behaviors among the
youngest generations. Communities can
leverage the K-12 Clean CA educational
resources to meet this requirement.
Caltrans