City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: September 18, 2023
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report Current Activities
City Sports Leagues
• Gonzales Youth Soccer league registration is going very well. Numbers are great. We have 167 participants registered. There will be 4 divisions from ages 2 ½ - 12 years of age. The age groups are 2 ½ - 3 ½, 4 - 5, 6 - 8 and 9-12. Skills assessment was held on August 30th and 31st. We have 28 participants in ages 2 ½ - 3 ½, 44 participants in age 4 - 5, 51 participants in ages 6- 8, and 51 participants in ages 9-12. We have a total of 16 teams and 14 coaches. Some coaches are coaching in more than one division. We have 4 soccer officials. • This month, the Recreation Department was invited to attend an Alliance on Aging Chamber Mixer in Salinas. We got to witness the announcement of the grant they received from the California Department of Aging to develop a local age-friendly plan for Monterey County (including Gonzales). We were able to meet and talk to various guests at the mixer. We learned new things about their programs and what their plans are for the future. We gained a lot of new ideas on how to introduce new programs and activities to our senior citizens here in Gonzales.
Kid Power
• We kicked off the school year with Kid Power after school program. For the month of August, we had a total of 39 children who signed up for the program which runs from TK through 5th grade. • The focus of Kid Power after school program is to assist the children with their homework; however, we also make time for fun activities. At the end of each week, we have what we call “Fun Fridays” which consists of arts and crafts and games. For the month of August, our Fun Fridays consisted of playing soccer and allowing the children to make Play-Doh! AGENDA
ITEM
8 • Aside from Fun Fridays, in August we also allowed the children to have swim time at the Gonzales Community Pool every Thursday due to early dismissal, so they have been having a lot of fun.
Gonzales Youth Council
• In the Month of August, the Gonales Youth Commissioners and Ambassadors Summer Fellowship attendees geared their focus on the Community Center. On August 1st, they participated in the National Night Out and assisted with getting community input on the Community Center Complex, specifically on the multiple ways the rooms can be used. On August 2nd, the students were able to connect with the Construction and Design Team for the Community Center. Some of the major takeaways from the meeting focused on the timeline of the design, reflecting on the initial input the GYC had provided, and how much has progressed since then. They were also able to connect with the construction-design team on their pathways to career and success which was a great opportunity to expose them to local opportunities with Otto Construction in Monterey.
• On August 4th, we concluded the Gonales Youth Commissioners and Ambassadors Summer Fellowship by having a big lunch with City employees, as well as the summer aquatics employees and summer camp kids. Thank you to Frank from the Public Works Department for grilling hot dogs for us all!
Activities in the Planning Phase
• The GYC, in collaboration with the Building and Design Team, will be doing outreach at Gonzales High School during their lunch hour on Tuesday, September 12th. The Design-Build Team will return at the end of September and participate at one of the GYC meetings and provide a summary of student’s input and takeaways regarding the look, feel, and use of the Gonzales Community Center.
• The Recreation Department will be hosting two Halloween events starting with a Movie Night on Saturday, October 21st at Centennial Park, followed by a Fall Festival on Saturday, October 28th.
We are currently working on finalizing the movie we will be sharing and the agenda for the Fall Festival.