City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: March 18, 2024
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report Current Activities
Kid Power
• For the month of February, Kid Power had a total of 30 students attend. We had many special days to celebrate including Ground Hog Day, Valentines Day, Leap Year, and Presidents’ Day. • For Ground Hog Day, we learned about shadows and talked about the significance of the ground hog being able to see their shadow. The kids also had the opportunity to decorate a cupcake that had little bears to represent the ground hog. We also read a book about Ground Hog Day.
Valentine’s Day was another fun day. The kids did lots of arts and crafts and made gifts for their parents. They also got a heart shaped cupcake and cookie to decorate and a little goodie bag with some fun Valentine’s Day activities. Last was leap year; the kids were very interested in the history of leap year. Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays were this month as well, so we learned a little about each President and what number Presidents they were. We also did a little American flag craft for Presidents’ Day.
AGENDA
ITEM
6 City Sports League
• The City of Gonzales Youth Basketball League ended this month for divisions Pre-K through 5th Grade. Our last games for those age divisions were on Saturday, February 24th. Medals and certificates were handed out to all participants. Coaches also received a little appreciation token.
Some coaches received an engraved whistle or an engraved key chain. A little “thank you” for all their dedication and hard work. Our oldest age division which is our all-boys 6th- 8 th Grade teams
will continue to March 9th. Their last game will be a competition between Gonzales and Soledad.
The season was a successful one.
• Due to popular demand, the City has scheduled an Appreciation Basketball Game with the basketball coaches and referees. It is a friendly game of basketball to end the season. The game will be played next month. The Appreciation Game started last year. This gives coaches and refs a chance to play and have fun. Coaches requested it again this year. It looks like it will be an annual thing.
• The City of Gonzales Mini T-ball registration is going slowly. For this month, we have had 12 participants register so far and two volunteer registrations. Registration for Mini T-Ball will end on March 22, 2024. The staff is sure there will be enough participants for four teams, including coaches.
• South County Girls Softball League registration is still going. We will have an U8 team and possibly two 10U age teams. For this month, between the two divisions of U8 and 10U, we had 34 registered participants. We have enough participants so far for one full U8 and a 10U team.
We may even get enough for two 10U teams. Our numbers for 14U do not look good. There are only two registrations so far. We have eight volunteers currently: two head coaches, four assistant coaches and two team parents. Registration ends on March 8, 2024. • San Andreas Regional Center contacted the Sports Recreation Department to discuss community outreach for residents with special needs and a possible collaboration with them in Social Recreation. Staff met with a representative of San Andreas Regional, Francisco Valenzuela, in person to discuss some of the possibilities. A zoom meeting is scheduled for March 7th, to go over further details for all interested cities.
Gonzales Youth Council
• For the month of February, the GYC met with the Design-Build team to discuss the final overview of the Community Center. The students were able to view the interior and exterior samples and provide their opinions on the overall layout. • The GYC met with the YC from Soledad and Greenfield via zoom on February 3rd to discuss the Youth Summit.
• On February 20th- 22nd, the GYC went live with one of their action projects, hosting a Drug Prevention Week during their lunch hour at Gonzales High School. Some of the partnering organizations that came out included: Friday Night Live, Sun Street Centers, and the Gonzales Fire Department.
Recreation/ Community Engagement
• On February 7th, staff met with Jairo Hernandez, from the Monterey County Health Department and Jody Rogers from Alliance on Aging to discuss additional opportunities for senior programming, some of which include art, cooking, and dance classes. • On February 7th, the Recreation Department also attended the monthly Gonzales Collaborative, hosted by Candice Camacho from the Gonzales Unified School District. • In February, we kicked off the Chair Yoga program, a program made possible through a partnership with the Blue Zones Project. A Gonzales native, Vivian Leyva, is teaching the 8-week course. We are very pleased with the participation from the community, and are currently looking into potentially extending the class until the end of May. • The City of Gonzales continues to meet with partnering organizations in preparation for our Community Garden that will be in the empty lot next to the Gonzales Community Pool. As of now, the Blue Zones Project was able to secure seven trees and three garden beds, Save the Whales was able to purchase two sheds, and Wings of Knowledge will be working on installing irrigation throughout the area to help maintain the garden. Monterey Community Advocacy Resilience Empowerment (CADRE) will be creating a walking path made from decomposed granite. We will be hosting our Community Gardening Day on Saturday, March 9th from 11:00am – 2:00pm.
Activities in the Planning Phase
• The Recreation Department continues to plan for the Car Show taking place on Saturday, April 20th.
• The Recreation Department is beginning to plan for Aquatic and Summer Camp Positions, and will begin to advertise for hiring at the end of March 2024. • The GYC will be meeting at Greenfield City Hall on Friday, March 1st to further discuss the planning phase of their Youth Summit, in collaboration with the City of Greenfield and City of Soledad.