City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: July 22, 2024
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Communtiy Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Reports Current Activities
Kid Power
• In early June, we still had our regular Kid Power After School Program and the kids did different activities to celebrate the end of the school year, some of which included a ceremony and a BBQ hosted by the Gonzales Fire Department on the last day of school. • In preparation for the opening of Summer Camp our team did some team building activities, and deep cleaned the entire Vosti Center building.
• Summer Camp kicked off during the 3rd week of June. Summer Camp teamed up with Gonzales PD and they provided us with a tour and explained everything they do at the station.
Gonzales PD also came to the Vosti with the Explorers and they talked about what they do and how the kids can also become explorers one day. The campers also got to experience the police department drone. They learned what it is used for and how it is used. The kids even got a chance to talk into it and hear their message. The kids thanked Gonzales PD for their visit by making cards and crafts for the Officers
AGENDA
ITEM
11 • For the last week of June Summer Camp teamed up with Save the Whales. We met Amanda at the Community Garden where she taught the kids about things that would harm the environment, how things grow and what helps them grow. She told them about bees and how important they are for our flowers to spread pollen. She taught the kids to keep the garden clean by picking up all the trash and weeds. The kids also made Amanda some cards and did a butterfly craft with Amanda.
City Sports League
• Gonzales Youth Flag football skills assessment began on Monday June 3rd. The official season will begin on Monday, June 10th. We have three divisions, 10 teams and a total of 84 participants. Our divisions are Ages 5-7, with 3 teams, Ages 8-10 with 4 teams and Ages 11-14 with 3 teams. We have 9 coaches. One of which is coaching two teams, one in the 8-10 and one in the 11-14 age division. We also have a returning coach who heard we needed coaches and stepped up to coach even though his kids decided not to participate this year. Our community really does have great coaches who care and who just want the best for our Gonzales athletes. Our first flag football games started on June 20th with our 5-7 age division and on the 21st for our 8- 14 divisions. Our season will end July 26th.
• Adult co-ed softball began with its first games on June 10th. We have 10 teams in total this season, within two brackets. The lower bracket has 6 teams, and the lower bracket has 4 teams.
The last regular season games will be July 24th. Championship games are scheduled for July 31st and Aug 1st.
• Summer Tiny Tots Sports program starts on June 12th. We started with our Tiny Tots Basketball.
Our numbers were not very big for our first time, but we did have 7 registered participants for the basketball season. Next sport will be soccer starting in July. • Gonzales youth soccer league registration started June 28th. This season we added a new division to accommodate the 13-year-old age group. We will have 5 age divisions. Our divisions will be 2 ½ - 3 ½, 4-5, 6-8, 9-10 and now 11-13. The season will start at the end of August with skills assessments.
Recreation/ Community Engagement
• We were able to collaborate with the Greenfield Community Science Workshop once again to host a Free Bike Repair Workshop in Gonzales! Last year we hosted it in the parking lot where the Community Center is now being built. This event gives community members the opportunity to either donate bikes that are no longer in use or give others the opportunity to obtain a free used bike. It also grants the opportunity for others to get their bikes fixed! We had great success at our last event, so we are hoping the same goes for this year’s event. • We have been working with Salinas Valley Health to host a Community Health Day at Central Park on October 12th. The event will include various free activities and informational booths some of which include face painting, free Flu Shot Clinic, Stroke Clinic Research Booth, Cancer Resource Center, Blue Zones exercises activities and much more! • The Ventura Circus has reached out in hopes of using the Centennial Field to host a circus in Gonzales this summer!
• We continue to host senior programming through a partnership with Alliance on Aging. We were able to attend the Senior SoCo in June to help promote all the fun programs that will be taking place through the end of December 2024.
Aquatics
• The Gonzales Community Pool had a soft opening on Monday June 10th and we went live with all programs on June 17th. Some of the programs include: water aerobics, private and group swim lessons.
• The Pool is currently planning for their first movie night of 2024 being held on July 13th. Doors will open at 8PM with the movie starting at 8:45PM.
Gonzales Youth Council
• We hosted our annual rounds of interviews for our 2024-2025 Youth Commissioners. The initial interview was conducted by the two GYC Advisors and the second round of interviews was conducted by City Manager, Carmen Gil and Director of Student Services for the Gonzales Unified School District, Candice McFarland. We were able to make a unanimous decision that our two Youth Commissioners would be Emily Mendez, and Valeria Cardenas-Pacheco. • The two commissioners will participate in a Summer Fellowship with the City that begins on Monday July 15th. They will have the opportunity to have ‘meet and greets’ with different departments as well as a chance to sit down with the Mayor and Council Members to get a better understanding of their responsibilities.