City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: August 18, 2025
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report Current Events
Kid Power
• Kid Power Summer Camp continued through the month of July, and during week three, we had the students create art using the 3D pens we were able to purchase through the Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation grant. The kids had fun being creative and putting together things such as glasses, an Eiffel Tower, and McDonald's French Fries.
• During week four, Public Works visited and talked about what they do for the City. Public Works also took us out to see a few of the different vehicles they use and what they do. One of the highlights of having different departments meet with the kids, is they continue to greet them when they see them around town and some even know them by name. • In week five, we received a visit from Sara who works for Salinas Valley Recycles. Sara spoke to the kids about how to recycle properly, and she also played games with them followed by AGENDA
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9 showing them a video of the landfill, as well as explaining the purpose of the landfill. The kids had lots of questions for her and enjoyed her visit.
• In week six, we received a visit from the local nonprofit, Save the Whales, who brought a lifesize blow-up whale named Dee! The kids were able to explore the inside of the whale and learn about the anatomy of it. Save the Whales also set up numerous tables that the kids were able to visit and learn about different topics such as preventing pollution in the ocean, and why it's important to make sure we clean up our trash and throw things away. The Gonzale Tribune also paid us a visit and released an article featuring Kid Power and Save the Whales. • Week seven marked the conclusion of our Summer Camp, and we wrapped up the season with a variety of fun activities. The theme for the week was “Water Week,” which included dress-up days, a waterslide, baby pools, and water balloon games. On our final day, we visited the Gonzales swimming pool and hosted a barbecue. We were happy to have members of the Fire Department, Police Department, Public Works, and the pool team join us for a lunch with the kids. It was a memorable way to close out both the month of July and the camp season. We’re already looking forward to doing it all again next year! City Sports League
• Youth Flag football had their picture day on July 9th. Lots of happy faces and wonderful smiles.
Our last games were on Wednesday, July 23rd for ages 5-7; and on Friday, July 25th for ages 8-14.
Each player received a certificate of participation and a flag football medal to keep. It was a fast and fun season.
• Adult co-ed softball season ended with our championship games on Monday, July 28th and Tuesday July 29th. Our “C” division top two teams, Ball Busters and Big Little Leaguers, competed on Monday the 28th for the championship. Big Little Leaguers took the win by one point, 11-10. What a game! Our “A” division top two teams, Balls Deep and Bad News Beers, competed on Tuesday for the championship. Balls Deep took the win. Unfortunately, the other team was missing a couple of players, and it cost them. For our “B” division championship game against Hit a Pitch and Sandlot Ballers, Sandlot Ballers could not make it to the game so Hit a Pitch took the win by default. It was an incredibly fun and busy season. We had a total of 54 games this summer. It went by fast.
• Youth soccer registration is going well but slow. So far, we have a total of 70 registered participants and 7 volunteer coaches. Last season, we had a total of 178 participants. Our season will start with assessments on the 26th and 28th. Hopefully, our numbers will rise before then. • Our Adult co-ed volleyball league registration started on July 31st. Our season starts in November and goes until December 19th. Last season, we had 12 teams and 3 divisions. I am confident we will have about the same this year.
Recreation/Community Engagement
• For the month of July, we continued hosting our senior classes in collaboration with Alliance on Aging. Classes included Chair Yoga, Art, and Cooking. The participation numbers vary between 8-15 attendees. We continue to advertise the classes in hopes that we can increase our class size to at least 20 participants.
• Staff, along with the Fire Chief, have been working on setting up the City’s Emergency Alert System. One of the first tasks is to set up the City’s page on the Everbridge system that will serve as the landing page for our community. Contacts have begun to be added to the listserv, and we plan to begin conducting outreach to start promoting the Alert System soon so that we can get as many people registered as possible.
Aquatics
• We hosted a Movie Night on Friday, July 25th and had a showing of The Sandlot. We have plans to continue with Friday Night Movies as they are quite a hit. • For the month of July, we hosted eight Pool Party Reservations, with some of the reservations also paying the additional request for the BBQ Pit or for additional guests, bringing in a total of $3,595 in revenue.
Gonzales Youth Council
• The Gonzales Youth Council went through their Summer Training on July 23rd – 25th, and July 30th- August 1st. The students had the opportunity to meet with City Council Members, and City Departments. The students were also given an overview of Local Government and started planning their recruitment plan for the 2025-2026 school year. • The students concluded their training on August 1st and received a tour of the Community Center, followed by a small celebratory lunch at the park, and a chance to sit down and talk to former GYC Alumni, Magaly Santos. Magaly shared her experience as Youth Commissioner, and how being in the GYC was a pivotal moment in her life and opened doors and opportunities for her.
Magaly currently holds a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy and is now pursuing her M.S. in Environmental Management at the University of San Francisco. • As of now, their recruitment plan includes having GYC applications open through the end of August with the goal of having their full Youth Council by the first week of September.