City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: September 15, 2025
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report Current Events
Kid Power
• Kid Power After School Program resumed in August and we had a total of 31 children registered. • Staff is currently focused on assessing all the children to determine whether any might need more help when it comes to their homework assignments. We also take additional steps by checking in with School Teachers and Parents.
• When the children are not busy doing homework, we make time for fun Thursdays and Fridays.
This month we did arts and crafts, and played some fun games outside.
City Sports
• Youth Soccer registration picked up this month. We received 118 enrollments this month alone.
We have a total of 186 registered participants and 21 Volunteer Coaches. Skills assessments took place on the 26th and 29th. Skills assessments for ages 9-10 have were rescheduled for Tuesday Sept 2nd due to coaches not being available. Our numbers are so good that we had to create a 5th team for our 6-8 age division. It’s looking like it’s going to be a great season! • No major movement in our Adult Volleyball League yet. We have two teams and six players registered so far. Registration will pick up in September. Our season is set to start in November, so we have some time.
AGENDA
ITEM
11 Recreation/ Community Engagement
• In the month of August, we hosted 4 Chair Yoga Classes, and 1 Art Class. As a reminder, these classes are available for FREE to all Seniors and Caregivers through the end of 2025 through the support of the Alliance on Aging.
• On Saturday, August 30th, we hosted another successful Community Gardening Day! We were joined by community members and are happy to see them take advantage of the crops that are being produced. Also, a special thank you to our Partners at the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, Save the Whales, Blue Zones Project and Monterey County staff for joining us and leading some of the activities. Stay tuned for our next Community Gardening Day! Aquatics
• For the month of August, we had a total of five Pool Parties generating $2,000 in revenue. • In August, we also hosted 2 movie nights. The first was a showing of the movie Shrek and was hosted on August 8th, and the second one was a showing of the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters hosted on August 22nd. Both movies had about the same number of people in attendance averaging between 40-50 guests.
• We will be closing out the season on Saturday, September 6th. Overall, we had a successful summer hosting our Summer Camp Kids, Swim Lessons, Aqua Fitness Classes, Rec & Night Swim, Movie Nights, and Pool Parties!
Gonzales Youth Council
• On August 5th, the Gonzales Youth Council participated in National Night Out. They started their recruitment for the 2025-2026 school year and were able to pass out flyers to parents and youth regarding the Gonzales Youth Council.
• On August 19th, the three students who applied to serve as Gonzales Youth Commissioners were interviewed by the City Manager and the Gonzales Unified School Superintendent. All three were selected for appointment. Ricardo Rodriguez Perez and Shelby Anderson are Seniors, while the third student, Orlando Rodriguez Perez is a Sophomore. The students will be formally introduced at the City Council meeting on September 15th.
• The week of August 11th, the GYC tabled at Gonzales High School during the lunch hours as they continued their recruitment process. They also hosted Application Assistance Drop-In hours on August 21st at Gonzales High School after school.
Activities in the Planning Phase
• With Fall quickly approaching, we are beginning to plan for our Annual Movie Night. This year, we are combining aspects of our Fall Festival event with the Movie Night, so we are able to host a single event.
• We are planning to host a Trunk or Treat Movie Night on Saturday, October 25th. We will share additional details and a flyer once we finalize logistics.