City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: March 16, 2026
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report Current Activities
Kid Power
• Kid Power had 28 students attend in February. With lots of rain, we had more time for indoor activities and art projects! The team helped two kids get ready for their 2nd Grade Reading Test, both of whom successfully moved on to the next level. The team is also working with the TK and Kindergartners on cutting, letter, and number recognition. Testing will be coming soon, and we would like to help our kids succeed so we go a little further than just homework at times. • The kids got to make cute Valentines Day crafts to take home to their families. We had several Fun Fridays for the month of February, for one we did a magnetic block competition. For the second, the kids created slime which they enjoyed! During both activities, we paired the older kids with the younger kids.
AGENDA
ITEM
8 • On our very last day of February, we got a butterfly kit where the kids are growing butterflies to release in the garden once they are ready. To prepare for our adventure of growing butterflies, the children watched a video on the life cycle of a butterfly and answered questions. We are looking forward to watching the butterflies grow during the month of March.
City Sports League
• Our South County Girls Softball league registration started slowing but picked up in the end.
Registration ended on February 28th. I am pleased to announce that we had a very great turnout of registrations. We had a 60% increase from last season. Last season we had a total of 49 participants.
This season we have a total of 78. We doubled in teams for the 7U and 10U girls’ division. Each has two teams. We have 15 volunteer coaches and 3 Team parents. Open ceremony will be on March 28th.
We will be fundraising this year to help with the jersey cost and assist teams in the purchase of team sweaters.
• Our Youth Basketball League is running smoothly. The increased collaboration with Soledad Rec with our other divisions is going well. The parents, guardians and players love the new competition and different gyms they get to compete in. We had our team pictures on Wednesday March 11th.
Team pictures went very well. Our league will conclude in March. PreK-TK’s last game will be March 6th. The boy’s division grades Kinder through eighth will conclude during the week of March 9 th. Our girl’s division last game will be Saturday, March 14th .
• Our Mini T-ball registration is still open. We have 16 registered participants. League does not start until April. Our numbers will pick up by March.
Recreation/ Community Engagement
• The beginning of February presented some challenges for the Community Center due to ongoing construction of the Teen Lounge and the Library. During this time, we did receive feedback from teens saying they were unsure whether the center was open. However, following additional advertising and outreach efforts from both the City and the Boys & Girls Club, attendance began to increase and more teens started utilizing and enjoying the space. • Throughout the month of February, the City welcomed 60 teens who attended the center at least once, while the Boys & Girls Club reached nearly 100 teens during the same period. The City has been providing a variety of activities including homework assistance, STEAM building kits 3D Pens, and Magnetic Blocks. The Boys & Girls Club has also contributed programming such as crafts, building kits, painting sessions, and guitar lessons. We hope with the construction in the Teen Lounge being complete, and the Gonzales Library hosting their Grand Opening, this will assist with greater youth participation.
• Live Well Project hosted Zumba at the Community Center on Tuesday, February 3rd. Over 30 participants attended the session, enjoying a fun workout while dancing and getting their heart rates up. The event concluded with a raffle where attendees had the chance to win various goodies.
Participants were also informed about the Live Well Project’s upcoming community event, a group walk in Gonzales being held on Friday, March 20th from 10:00am - 11:00am. • We continue to host our regular senior programming in partnership with the Alliance on Aging. In addition, Alliance on Aging requested use of the Police Department’s conference room to host a 6- week Group Peer Counseling series for seniors. The program focuses on various aspects of emotional wellness and provides a supportive environment where seniors can discuss personal challenges and life experiences. The group setting encourages participants to share perspectives and learn from others who may have navigated similar situations, helping foster connections, understanding, and mutual support among attendees. The first session began on February 25th and was very well received by participants. Attendees expressed appreciation to both the City and Alliance on Aging for offering a variety of senior classes for free.
• We continue to work with TMD Creative as they help us create our new City Website. The majority of February focused on finalizing the pages and information that would be carried over to the new website and strategizing a new sitemap which would help add some structure to the website, and make finding information much easier. We will be meeting with them again in a couple of weeks, in which the web designer will be able to provide a draft sitemap of how the new website will be navigated.
• In February, we met with the two Car Clubs that assisted us with our Annual Car Show. We discussed logistics that worked from last year’s event and things we would like to do differently. We also discussed potential dates for the Car Show and landed on Saturday, July 18th.
Gonzales Youth Council
• During the month of February, the GYC held two regular council meetings. At the second meeting, the group welcomed a special visit from Supervisor Lopez. During the discussion, students asked Supervisor Lopez questions about his role as a County Supervisor, his academic experience when he was their age, the work he is currently doing in South County, and how he balances his personal life with his civic responsibilities, The conversation provided valuable insight into public service and leadership for the GYC. The students also shared updates on several of their ongoing initiatives, including preparations for their Community Garden/ Food Pantry Reveal on Saturday, March 28th, as well as planning efforts for their South County Youth Summit in May. • The GYC also participated in two South County Youth Summit Planning Meetings, one was held at the City of Greenfield’s Council Chambers and the second was hosted via zoom. During these meetings, several key decisions and planning milestones were achieved. The group confirmed the South County Youth Summit date as Saturday, May 2nd, and selected these years’ theme: “Beyond the Diploma”. The theme will focus on topics that support youth in navigating early adulthood particularly as many students transition from high school to college or the workforce. Students also began working on several logistical components of the event including designing the event flyer, developing a preliminary budget overview and conducting a poll to determine preferred food for attendees. Additionally, we would like to extend our appreciation to our partners at CHISPA for their $500 contribution to the summit, which has helped increase the overall funding and support for the event.