Community Advisory Board
2025 Annual Report
INTRODUCTION
The Community Advisory Board (CAB) serves as a vital link between the City Council and the community, ensuring that community voices are heard and incorporated into City decision-making. This report showcases CAB’s 2025 activities, accomplishments, and community engagement initiatives.
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted CAB’s ability to engage with the community. In response, the CAB work plan and priorities underwent a comprehensive reframing and redevelopment to address community’s emerging needs. This process included reassessing goals and aligning strategies with community priorities as well as Council goals to ensure a coordinated and impactful approach. The activities and achievements described in this report are in alignment with CAB’s 2025-2027 Work Plan as well as Council Goal #4:
Foster a safe, healthy, and inclusive community.
O
BJECTIVE
To meet the goals and key activities outlined in CAB’s 2025-2027 Work Plan. 2 025 ACTIVITIES
a. C
ommunity Engagement and Education
CAB actively participated in major city events, including:
• Earth Day
• Cinco de Mayo
• Rose Parade & Festival
• Pride
• Juneteenth
• Through tabling and outreach, members promoted City programs and the Community Improvement Grant (CIG) program.
• CAB also attended neighborhood meetings to strengthen local connections.
Attachment 2
b. District Meetings
CAB hosted five district-based community meetings in collaboration with Councilmembers, CIRO, and City staff, with a total of 84 attendees. These meetings surfaced key community concerns:
• Housing & Development: Affordable housing, senior housing, missing middle housing, large projects (3rd Street garage, 24-story towers, convention centers), unhoused community.
• Transportation & Parking: Downtown parking issues, bus delays (2+ hours), SMART last-mile connectivity.
• Infrastructure: Sidewalk repairs, road diets, fire evacuation concerns, pedestrian and cyclist safety, green spaces downtown, play structures for families.
• Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness: Fire safety, evacuation routes, resilience hubs, communication for elderly and non-English speakers, inRESPONSE funding, e-bike safety.
• Immigration: Protection for immigrant communities.
Top 10 words used by community members: community, housing, new, parking, building, more, sidewalks, concern, unhoused, people.
The community meetings were promoted through multiple channels, including flyers, City Connections, the City’s website, social media platforms, and trusted community partners.
c. Community Improvement Grant (CIG) Program
Authorized by Resolution No. 28686, CAB oversees the CIG program to support neighborhood improvement and community-building projects. • 2024: Awarded $47,095.40 to 20 grant applicants, benefiting:
o 30% underserved communities
o 15% youth and children
o 10% people with disabilities
o 5% unhoused communities
• 2025 (to date): Awarded $26,379.58 to 13 grant applicants benefiting:
o 23% underserved communities
o 8% youth and children
o 8% people with disabilities
o 8% unhoused communities
LOOKING AHEAD
CAB will continue implementing its 2025–2027 work plan, focusing on:
• Strengthening community engagement
• Attending and hosting community and neighborhood meetings • Promoting City programs and CIG opportunities
• Enhancing communication and trust between residents and City leadership