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City Focus on TV |
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CITY FINDS BUDGET SOLUTION
Despite
budget cuts, the
City of Monterey
still provides a broad array of services and programs to its citizens.
Public safety remains a top priority with firefighters ready to respond,
and police patrols on City streets and in the neighborhoods. The Library
is open seven days a week to meet increased demand. The Sports Center
still delivers a diversity of programs to people of all ages and
abilities. Youth programs and senior adult services are readily available.
Changes will be seen
in the maintenance of parks and greenbelts. Streets will likely deteriorate further because the City doesn't have
all of the money needed to
refurbish its transportation infrastructure.
The
Monterey
City Council adopted a balanced budget
for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, after months of public meetings and discussions. The City's $96 million
budget contains a $58 million General Fund operating budget.
The City closed a $7.4 million gap between
revenues and expenditures caused by declines in hotel and sales tax
revenue. It cut $5.8 million in
programs and services; obtained more than $1 million in employee salary
concessions; and used $800,000 that would have been put into the Economic Uncertainty
Reserve.
The Neighborhood Improvement
Program (NIP) did its share by funding $2 million in city
projects deemed public safety, public health or essential maintenance.
The NIP also set aside $400,000 that the Council used to restore
programs in the Library and the Recreation Department for one year.
The 2009-2010 budget
contains many one-time solutions, such as NIP funding and employee
concessions, that are not sustainable over the long-term. Next task: a
structurally balanced budget for the future. For more information, go to
monterey.org/budget or watch City Focus
on Channel 25.
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Monterey Now |
News and
Information |
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Community Survey Results
By
Communications Office Volunteer Grace
Marvin
The
2009 Community Survey shows trends and changes in the community’s
feedback since the year 2000 and tracks
results of this year's survey.
More than 500 citizens responded to the survey, which rates satisfaction
in the areas of City appearance, City government, neighborhood and
business districts, community services and safety.
The
majority of residents give the City high marks, with many of the areas
being surveyed receiving “excellent” ratings from the public.
The
overall top-rated services for 2009 were fire services 100% favorable,
cleanliness of parks 98% and cleanliness of beaches 95% favorable.
Harbor/marina, preservation of historic resources, library services,
garbage and recycling services, police and safety in one’s own
neighborhood all were rated “excellent” in 2009 as well.
Protecting the Bay
from pollutants, City Focus newsletter, City-sponsored services
for seniors, adults, and children, and preservation of parks and open
spaces also received continuous “excellent” ratings throughout the
decade.
There
were only two areas of significant declines in ratings this decade.
Street conditions in one’s neighborhood fell from 81% favorable in 2000
to 71% favorable in 2009 and availability of bike paths fell from a high
84% favorable in 2005 to 76 % favorable in 2009. Improvement in ratings
over the past ten years showed in the City
listening to its citizens and police patrols in
neighborhoods, which went up from 73% favorable in 2005 to 81% favorable
in 2009.
Overall,
the 2009 Community survey revealed that throughout the decade, community
feedback has been, for the most part, positive, appreciative, and
supportive. The complete 2009 Community Survey is available online
at
monterey.org/survey
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Fire Merger
Benefits
Monterey
and Pacific Grove
By Fire Admin Analyst Gundy Rettke
On
Dec. 16, 2008, the Monterey and Pacific
Grove Fire Departments were consolidated into a single
department in a landmark agreement that was reached after
nearly four years of discussion and detailed planning between the
two agencies. The agreement resulted in the transfer of employment
of the former Pacific Grove employees to the City of Monterey, and
the Pacific Grove fire station remains staffed as one of four
stations serving both communities.
From an operational perspective, this agreement
has been working as anticipated and has been very successful in
realizing enhanced performance parameters, such as cost
efficiencies, additional depth of resources and personnel,
opportunity to standardize operations and equipment, and enhanced
career development and promotional opportunities. The addition of
the Pacific Grove station brings the number of staffed companies
from four to five, which significantly increases the response
capability for both Monterey and Pacific Grove.
Finally, this
agreement has the potential to become the cornerstone of a regional
fire protection agency by providing partners with the option to
consider other governance models in the future, such as a Joint
Powers Agreement or Authority, with the objective of continuing to
serve the Monterey Peninsula with more enhanced and efficient fire
protection services. |
Storm Drain Enforcement
By City
Engineer Tom Reeves
The United
States Environmental Protection Agency has
notified the City that it will be performing an audit of our
past storm water practices. And for those of you who grew up
in the 1970’s, the song “No More Mister Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper
comes to mind. So the time has come for
the City to start being a little
less gentle when it comes to dealing with violations of our Storm
Water ordinance. For the last two years, we have taken an
educational approach and we have rarely resorted to using fines.
 But
the federal and state govern-ments have made it clear that they are
going to be checking up on us, and fining violators is expected in
certain situations. So if you have any questions
about what you are about to do, please give me
a call first at 646-3448. Remember, with
very few exceptions, only clean potable water and rain water can go
into the storm drains. |
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No Salmon but Zillions of Sardines
By
Harbormaster Steve Scheiblauer
The marina and waterfront have weathered the economic
downturn and
loss of two years of salmon fishing pretty well. Salmon
fishing is usually a big deal at the harbor with lots of
folks bringing in boats and staying for long weekends or
even weeks, so it’s usually a real economic engine. The City
has lost that fishing income for the second year in a row,
but we were fortunate to recover some of our losses through
a federal Salmon Relief Grant, receiving about $104,000 so
far.
While
there is no salmon, there are plenty of sardines. As some of
you may know science has shown that the sardine collapse in
the late 1940’s was due primarily to a natural and fairly
regular oceanographic cycle. Sardines are on a
50- to 60-year
cycle of being on the
West coast, including Monterey, or
being in the far western Pacific. Here we are,
60 years later, and there is an
enormous biomass of sardines off the
coast, estimated at nearly 1 million tons. It’s great to see
the commercial wharf come alive with the sardine unloading,
and folks catching sardines and mackerel right off the
wharf. Our local sardines are known for their high fat
content and size, and they are great on the bar-be-que with
a little olive oil, sage, and rosemary.
Our
transient berthing income also has been down a bit due to
having fewer coastal traveling boats stopping in. However,
the City Council granted our request to temporarily lower
our transient rates to enable Monterey to compete more
aggressively with other central coast harbors. Putting our
transient berths “on-sale” for awhile has worked, with
Monterey having attracted a number of boats from other
harbors for long-term transient use. |
Hours of operation at
Monterey's community centers
changed in August.
Due to budget reductions, all four
community centers saw a reduction in operating hours. The new operating
hours are:
Casanova Oak
Knoll Park Center
735 Ramona Avenue,
(831) 646-5665
Mon - Thurs, 1 - 9 p.m.
Friday, 9 - 5 p.m.
Hilltop Park Center
871 Jessie Street, (831)
646-3975
Mon - Thurs, 1 - 9 p.m.
Friday, 9 - 5 p.m.
Monterey Senior Center
280 Dickman Avenue, (831)
646-3878
Mon - Fri, 9 - 5 p.m.
Monterey Youth Center
777 Pearl Street, (831)
646-3873
Mon - Thurs, 10 - 9 p.m.
Friday, 9 - 5 p.m.
Please keep these new hours in mind before calling or visiting a center.
You may also call the Recreation and Community Services Department
Administration Office at (831) 646-3866 if you have any questions,
or go online to
monterey.org/rec
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Art, Artifacts and History
By
Museum & Cultural Arts Manager Jim Conway
The Museum and
Cultural Arts Division may be a small division but it is a
big part of the City’s persona. The Museum and Cultural Arts
Division supports the City’s heritage tourism as the
marketing department. It also is the steward of Monterey’s
art, artifacts, museums, historic documents and
 cultural
programs.
Our most prominent site is
Colton Hall. This museum is staffed by two 20
hour-a-week employees who keep it open 362 days a
year. We average about 1100 visitors a month from all over
the world. During the school year, that number goes up due
to the many schools from all over the state that visit the
hall.
The Presidio of Monterey
Museum located in the Lower Presidio Historic Park is open 5
days a week with the help of volunteers. Yes, the lower
Presidio is open to the public.
One of
our most important responsibilities is the stewardship of
the
collections. This is not highly visible to the public but if
not performed it can become a distraction to tourism and
highly detrimental to the city’s collections. Once an
artifact (or sculpture or building) etc. is damaged or lost,
it is gone forever and will not be there, as it once was,
for your children, grandchildren and future generations to
enjoy; it is an important part of our responsibility to
ensure long-term sustainability. Stewardship includes
preserving records, and collection date as required by good
museum practices. We have a specific collection policy that
the Colton Hall and Cultural Arts Commission oversees on
behalf of the citizens. After all it belongs to the
citizens.
We are also responsible
for cultural public programs. Many of you have enjoyed the
openings at the Alvarado Gallery, the winter concerts in
Colton Hall, Christmas in the Adobes, the Colton Hall
Birthday party and History Fest, to name a few. Come join us
as we promote Monterey for the rich, cultural city it is.
Learn more about the Museum & Cultural Arts at
monterey.org/museum |
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The Secret Lives of Books
By
Library Special Services Coordinator Jeanne McCombs
When you visit the Library, you can choose
from 110,000 books, and every one of them had a secret life
before becoming a library book. Behind the scenes, staff
members select, purchase, catalog, process, and shelve every
new book.
Each book is chosen for our community’s needs
and interests, using a Web service that puts ordering
information and professional reviews in one place. Orders
are submitted online, boxes are opened, invoices are
checked, and funds are carefully monitored.
Each book is cataloged and labeled so you can
find it. Most catalog information comes from a worldwide
database of 140 million records from 71,000 libraries. A few
records are created by MPL—and contributed to the database
for others to use. A rainbow of labels and stickers identify
shelving areas for convenient browsing.
New books are covered and reinforced so that
they will survive many trips to readers’ homes, and older
books are mended to extend their lives. Finally, each book
is shelved in the place where its first reader will find it.
Last year, 8,000 books and 1,800 other items
were added to the collection. It takes a small village of
Library staff members to turn an ordinary book into a
library book. Visit the Library online
at
monterey.org/library |
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Urban
Accords Celebration
This year marked the 2nd
anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Environmental Accords
and the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement by the City
of Monterey. The two documents represent a formal
commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and
promoting a sustainable environment in the City of Monterey.
The City marked the occasion by holding a celebration
on the Colton Hall lawn. Mayor Chuck Della Sala reported on
Monterey's progress in meeting the goals of the Accords.
Achievements to date include energy efficiency and water
conservation upgrades at major facilities, a citywide
recycling outreach campaign, passage of a green building
ordinance, electric vehicle charging stations, a
polystyrene food container ban and much more.
Other city officials were also on hand to
share their environmental accomplishments. Mayors from
Salinas, Marina and Seaside and Councilmembers from Carmel
and Pacific Grove talked about their successes in the past
year. The event encourages future collaboration and
cooperation between jurisdictions throughout Monterey
County. To get more details on the City of Monterey's green
efforts, check out
montereyrecycles.org |
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Keeping Kids Healthy
By Monterey Sports Center Fitness Manager William F. Rothschild
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Kids needs plenty of play time and
activity to grow up healthy and fit emotionally and physically.
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Kids need to be active.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends all children
spend at least an hour or more every day in fitness activities and
pursuing leisure play. Far too often in our busy lives, the children
end up missing out on this vital part of life. The day is spent
filled with school, homework, travelling and downtime at home and
the child does not get supervised activity.
As a public wellness facility, the Monterey Sports Center is essential in
promoting lifelong fitness activities and a safe place for our youth
to stay active year round. The options
available to our youth are diverse and
exciting including swimming, aerobics, weight training, sports camp,
cheerleading, volleyball, martial arts, soccer and wrestling.
On average, our children
spend an average of 44.5 hours every week in front of a computer,
television or gaming screen. Over one-third of our children eat fast
food every day. Approximately 40% of our children will be diagnosed
with Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. In a 2005 report by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of
children between the ages of 6 and 11 who are considered obese or
severely overweight has increased by 300% in the past 25 years.
Given the overwhelming
numbers, it becomes obvious that we need to reverse this trend by
encouraging our children to participate in daily fitness activities.
The Monterey Sports Center is ready to help you work with your
children to encourage health and fitness and the adoption of a fit
lifestyle. Learn more about the Sports Center's
programs at
monterey.org/sportscenter
Environmentally Friendly Food Packaging
By Solid Waste
Program Manager Angela Brantley
In February
2009, Monterey City Council members voted
unanimously to ban the use of polystyrene foam (commonly referred to
as Styrofoam®) in prepared food applications. This ban would affect
restaurants, cafeterias, delicatessens, gas stations and special
street event promoters to name a few.
Whether you are a vendor at a
special event or have a cafeteria at your workplace, you are
required to use products that are biodegradable, compostable or
recyclable. Council allowed vendors six months to use up their
stock of non-biodegradable products. As of August 2009, polystyrene
foam is not allowed in Monterey.
As we know,
litter happens! However, unlike
many other types of packaging, littered polystyrene foam remains
permanently in the environment where it breaks into tiny pieces and
disperses widely. Polystyrene is also highly durable and persists
longer than other types of waste. It litters the ocean, parks and
public places, streets and roads, waterways, storm drains and
beaches. Even when polystyrene is properly disposed of in a trash
can, it is lightweight and may be picked up by the wind and becomes
litter.
It is important to note that the City’s primary goal
in implementing this ban is to reduce the amount of litter and the
impact to the marine environment, a vital component of the City’s
economy and quality of life.
To read more, check out the
FAQs (frequently asked questions) on our Website
MontereyRecycles.org
or contact Angela Brantley or Lesley Milton at
brantley@ci.monterey.ca.us or
milton@ci.monterey.ca.us
or call 646-5662.
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AUTUMN SAFETY REMINDERS!
By
Monterey Fire Admin. Analyst
Gundy Rettke
Smoke Detectors
Change your smoke detectors’ batteries when you change
your clocks! Most fatal fires occur at night. Every home needs
working smoke detectors to provide an early warning.
Space Heaters
Space heaters carry a much greater risk of causing a fire than
central heating. If you must use a space heater:
– The space heater
selected must be tested by an independent testing laboratory such as
Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL).
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Keep space heaters
accessible – do not store anything within three feet of the unit.
– Plug the space heater
directly into an outlet; do not plug into an extension cord.
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Run the power cord so
that no one steps on or trips over it.
Halloween
– Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Think twice before
using simulated knives, guns, or swords. If such props are used, be
certain they do not appear authentic and are soft and flexible to
prevent injury.
– When
Trick-or-Treating, a parent or responsible adult should always
accompany young children. Stay in a group, walk slowly, and
communicate where you are going.
– After
Trick-or-Treating, wait until children are home to sort and eat
treats. A responsible adult should closely examine all treats.
For more information, visit
monterey.org/fire
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Generation Rx
By School Resource Officer Paul Oelfke
 When
you think about
drug abuse, illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine,
ecstasy and methamphetamines usually come to mind. However,
an alarming trend has emerged in which some kids use prescription
medication to get high.
While illicit drug use by teens has declined,
teen prescription drug abuse is an emerging threat. Some have dubbed
this generation “Generation Rx” because of it. Prescription
drug abuse is a growing problem due to the ease at which they can be
obtained – most kids get them for free from family members, friends
or from their home.
Virtually
everyone’s medicine cabinet contains prescription medication.
Often, the prescription is left in the cabinet even though the
ailment for which it was prescribed has long since been resolved.
The most commonly abused prescription drugs are pain killers, (OxyContin,
Percocet, Vicodin), depressants (Soma, Valium, Zanax), and
stimulants (Adderall,
Ritalin
Dexedrine).
People assume
that taking a prescription drug (when not prescribed to them) is
safer than taking illicit drugs. This is a dangerous myth.
Prescription drug abuse can develop into dependency, have serious
side effects (including death), and cause
lasting physical and/or emotional problems.
Parents are the
first line of defense against prescription drug abuse. Talk to your
doctor or pharmacist about the medication being prescribed and about
medications you already have so you have a clear understanding as to
their risks and effects. Keep prescriptions stored in a safe
place, preferably in a locked cabinet or safe box, and maintain an
inventory of what you have. Do not store them in the medicine
cabinet because that provides access too easily. Prescriptions
no longer needed should be properly discarded.
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Educate
your children about the dangers of prescription drugs.
Here
are a few topics to include in your discussion:
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Pharmaceuticals taken without a prescription or a doctor’s
supervision can be just as dangerous as taking illicit drugs or
alcohol
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Abusing painkillers is like abusing heroin because their
ingredients are similar (both are opiates)
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Prescription medications are powerful substances. When used for
other than the reason it was prescribed, they become a
controlled substance and the impact on the person can be deadly.
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Many pills look similar and can easily be confused with one
another. Mistakenly taking or mixing the wrong pill(s) can cause
different reactions in different people due to one’s body
chemistry.
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Mixing drugs with other substances is very dangerous. Some
people have allergic reactions to different chemicals when they
are mixed together.
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For more information on this alarming trend
and ways you can safeguard against it, please visit
theantidrug.com/DRUG_INFO/PRESCRIPTION_DRUGS.ASP.
If you suspect a family member or friend may
be abusing prescription medication, visit
adp.ca.gov (California Department of
Alcohol and Drug Programs) for resources
available in your area. You can
also contact School Resource Officer Paul Oelfke at 646-3830 or via email at
oelfke@ci.monterey.ca.us |
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NIP Project Nominations
Every year, the City of Monterey asks residents to
submit projects in their neighborhoods for consideration by
the Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP). Eligible
projects include improvements to streets, storm drains,
sewers, lighting, traffic control devices, landscaping and
beautification, parks, recreational facilities, and other
public buildings.
This year NIP nomination cards can
be filled out and submitted online. If
you would like to nominate a project for the NIP for the
Fiscal Year 2010-2011,
click here to access the form. If you've got questions,
contact City Engineer Tom Reeves at 646-3448.
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City Focus
on TV
Now you can watch
City Focus
on TV. Just tune in to cable Channel 25 on Mondays at 10 am,
Wednesdays at 5 pm and Fridays at 7 pm. This TV newsmagazine contains
many of the stories you'll find inside this issue of
City Focus
with interviews and more information.
City Focus
on TV will be replayed at other times of day. You can also watch
City Focus on
TV right from your computer as
video-on-demand.
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Events |
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Oct. 8 - 11 |
History Fest |
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Nov. 14 |
Just Run
Kids Run 3K and Run Forest Run 5K races |
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Nov. 15 |
Big Sur Half
Marathon |
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City Focus
is now published online only.
City Focus is published quarterly in
September, December, April and July. If you sign up for
City
Focus, you will receive an email notification and link to the
newsletter when its published. We would like to know what you
think about City Focus online. Send your comments to us at the link below. |
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