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Working for Seaside
It has been a crazy winter, and soon, we will have the warmth and sunshine that makes Seaside such a great place to live. Since the last edition of this newsletter, I attended the Ribbon Cutting at Fernando Park, the Fire Department promotion badge pinning ceremony, the Compass Church egg drop at Cardinale Stadium, and my monthly AMBAG meeting. At the beginning of the month, I was honored to be the best man at my friend's wedding in Myrtle Beach, SC, and I was out of Seaside for over a week.
In this edition, another of my kitchen cabinet members has written a guest editorial concerning the downtown area. Before we get to his piece, I must comment on some troubling issues concerning our city.
Closed Session
Recently, the council met in closed session numerous times, and more are likely to come. Although I can't go into detail about the meetings, some serious concerns must be addressed within our city. In the past month, we've lost key employees, including the HR director, the assistant city manager, and the assistant public works director. Staff leaving the city is a significant concern. This bothers me because I try my hardest to support all our staff members, and this newsletter recognizes our outstanding staff in each edition.
The city manager is the head supervisor of all city employees, and the council oversees the city manager. It is the council's job to support the city manager as he leads our city to success. When the city manager cannot do his job, everyone else the town employs suffers. I have continued to support our city manager as he brings great strength to our city. Comments in a June 2022 press release from Mayor Oglesby are still valid. "Mr. Fontes has a proven track record in local government and values active listening and respectful dialogue. He brings a breadth of experience on similar issues and opportunities that confront the city of Seaside. His combination of skills will help Seaside meet the challenges of creating affordable housing, local jobs, and sustainable economic development opportunities in Seaside."
Guest Editorial
I recently read a short article a friend shared about 40 US cities with booming downtowns. Salinas was #40 (https://247wallst.com/population-and-social-characteristics/2024/03/15/us-cities-with-booming-downtowns/).
Remembering Alex Miller's campaign suggestions, his second one was to complete the Vision for a Better Seaside. Why has our West Urban Broadway Village come to a halt? And has Councilman Miller put any effort into starting the conversation? The answer is yes, he did!
Miller researched and found the City of Salinas had contracted with New City of America (NCOA). They have an impressive track record, with downtown Salinas as a local example! NCOA also knows how to think outside the box when beginning the process.
Miller's attempt to start the conversation to share what he found out and how to proceed resulted in the effort to censure him. Fortunately, the censure did not happen. However, the conversation also failed to progress beyond waiting for the appointment of an economic development person. Wouldn't this person work under the direction of the elected members of the city council, following the wishes of the constituents? How would this person happen to already know the vision without input?
Everything was stalled from April to August of 2023. Finally, a new economic director was appointed, and he has been moving slowly. I suggest revisiting this now. Weigh the amount of money spent on items that will not provide any ROI (return on investment) versus consulting with NCOA or an organization like them and determine the next steps towards a vibrant downtown that will bring much-needed tourist money into our beautiful city by the sea!
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