Please view our November 2024 newsletter HERE. 

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Autumn’s here, Halloween is in the rearview mirror and Christmas decorations are already popping up throughout the neighborhood. This is the time of year to share treats with the trick-or-treaters, then share good food and conversations with family and friends during Thanksgiving and giving of gifts to celebrate the end of year religious holiday of your liking or if not religious, perhaps the winter solstice. What do all of these cultural events have in common? Sharing and giving; giving thanks for what we have and giving to people and organizations we care about. The New Monterey Neighborhood Association depends upon your donations to fund all of the things we do. This year, that included some significant expenses. We sent out a mailer to every household in the neighborhood to inform them about our organization and the City now charges us $30 per hour for the meetings we hold at Hilltop Community Center. We also invested in technology so that we can broadcast and record our meetings on Zoom. We ask that every registered member, and that includes you, put us in your holiday giving plan. Our minimum recommended donation is $10 per year. This amount represents the amount of taxes and fees that we pay when buying just eight gallons of gas. Yet think about the value you get as a registered member of NMNA. In addition to social events, we’ve held three election forums to educate you about all of the ballot decisions that confronted us. We learned about Firewise and what we can do to reduce fire risks. We produce a quarterly newsletter as well as regular “Eblasts” to inform our members about events and issues of interest. That means you don’t have to cull through endless web pages to obtain this information. And there’s the annual review and input that the neighborhood gives to our Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program Representative. That’s a lot of value for just $10! You can donate by check or through PayPal below. Thank you for your support. Tom Reeves NMNA President

NMNA Board Membership 2025 NMNA Board members are elected for one-year terms at our annual meeting each January. The next election will be held on January 29,2025 at 6:30 PM at Hilltop Community Center. Current Board members are: They all love New Monterey and have willingly expended time and energy in facilitating our very successful 2024 year. As you can see form the table above, we have at least one open seat. However, our bylaws do not limit the number of board members, so please join us! Having a liaison with the Cannery Row Business District (CRBD) helps to keep both the NMNA and the CRBD informed about matters of mutual interest and the New Monterey neighborhood does include all of Cannery Row and Lighthouse districts. Joe Gallagher and Bruce Crist have indicated they would not like to run again. Roberta Myers does not want to run as Newsletter Editor but is willing to run as member at large. Alecia Hull has agreed to handle both the Newsletter editorship and Social Chair position temporarily. Board members must be NMNA members.  Applications are welcome. We especially seek Board members with: legal skills financial skills development skills If you are interested in becoming an NMNA Board member either to fill a vacancy or to challenge an incumbent, please write indicating your interest to our general mailbox: P.O. Box 2642, Monterey, CA 93942 or use the “contact us” form on our website before the deadline of January 27, 2025.

November 2024: Neighborhood& Community Improvement Program (NCIP) Update The City Council met on 11/19/2024 to review the Priority List voted on by NCIP back in June 2024. During this meeting, 2 lists were presented to the City Council for deliberation: 1) the full NCIP Priority List, and 2) the Staff Approved List. Between these 2 lists, there were 32 projects that were included in both lists. These projects include necessities, improvements, and upgrades across the City. These projects were approved by the City Council for funding. There were 7 projects that did not receive City Staff support and were further considered by the City Council for deliberation. The City Council voted not to approve funding for the Ryan Ranch Pickleball Court Construction and the Deer Flats Electrical Switch at Josselyn Cyn & Deer Forest Dr. Several other projects were sent back to NCIP for further discussion on scope. These included: New Monterey Neighborhood Plan, Villa Del Monte Casa Verde Highway Underpass Mural, 2 Bike Repair Stations for the Rec Trail, and Via Gayuba Speed Reduction Measures. New Monterey Projects that were approved for funding include: Renovation of Hilltop Park Renovation of Fire Station 12 (Hawthorne St.) Cannery Row Workers Housing Restoration Crosswalk at David Ave. & Terry St. 600 Block of Lobos St. Drainage Improvements Cypress Park Tennis Court Resurfacing Proposed Walkway from Pvt Bolio through Lower Presidio Park to Artillery St. Multi-Neighborhood Projects approved include: Citywide ALPR License Plate Reader Cameras Renovation of Fire Station 13 (DelaVina Ave.) Utility Underground Program ($2M) Forest Management & Fuel Reduction NCIP will likely meet in early December to review the projects sent back to the Committee by City Council, so there will be more updates to come. If you have any project ideas or have any questions, please feel free to email me at newmontereyncip@gmail.com. We will also have some time allotted for updates on past approved NCIP projects during our Annual Meeting in January 2025. Chinyere Ogbonna New Monterey NCIP Representative

Upcoming Events Cannery Row Tree Lighting Friday, November 29, 5 – 7pm (Family entertainment begins at 12:00 noon. The Tree Lighting Ceremony will begin at approximately 5:45 p.m. in Steinbeck Plaza.) Cannery Row’s Steinbeck Plaza (corner of Cannery Row and Prescott Avenue) New Monterey Lighthouse District Small Business Saturday Saturday, November 30, 10am – 10pm Lighthouse Ave and Drake Ave Colton Hall Tree Lighting Friday, December 6, 5pm Colton Hall Lawn, 570 Pacific Street NMNA Holiday Party Sunday, December 8, 4:30 – 6:30pm Gianni’s Pizza, 725 Lighthouse Avenue Please RSVP HERE. Brighten the Harbor Boat Parade 2024 Sunday, December 8, 5:30pm Custom House Plaza Watch the boats decorated with holiday lights cruise down the coastline from the harbor, past the shops and restaurants on Cannery Row and return. Winter Solstice Saturday, December 21, 5:30 – 8pm Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street Monterey Fire Department Toys and Food Drive Runs through December 14 for the toy drive and early January for the food drive. Drop-off Locations: Monterey Fire Department stations (see locations HERE). First Night Monterey Tuesday, December 31, 3pm – midnight Historic Downtown Monterey Multiple venues with 70+ Performances, 4 Interactive Art Stations, Twilight Procession, Countdown-to-Midnight, 2 Finale Performance! 9 Hours of fabulous Art, Music and New Year’s fun! Upcoming Community Events of note: November 22 – January 5 — Ice Skating by the Bay returns to Custom House Plaza. More information HERE. Monterey Library events Free movies, Thursdays, rated G at the Community Room of the Monterey Public Library, 3:30 pm. Free popcorn and drink as you watch the movie of the story come to life on the screen. December 5, 2024, “Alice in Wonderland”   December 19, 2024, “Where the Wild Things Are”   Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7, 10-4pm, Holiday Book Sale at the Monterey Public Library. Funds go to help the library. Preview Reception Thursday, December 5, 5 – 7pm. Friday, December 13 and Saturday, December 14, 5 – 9 pm — Christmas in the Adobes. Many of our historical adobes are open only at this time of year and are decorated for the season. Hear the history of the adobe and the people who lived here. More information HERE (tickets are available for purchase). Second Saturdays, 9 – 10am and 10:30 – 11:30am — Tours of Ed Ricketts Pacific Biological Laboratory. “Doc Ricketts” was featured prominently in John Steinbeck’s novels about Cannery Row, and the lab at 600 Cannery Row was the site where the idea of a Monterey Jazz festival was born. Tours are free but limited in size. Waiting lists fill quickly; reserve your spot HERE. Saturdays and Sundays, 10am – 4 pm — The Presidio Museum of Monterey is open. Learn the fascinating history of our Presidio, including the early indigenous settlers, the founding of the fort, the history during three wars, and the history of the Buffalo Soldiers. An interpretive walk with great views of the bay lead up to the Sloat Monument. Free.

One Warm Coat Drive Ginny Babbitt Neighbors! I’m sharing warmth in my community by holding a One Warm Coat Drive. Please join me by donating new or gently worn coats, sweaters, jackets, sweatshirts, scarves, hats and gloves for children and/or adults. All donations will be given to Dorothy’s Place. You may place your donations in the bin by our driveway (990 McClellan Ave) or at Oscar’s Playground (685 Cannery Row #3) until Dec. 31. You may also make a monetary donation and find additional drop locations at my Coat Drive site.

A Message from Demetrius Kastros (CERT Training/ Operations Coordinator) Monterey, CA “Prepare as if your life depends upon it, because it does!” Using a Nationally published FEMA curriculum, CERT educates individuals at the local level about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, triage and disaster medical operations. Using training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT volunteers can protect their family first, and then others in their community following a disaster, storm, major fire or other emergency when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also assist in searches for lost persons, particularly children.

Too Many Close Calls? Have you ever experienced a close call while walking, biking, or driving around Monterey? What a silly question; we all have! The City of Monterey wants to hear from you about what you think are pressing traffic safety issues in Monterey through its Local Road Safety Plan Project Update. Follow this link to the questionnaire in English or in Spanish.  The City will be holding a public workshop, probably in February of 2025 to discuss its findings and answer questions.

Sea Lions Like Monterey Too! If you haven’t seen them, then perhaps you’ve heard or smelled them. Sea lions have invaded Sister City Park along the Monterey Bay Coastal Rec Trail. The park, which is beside the trail, is closed and will continue to be closed. Sardines thronging in our bay recently may have attracted the sea lions and numerous oxygenators have been activated to prevent their die off. New barricades have been added to protect both sea lions and humans. Marine mammals, including sea lions, are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Keep your distance! Harassing or feeding these wild animals is both dangerous and illegal.

Thank You for Being A Registered Member of NMNA Roberta Myers Lack of citizen participation in government is a universal problem throughout our country. Our city constantly makes concerted and laudable efforts to engage citizenry in the governmental process. In fact, years ago, Monterey Neighborhood Associations were formed with encouragement by the City Council to help citizens feel they have a voice and an investment in our government. Neighborhood Associations nominated NIP representatives for Council approval. The idea was that Associations would help engage citizens in dialogue with city staff, and NIP funds would help mitigate the impacts that the residents feel as a result of our tourist trade. Unfortunately, neighborhood associations share the same low involvement problem the city has. Over the years, city support for neighborhood associations has waned, and neighborhood associations are described as “private organizations, separate from city government” even though they were, from the outset, seen as a means for engaging residents in city affairs.    We are all valiantly trying to address the same problem of low community involvement. Last year, New Monterey Neighborhood Association changed its bylaws so that we are now funded through donations. We changed from being dues-based to donation-based because of the implications associated with dues and exclusivity. But our bylaws have always stated that everyone living in New Monterey is a member, regardless of whether or not they paid dues or donated. Our registered members have increased from about 120 to 300 since January. And this is great progress, but we have over 5,000 New Monterey residents. We’d like to see this number grow and be more representative of our residents who live in apartments.  To achieve this goal, we have begun airing our meetings on Zoom so that younger people who have jobs and might have children to care for can listen in to our meetings. Our Neighborhood Association holds frequent candidate and issues forums encouraging citizenry to become informed and active in city government. We work to synthesize the issues that we think are relevant to our neighborhood and bring them to you so that you don’t have to look through what are seemingly endless web pages. Of course, for those who want to do their research, we urge you to check out the City’s outreach, and “Have your Say in Monterey.” They also want you to be involved. In short, the City of Monterey and the New Monterey Neighborhood Association are on the same side with the same goals. Neighborhood Associations were formed to help solve the participation problem the city addresses. Are they still relevant? I hope and believe they are.  And if you have suggestions about how we can improve, let us know that too. If you agree, talk with neighbors and friends, explain that membership is automatic for those who live in New Monterey. Encourage them to register at newmontereyneighborhood.org. Attend our educational forums and enjoy social events like the upcoming Holiday Pizza Party. We ask that you provide a donation of at least $10 per year to keep this valuable service alive. Donating is easy, just visit our website and click on the “Membership” tab.