Seaside Inside--January 2023

Contact

Alex Miller

831 777-8317

amiller@ci.seaside.ca.us

P.O. Box 13

Seaside, CA 93955

alexhmiller.com

Issue 1 - January 10, 2023

Getting started working for Seaside

Happy New Year and a prosperous 2023 to all. I hope the holiday season found you around family and friends.

Welcome! This is the first edition of my newsletter Seaside Inside, which aims to inform you of what’s happening at city hall. The newsletter will be distributed monthly after

the first council meeting, but before the second, so topics include agenda items past and upcoming. I'm always available if you need more clarification about anything you read.

Thanks for reading and staying updated on the events in our wonderful city by the bay.

“Include, Innovate, Inspire”

Alex takes the oath of office- excerpts from Alex's first comments to the city council

I embarked on a listening tour when I learned I would be appointed to the council. We held five community meetings in different parts of the city, and over 100 people from different walks of life participated. Rather than bore you with a lot of data, I want to summarize the results with three images that will guide my time on the city council.

The first one is the newly painted fire station with a mural on one side depicting life in our great city with one of our new electric police cars parked in front. I see the Seaside community involved with our first responders and these agencies embracing new technologies and strategies to keep us safe and engaged. The people of Seaside overwhelmingly support our first responders.

Highway 1 is filled with cars headed south to Monterey and Carmel every weekend. In the future, I see many cars exiting Fremont Avenue and heading towards our vibrant downtown, where we have wine walks, First Friday events, and multicultural celebrations. In addition, I see the Seaside Amphitheater and Cultural Center towering over Broadway. The people will come from all over the peninsula to hear concerts, get married, or be involved in cultural events. We are going to become a destination city.

My last image is of the stars you receive to rate a business transaction. I see Seaside employees and all aspects of our government with a five-star rating. Our city is filled with talented people, and I will do everything I can to help them shine.

January 5, 2023, City Council Meeting

Consent Agenda-

• ·Approval of an Assistant Public Works Director to help handle ongoing projects in the city.

• On Noche Buena St, another $100,000 for storm drain and sinkhole repair was approved.

Business Agenda

• · Amended the contract between the city and the Board of Administration of the California

• Public Employees Retirement System.

• · Approved the Cities Community Social Services Grant.

Community Social Services Grant

• ·Eleven non-profits applied. The total amount allotted by a previous council was $500,000.00. A three-panel scoring system ranked non-profits. The city council adopted the resolution for five of the six recommended. The non-profits receiving money were 1. Village Project (100 K) 2. Community Partnership for Youth (100 K), 3. Palenke Arts (100 K), 4. Community Human Services (100 K) and Sun Street Centers (50 K).

• Building Healthy Communities didn't get funded. After hearing from seventeen Seaside youth, the council agreed to place them on a future agenda.

• ·Also, the SNIP Bus, a low-cost spay and neuter program, wasn't funded, and the council agreed to place them on a future agenda.

Council Member Requests

• · As I heard many times during my community meetings, our residents want to see a vibrant downtown area for families and friends to gather. I've promised the people of Seaside that I will explore creating the vibe we want on lower Broadway. So, my request was to put on the next agenda ways to accomplish these goals. The push for a better downtown will start if two other council members agree. I plan to explore a new city commission and seek outside management to develop and implement a downtown plan.

Five-star service from city departments and agencies

• Each month I want to recognize a department that has provided five-star service to our citizens. This month it is the building inspection department. Ten years ago, a citizen was granted a variance for a shed on his property. An inspector recently came to his home and informed him that the building must be removed. He wrote a letter to the head of the department, and the result was a letter of apology. This happy citizen gets to keep his shed and feel good about his city.