City of Monterey

#WildlifeWednesday Brown pelicans are a conservation success story. They were nearly driven to extinction due to pollutants such as DDT about fifty years ago. Due to protection by law, they made a remarkable comeback and were removed from the endangered species list in 2009. We love seeing them in large numbers in Monterey, resting near Old Fisherman’s Wharf and diving for food in the bay. Enjoy #BirdWatching along our national marine sanctuary.

The City of Monterey invites you to an online virtual information session to gather public input regarding a proposed hotel redevelopment at 2101 North Fremont Street: https://monterey.org//For/21_0308-2101-N-Fremont-Plans.pdf The meeting will be hosted through ZoomGov and will take place on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 4:00 PM. A recording of the meeting will later be available at youtube.com/cityofmonterey and monterey.org/planning.

As of March 3, 2021, the COVID-19 Vaccine will become available for all Monterey County residents 65 and up. It will also include individuals 16 and up who are at-risk essential workers. For more information please visit: Mcvaccinate.com

Move Monterey - "Complete Streets" Outreach Discussion, Thursday, March 4 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM via ZOOM. - The Planning and Traffic Engineering staff invite you to join them for a discussion on what "Complete Streets" is, what it means for the City of Monterey, and share a survey to provide feedback on your preferences and experiences. The purpose of this survey is to receive feedback on how Monterey should plan its transportation network to accommodate all modes of transportation. This is done by asking about your personal travel patterns and how you think those may change in the future. English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/montereymultimodal Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/montereymultimodalesp This information is also posted at monterey.org/planning

Could it be a more beautiful Sunday? Enjoying the sunny skies and lovely views of Cannery Row from San Carlos Beach #SundayVibes #Monterey #CanneryRow #MontereyBay #California

Did you miss Monterey County Health Department'a COVID-19 Vaccine Informational Town Hall? Rewatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2bVNJ87FAk

#WildlifeWednesday Some Monterey locals sunning on the rocks on this beautiful sunny day : @themainstreetnerd via www.Instagram.com/cityofmonterey

Golden hour reflections on Monterey’s Lake El Estero. The lake has a 1.25 mile loop surrounding it and is a popular destination for bird watchers. Learn more about our parks at monterey.org/parks.

Attn restauranteurs, business operators, delivery drivers, and third-party food delivery service providers: City of Monterey wants your input! We are engaging in community discussions about third-party food delivery fees. In January 2021, downtown restaurants and the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce approached the Monterey City Council to consider limiting fees and commissions on third-party food delivery services (e.g., Uber Eats, DoorDash, etc.), some of which charge fees as high as 30%. Please visit our new public engagement website haveyoursaymonterey.org to learn more about this topic and register for our webinar on Wednesday, January 20. Thank you for your participation and feedback!

The Monterey Peninsula's first homeless shelter is now accepting applications. Named Casa de Noche Buena, it is operated by the Gathering for Women - Monterey and Community Human Services and is located at 1292 Olympia Ave in Seaside. The shelter is open to single women and families with children and will offer shelter, meals and other supportive services. Those interested are asked to call 831-373-4421.

#ThrowbackThursday #ThankfulThursday Today, we wanted to highlight the great work done by Monterey Recreation during the pandemic. Together with partners like The Food Bank for Monterey County and Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula, donors like you, and volunteers, including City staff and Monterey Police Department, we are able to help residents in need. Over 2,500 meals were delivered to families during our holiday food drives. Over 2,000 meals have been distributed to seniors for Meals on Wheels. Over 7,500 drive-thru produce boxes were picked up during our weekly produce drives, which served over 25,000 individuals. Learn more about our food drives at monterey.org/rec. Thank you staff, donors and volunteers!

Have questions about the vaccine and it's rollout locally? Monterey County Health Department will hold a COVID-19 Vaccine Informational Town Hall this Thursday, January 14th at 5:30PM on Zoom: https://t.co/Kvuc8h5l9w?amp=1. Spanish translation will be available.

This is your #MondayMotivation to shop small and local this holiday season! Monterey Old Fisherman's Wharf is decorated festively for your visit and family photo ops. Shop in gift shops or gift an experience of whale watching, fishing or a tasty seafood dinner. Major online retailers are doing better than ever during the pandemic. Let's all do our best to support our neighbors' "brick and mortar" businesses and the jobs and tax revenue that they provide. Our local businesses are what make our community special- there's nowhere like Old Fisherman's Wharf. #ShopSmall #BuyLocal

Good morning! It's a sunny morning on a decorated Cannery Row, giving us that #FridayFeeling and all the holiday feels Thank you for safely supporting our local businesses this holiday shopping season. Small businesses make places like Cannery Row special. Enjoy the weather and holiday decor around town this weekend. #ShopSmall #HappyHolidays #WeekendVibes

What a great idea that benefits so many during this difficult time, from businesses and the local fishing industry to residents in need The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust is connecting local fishermen and seafood businesses with members of the community in need of food assistance through the creation of the Monterey Bay Community Seafood Program. Seven small-scale seafood buyers will donate local catch to food assistance programs that support working families, seniors, and other community members in need. The program will support dozens of fishermen and seafood workers while providing meals of sustainably harvested rockfish, California halibut, sablefish, and grenadier to thousands of families in the region. Learn more in Monterey County Weekly's new story: https://www.montereycountyweekly.com//article_207f9cdc-350

As #COVID19 case counts surge and ICU bed capacity plummets, Governor Newsom has extended the Bay Area Regional Stay At Home Order indefinitely. Intensive care availability in the Bay Area plummeted over the weekend to 0.7% as of Monday, the lowest level yet for the region. Restrictions remain in place until the state’s four-week projections of the Bay Area’s total available ICU bed capacity is greater than or equal to 15%. Get local information from Monterey County Health Department at mtyhd.org.

NEW dates for 2021! Join us every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month for a virtual update with your city manager! Hans Uslar will discuss the programs, policies and projects currently affecting our community, including a COVID-19 update and recent/upcoming City Council discussions and decisions. We'll be LIVE at youtube.com/cityofmonterey this Wednesday, January 13 at 9:30 a.m. the program will be archived on our YouTube Channel. Bring your questions and feedback.

For today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we are visiting the historic Vasquez Adobe here at Monterey City Hall! It was originally a one story adobe from the 1830s. Tiburcio Vasquez lived here and became one of the Wild West’s most notorious bandits. Today, it houses our Recreation Office. While the pandemic has closed our community centers and many programs, staff is coming up with excellent virtual programs as well as organizing weekly food drives and offering outdoor group exercise classes at the Monterey Sports Center until we can open up again. Keep up the great work Monterey Recreation! Come check out our historic City Hall grounds in Downtown Monterey along the Path of History walking tour. #Monterey250

Beware of ghosts near Monterey Old Fisherman's Wharf! Photo ops at the Wharf is a low-risk holiday activity. Get more safe Halloween ideas at covid19.ca.gov/holidays/. And remember that no costume is complete without a mask! #WearAMask #HappyHalloween

Lovely sunset shot to end the weekend : Turismo de Catalina

Tomorrow, don't miss Monterey Mornings with the Manager. City Manager Hans Uslar gives a biweekly update on COVID-19, the economy and other programs, policies and projects affecting our community. Join us Thursday, October 29 at 9AM at youtube.com/cityofmonterey. The program will be archived on YouTube following the event. Bring your questions or submit in advance to [email protected]. Thank you for sharing with your neighbors.

REMINDER! TOMORROW! Get a virtual update with City Manager Hans Uslar about programs, policies and projects that are currently affecting our community, including COVID-19, the economy, the status of the Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course and upcoming/recent City Council discussions and decisions. We'll be LIVE on youtube.com/cityofmonterey tomorrow, Thursday, December 3 at 9AM. If you miss it, the program will be archived on our YouTube Channel.

Phone scam alert: Apology from electric company The California Public Utilities Commission is asking that community members be made aware of a new scam going around: people are being cold-called by would-be scammers with spoofed telephone numbers (often with the same prefix as the intended victim’s own phone) and greeted by a recording saying, This is an apology from your electric company. The call then offers a rebate due to overcharging, and if the intended victim stays on, a live caller joins and attempts to solicit bank information. There is no such active rebate program currently being offered by any major utility in California, and should one ever be offered, it would likely be in the form of bill credits. The FCC investigates such scams, and the CPUC advises that Californians immediately hang up on any such calls received.

Monterey Mornings with the Manager has been a popular and effective way to connect and get updates with your City Manager. Hans Uslar gives a biweekly update on #COVID19, the economy and other programs, policies and projects affecting our community. Join us this Thursday, October 29 at 9AM at youtube.com/cityofmonterey. The program will be archived on YouTube following the event. Bring your questions or submit in advance to [email protected]. Thank you for sharing with your neighbors.

Looking for some fun family Fall and Halloween-themed cooking ideas? Check out Monterey Recreation's That's Good! kids cooking demo playlist at youtube.com/cityofmonterey, including pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie Our Recreation office also has a Virtual Recreation page with a ton of great arts and crafts, science experiments and other fun activities. Check it out at monterey.org/rec.

Thank you for celebrating Halloween safely this year! Many traditional Halloween celebrations such as parties and in-person, door to door trick-or-treating pose a high risk of spreading COVID-19 and could put your family and loved ones at risk. These activities involve face to face interactions with people from different households. Low-risk activities: Create a haunted house or candy scavenger hunt in your home or yard Participate in online parties/contests (costum...e or pumpkin carvings) Watch spooky movies at home or the drive-in theater https://covid19.ca.gov/holidays/ Monterey County Health Department

Kick back and relax- it’s almost the weekend! What’s the most relaxing activity in Monterey? #WeekendVibes #FridayFeeling #FridayMood #SpaDay : Monterey Bay Aquarium

2020 has been an unprecedented year for wildfires in California. It's important that we all be prepared. Over 100,000 of Monterey County's residents live in the county's rural areas, which encompass about 1.6 million acres in County jurisdiction, largely covered with hazardous accumulations of wildfire fuels. Fire Safe Council For Monterey County (FSCMC) has developed a FREE online workshop, WILDFIRE AND YOU, that you can take at any time, which shows you how to help protect... your life and home in event of a wildfire by: Planning for evacuation, Reducing vegetation to create effective defensible space, and Hardening your home to make it less likely to ignite during a wildfire. The Fire Safe Council recommends all residents to take this training, but especially seniors and those with disabilities, and their relatives, friends, and caregivers, who are at the highest risk: www.firesafemonterey.org/workshops.html CERV of the Monterey Peninsula Monterey CERT Listos California Monterey Firefighters Local 3707 See more

Before Monterey was the Whale Watching Capital of the World, the town was a busy whaling port. At the Old Whaling Station at Monterey State Historic Park, you can still find the great iron pots which rendered their blubber into oil, which could be used to lubricate machinery or burned in lamps to provide light. Visiting our beaches, you might find it littered with the bleached bones of whales. Many sidewalks were also made of whale bones, and one still remains (pictured)- one of the few remaining in the United States. Thankfully, we protect whales now, and the Monterey Bay is federally protected as a national marine sanctuary Join us every #ThrowbackThursday as we bring you interesting local history factoids. Monterey celebrates 250 years in 2020! #Monterey250

The Fall Issue of City Focus is out NOW! Topics include #COVID19, #Election2020, wildfires, City budget, rental and utility assistance programs, Halloween safety and more. Read and sign up for our e-newsletter at monterey.org/cityfocus

Sunset hits Mt Toro and the Del Monte Beach Neighborhood Toro is one of two prominent peaks that you can see on a clear day. What is the other?

#WildlifeWednesday A kelp forest from above by Full Frame Creative Agency Hugging the Monterey coastline, these forests are an iconic habitat within our NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Hundreds of types of fish, invertebrates and some marine mammals make their home in or visit the different layers of the kelp forest, relying on it and each other for food, shelter, oxygen and other nutrients. California sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, and even whales may feed in the kelp or escape storms or predators in the shelter of kelp. Go kayaking or scuba dive through the forest to get a glimpse of this colorful and diverse world. Beautiful!

A new state-supported testing site has opened at Seaside High School today. Cesar Chavez Library in Salinas is still open Tuesday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for appointments and walk-ins. Peninsula residents have a nearby drive thru testing site at Monterey Peninsula College on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Learn more at mtyhd.org/covidtesting.