4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH In late 2021, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors created a new county communications program “in recognition of the need to improve overall internal and external communications across a variety of media platforms,” according to a Sept. 1 report by the County’s chief public information officer, Nick Pasculli. The team’s first annual report—on the period July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023—shows the public some data points on how they are doing. The report relies on data from public relations firm Cision, and generally sticks to a PR lens. For instance, it breaks down sentiment of coverage, and shows 43 percent of stories were negative, 39 percent were neutral and 18 percent were positive. There were a total of 32,589 “mentions” over the one-year time period. The County’s social media presence grew by 58 percent, with 24,433 followers across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. That corresponded to nearly 5.1 million “likes.” Good: The Conservancy for the Range of the Condor, a nonprofit land trust, acquired a 48-acre property for $630,000 so that it can be preserved in perpetuity and provide a buffer between Garland Ranch Regional Park and the Robles Del Rio neighborhood. Don Gruber, the land trust’s board chair, says the property won’t be open to the public, but that legal protections will be put in place to keep it open space, whether or not the conservancy owns it “forever.” The acquisition brings the amount of land the conservancy owns in Carmel Valley and Big Sur to about 450 acres. Per the Range of the Condors’ website, the land trust’s directors “believe that large swaths of open space and wilderness are an essential contributor to the balanced well-being of the modern human, and most certainly to the survival of the many animals and plants that inhabit our land.” GREAT: It’s a great week for fighting against housing discrimination, which unfortunately is still a problem and needs to be combatted on behalf of people being denied places to live due to race, color, religion, sex, disability and more. In the fight is California Rural Legal Assistance Inc., headquartered in Oakland with 16 district offices across the state, including in Salinas. CRLA received $425,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Fair Housing Initiatives Program, HUD announced on Aug. 31. CRLA will be using the money for its private enforcement initiative, to test rentals and home buying practices in the field and when necessary file complaints with HUD or equivalent state and local agencies to enforce the U.S. Fair Housing Act. All told, 57 organizations in the U.S. received $24.2 million to enforce the act, now in its 55th year. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY Estimated annual cost to manage a rental registry in the City of Monterey, which will be paid for by property owner registration fees. The registry, approved 4-1 by City Council, will create a database with information on things like number of bedrooms per unit and monthly rent. Source: Monterey City Council discussion, Sept. 5, 2023 $400,000 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We pushed too much and ended up in the wall, which was not ideal.” -IndyCar champion Alex Palou discussing a Thursday test session on the newly resurfaced WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca ahead of the Sept. 10 season finale. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished third (see story, mcweekly.com). JOB FAIR September 23, 2023 | 10 AM - 2 PM Tech Connection, 1222 Leahy Road, Bldg. 444, Monterey Naval Support Activity Monterey FFR is hiring multiple full time & part time positions Same day interviews and potential job offers on site A child activity room is available during the application and interview process. Hiring positions for Child Care, Golf, Fitness, Special Events, Hotel, Dining, and more! NSAM provides competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and extensive professional development and training. For more information, scan the QR code. Employees may be eligible for: Access to the Transportation Incentive Program (TIP). Members of the TIP program commute at no cost or greatly reduced fares! Aetna Medical (PPO) Dental and Vision Retention Incentive Program; eligible to earn up to $1750 in your first year Access to dining facilities for breakfast, lunch & dinner at a variety of locations on base Discounted tickets for area tours, attractions, museums, amusement parks, movie theaters, ski lift passes, and more! Access to discounted items at all Navy Exchanges such as food, gas, haircuts, and car care (except at commissaries)
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