8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com The short story is, the Seaside City Council has already committed to spending more than $500,000 for the design of a bridge to replace the pedestrian bridge over San Pablo Avenue, connecting LincolnCunningham Park and ManzanitaStuart Park. The existing bridge has been closed since early 2023. But whether or not that design ever gets used—or the bridge reopened—is an open question, and may come down to how much more money the council is willing to spend on it. Built in 1960, the San Pablo Pedestrian Bridge is one of a kind in the city, a whimsical piece of park infrastructure. In 2021, Alex Miller, now a city councilmember and then the chair of the Neighborhood Improvement Commission, proposed the idea of painting a mural on the bridge, which was looking the worse for wear. When that project moved to the front of the line, city officials had the bridge inspected in December 2022. (Because the pedestrian bridge doesn’t carry vehicles, it’s not annually inspected by Caltrans.) The engineers found that wooden beams supporting the bridge were at risk of “imminent failure,” and the bridge was subsequently closed. When Seaside City Council was first presented with the issue in April 2023, the city’s contract engineers laid out three options: Repair the bridge for an estimated $340,000; replace just its superstructure for $565,000 (including $115,000 for design); or replace the whole bridge and its abutments and surrounding walking ways to make them ADA compliant at a cost of $2.45 million (including $500,000 for design). Mayor Ian Oglesby said to look at the latter two options when the council proceeded to make its budget. In December 2023, Seaside City Council approved a contract not to exceed $556,000 with Whitson Engineers for option 3, to design the bridge demolition and replacement. On Sept. 4, Public Works Director Thomas Korman, who started the job in November 2024, updated the council on the bridge’s progress, and the news isn’t good. The city was not awarded a $2.7 million state grant it was seeking for the project, and $700,000 of federal grant money it thought could be used toward the bridge cannot be. Meanwhile, the $3 million the city had requested through U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, has been whittled down to $850,000, and remains pending. The bridge, meanwhile, is still standing, but is only good for looking at. At a press conference in July, President Donald Trump responded to an inquiry about congressional districts in Texas, saying, “Just a very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats. But we have a couple of other states where we’ll pick up seats also.” New congressional maps in Texas have since been drawn for partisan gain and were signed into law on Aug. 29 by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, triggering a response by California Gov. Gavin Newsom alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate pro Tempore Mike McGuire. Their aim: to give Californians the option to redraw districts before the mid-term elections, or as Newsom called it, an opportunity to “fight fire with fire.” California’s Proposition 50 (named for the 50 states) aims to nullify Texas’ redistricting, which is expected to pick up five additional seats for the Republican Party, by creating the equivalent five seats favoring the Democratic Party in California. On Sept. 16, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Glenn Church abstaining, to support Prop. 50 and the special election scheduled for Nov. 4. “This is a position I would never have imagined being in,” Supervisor Wendy Root Askew said. “But watching the harm I’m seeing happen to people, watching democracy be brought to the edge where there’s talk of no more elections happening, watching my colleagues be told that they can’t enter the White House for meetings that we duly are entitled to have as elected leaders—the risks to our democracy have never felt more real.” If passed, the new maps would remain in effect until 2030. Monterey County would receive $3.5 million from the state to administer the election. The supervisors mostly spoke about what is at stake in November. In abstaining, Church said he did not want to influence voters. “When you combine the rhetoric with the action and choose to sit back and do nothing,” Supervisor Kate Daniels said, “that’s a really bad place to be.” Tall Toll The future of Seaside’s San Pablo pedestrian bridge is clouded by climbing costs. By David Schmalz NEWS PARK PARKING Parking spaces in downtown Monterey will be transformed into mini parks in celebration of PARK(ing) Day. The event features various booths staffed by city departments. 10am-2:30pm Friday, Sept. 19. Alvarado Street between Franklin and Pearl streets, Monterey. Free. 6463860, monterey.gov.= HEALTHY RUN Sun Street Centers’ Recovery Run aims to raise awareness about Substance Use Disorder. Live music, resource booths and more family-friendly activities round out the event. 7:30am (registration), 9am (run begins) Saturday, Sept. 20. Veterans Administration, 201 9th St., Marina. Free to attend; $43 for 5K and fun run. 753-5144, sunstreetcenters.org/ RecoveryRun2025. REDUCE AND REUSE Bring in your broken items to be fixed at the Repair Cafe. Items include clothes, furniture, small appliances, toys, bicycles and more. 11am-3pm Saturday, Sept. 20. Del Rey Park, 999 Angelus Way, Del Rey Oaks. Free. montereyrepaircafe@gmail.com, repaircafe.org/en. GO WITH THE FLOW First Flush is an annual stormwater monitoring event to determine what pollutants are flowing into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Volunteers are needed to collect samples before and during the first significant rainstorm of the season. 6-7pm Wednesday, Sept. 24 (in-person training), Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary office, Heritage Harbor, 99 Pacific St., Building 455 conference room, Monterey. 5:306:30pm Thursday, Sept. 25 (online training). 10am Saturday, Sept. 27 (dry run sampling). 647-4201, bit.ly/ FirstFlush2025. RENTER RIGHTS The City of Monterey and ECHO Housing host a workshop on tenant protections, including the Tenant Protection Act from 2019. 6-8pm Thursday, Sept. 25. City Council Chambers, 580 Pacific St., Monterey, and on Zoom at bit.ly/4osfv3d. Free. 646-3995, fernando@echofairhousing. org. STATE OF SALINAS Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue gives the State of the City Address. The event also includes a city services resource fair, food and child care. Spanish interpretation provided. 6-8pm Thursday, Sept. 25. Sherwood Hall, 940 N. Main St., Salinas. Also livestreamed on YouTube, @ TheSalinasChannel. Free. 758-7407, salinas.gov. Map Makers County Supervisors back Prop. 50, a redistricting amendment on California voters’ ballots. By Katie Rodriguez The pedestrian bridge connecting two parks over San Pablo Avenue is unique in Seaside—but has also been closed for use since early 2023. E-MAIL: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX Engineers found the beams were at risk of “imminent failure.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
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