Carmel-by-the-Sea commissioners map fall events calendar, await interim staff replacement

The Carmel-by-the-Sea Community Activities Commission on Sept. 9 reviewed plans for a full fall events calendar, agreed to pause work on its draft vision and mission until an interim staff person starts Oct. 1, and set follow-up items on a Car Week after-action report and several seasonal events.

The discussion matters because the commission oversees permits and logistics for many downtown events that affect residents, businesses and city operations. Commissioners and staff flagged staffing limits, public-safety data they expect from the police department, and volunteer needs for major events including the pumpkin roll, home crafters marketplace and holiday programming.

Leslie, a city staff member who is running commission operations after Ashley’s departure, told commissioners an interim staff person is expected to start Oct. 1 and proposed pausing further work this month on a draft mission, vision and guiding principles so the new hire can participate. “Very likely, at that time, will be probably our best time to talk about vision, mission, and guiding principles,” Leslie said.

Commissioners agreed. Maria Roos, a commission member, said pausing the mission work until the interim arrives made sense and that the commission should concentrate on event logistics for September and October. Commissioners reviewed a list of near-term activities including: a tentative Carmel High School homecoming parade (tentatively Sept. 25), the Sandcastle Contest (10th–12th blocks of the beach, judging around noon), Community Day paired with Third Thursday (4–7 p.m.), the Challenge Athletes veterans’ bike stop (Delmar parking lot, Oct. 20), Meet the Makers (Oct. 11, Visit Carmel event), the pumpkin roll (Oct. 25, Ocean Avenue), and the Halloween/City birthday parade (Oct. 31). Leslie said the Home Crafters marketplace will run Nov. 22 and that organizers expect roughly 70–80 vendors.

Public comment raised tensions over Car Week. Shirley, a resident who addressed the commission during public comment, urged commissioners to “put the residents above all the other issues,” saying recent Car Week activity has pushed full-time residents out of town and that off-hour problems after official events are connected to the scheduled attractions. “It has become a manufacturing of, how many people we can jam into the city,” Shirley said.

Commissioners and staff said a police-focused staff report — including calls-for-service and other after-hours data — is expected before detailed policy changes can be recommended. Leslie said the Car Week staff report is being prepared with police input and that survey results (more than 300 responses were noted in discussion) will be shared once available; commissioners asked that the police report and survey be distributed to them for individual review before any formal agenda discussion so they do not violate the Brown Act prohibitions on serial meetings.

On event logistics, staff and commissioners discussed specific operational needs: the Sandcastle Contest will ask judges to be on the beach by 11:30 a.m. for a noon start and historically draws about 30 entrants; the pumpkin roll will require heavy public-works support to erect metal fencing and orange netting and receives a large pumpkin delivery (roughly 800 pumpkins, staff said); GreenWays will remove pumpkins and compost them after the event; and the Home Crafters setup begins in the pre-dawn hours with staff starting setup by 4:30 a.m. on event day.

Commissioners discussed volunteer needs — intersection marshals for parades, staffing the Home Crafters check-in and vendor staging, and food/crowd assistance for the holiday celebration — and asked staff to circulate specific volunteer sign-up information in advance. Leslie asked commissioners to be ready to help fill short-term staffing gaps while the interim staffer onboarded.

On staffing, Leslie confirmed Ashley has departed and that the city administrator has identified someone to start on Oct. 1 in an interim capacity; Leslie said she will have more details after a scheduled meeting with the administrator mid-September. Commissioners asked that available draft mission, vision and guiding-principles materials be placed on the agenda after the interim is in place so the commission can proceed with staff participation.

The commission approved minutes from its Aug. 5 special meeting by roll call during the meeting; the item was adopted unanimously with commissioners present voting yes. No other formal votes or ordinances were taken.

Looking ahead, commissioners asked staff to place the Car Week after-action report on a future agenda after police data and survey results are available, and to circulate event-specific volunteer requests and staging maps ahead of each fall event. Several commissioners recommended marketing the Oct. 31 festivities as a dual “Carmel birthday celebration/Halloween” event to emphasize community and resident participation, rather than a purely Halloween parade.

The commission adjourned at 11:11 a.m.