Washington neighborhood residents press council for community center as organizers deliver petition and designs

Dozens of residents and neighborhood organizations urged the Long Beach City Council on March 18 to accelerate funding and construction of a community center for the Washington neighborhood, telling the council the center is needed for youth programs, violence prevention and neighborhood stability.

Speakers representing Latinos in Action California, Books and Buckets and neighborhood groups described multi-year outreach and planning efforts and asked the city to commit construction funding in addition to previously allocated money for feasibility work.

"We conducted a neighborhood outreach campaign and also got more than 400 signatures to support the petition of building the community center," said Jose Perez of Latinos in Action California, recounting outreach that organizers say began in 2021. "We presented this to Mayor Robert Garcia and Councilmember Lina Gonzalez at the time."

Andrew Menduhano of Books and Buckets said neighborhood groups appreciate earlier commitments but asked the council to "double down" on funding. "We understand that $500,000 was already allocated for a contractor to come in to continue community engagement, to do the site analysis," he said, and asked the council to consider an additional $500,000 to $1 million to signal commitment and help secure state funding.

Council members acknowledged the large turnout and said staff and project leads can meet with residents in the lobby after the meeting. Mayor Garcia and council staff said there is "good news and progress being made on the planning for the community center," and identified Parks Director Brent Dennis and planner Mont Surratt as staff contacts for next steps.

Organizers asked the council to prioritize two candidate sites on 14th Street between Long Beach Boulevard and Locust, and on the corner of Locust and 14th Street. They said programming the center would include youth education and mentoring, workforce development, violence prevention and family services.

City officials did not adopt new construction funding at the meeting; they reiterated that planning work is underway and encouraged organizers to continue coordination with city staff. Community leaders said they will continue to press for committed capital funding and state partnerships to move from study to construction.

The Washington neighborhood is a large, predominantly residential area in Council District 1; organizers framed the center as a multi-generational investment that would serve hundreds of families.