Commissioners pressed city staff to broaden public outreach and translation options after a recent Seaside Local Road Safety Plan meeting drew about 10 attendees despite room capacity for roughly 100. Commissioner Nielsen said poor turnout, limited audio/translation help and small, hard-to-read presentation slides meant many residents could not participate.

"There could be better communication from the city to citizens," Nielsen said, urging more relationship-building with local organizations, sending targeted flyers to schools and businesses, producing multicultural materials, and streaming meetings on Zoom so residents can view presentations even if they cannot comment remotely.

Commissioner Lobo underscored outreach gaps with the Latina/Latinx community and advocated for physical flyers and in-person contacts at grocery stores and small businesses. Commissioners suggested working with nonprofits and community partners — including Blue Zones Project, Village Project and community partnership for youth — and using department staff to do targeted outreach in business corridors such as Broadway.

Staff responded that the chamber does have translation headsets available and that the city clerk has been distributing an electronic newsletter; the recreation department also runs e-blasts through a Constant Contact account and an 8,000-address email database. Staff said previous recruitments for a dedicated communications position did not yield qualified candidates and that the vacancy currently remains with human resources.

Commissioners asked staff to follow up on concrete steps — ensuring translation equipment is used when needed, increasing bilingual printed outreach in neighborhoods, and forming partnerships with trusted local organizations — and to report back on options and resources to expand reach and accessibility.