Carmel‑by‑the‑Sea staff: city budget approved but advertising line reduced; commissioners worry about 110th anniversary outreach

City staff told the Community Activities Commission that the city council approved the municipal budget but reduced the commission’s advertising line, a change commissioners said could complicate promotion for the city’s 110th‑birthday events.

Leslie, a city staff member, reported that “the city council approved the city's budget … we were fully funded except for one of our items in advertising,” and said staff could adjust plans to work around the reduction.

Commissioners pressed that advertising is costly and important for high‑profile events tied to the 110th celebration. One commissioner asked for continued funding or additional partners to expand outreach; another suggested recruiting partners through local businesses and community groups.

Maria Roose and Ellen Martin have been named to the ad hoc 110th‑birthday committee after a resignation, and commissioners said they want to preserve the level of public awareness for anniversary programming even with the smaller advertising allocation.

Staff did not specify the dollar amount by which advertising was reduced. Commissioners directed staff to explore partner outreach and report back with options for marketing the 110th program and balancing the reduced advertising budget.

The commission recorded no formal vote on budget changes during the meeting; the budget approval referenced by staff occurred at the city council level, not within the commission.