City staff pitch Boys & Girls Club partnership to revive Casanova Oak neighborhood center

City staff on June 10 presented a proposal to partner with the Boys & Girls Club of Monterey County to operate youth programming at the Casanova Oak Park Center, a roughly 2,100‑square‑foot city facility that has been underused since staffing reductions after the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Shannon, a parks and recreation staff member, told the Monterey Parks and Recreation Commission the club has toured the center and proposed a program geared to elementary and middle‑school students, with the organization supplying “five to six full‑time staff” and offering meals and after‑school supports. Shannon said the club has worked with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to reroute afternoon buses so students can be dropped at the center, where the club would then bus them home in its fleet. “This would give an opportunity for them to have a truly high quality after‑school program,” Shannon said.

Staff described the arrangement as a license agreement rather than a sale; the city would retain the property and maintain public access to the park. Shannon said the proposal is intended to be cost‑neutral: “The Boys and Girls Club are willing to come in with some of their own significant improvements and staffing,” she said, and staff does not intend to sell the center.

Commissioners asked about program demographics, custodial responsibilities and whether the center would still be available to city recreation programs. Commissioners were told the club’s target ages are roughly six through middle school and that custodial or maintenance services were expected to be negotiated separately; the city would keep access for community events and mornings, evenings and weekends.

Neighborhood leaders who spoke during public comment said they support the partnership. Esther Malcin, president of the Laguna Grande Neighborhood Association, called the plan “worthwhile” for nearby families. Richard Relo, president of the Casanova Oak Neighborhood Association, urged the city to move forward given local need but warned of broader fiscal pressures facing local governments.

What happens next: staff said they will ask City Council to appoint agency negotiators (assistant city manager Nat Roanthera and Nicole Banks, parks director), who would conduct closed‑session negotiations on a license agreement. If a negotiators’ agreement is reached, staff expects to return to council for approval on July 7, with a target for programming to begin in early August aligned with the MUSD school year.

The commission did not vote on a binding action regarding the license at the June 10 meeting; it served as a public briefing and a record of neighborhood support as staff advances negotiations with the Boys and Girls Club.