Heritage Park supporters say city staff removed slides, blocked their presentation

Denise Estrada, a retired city department director and Heritage Park stakeholder, told the Salinas Historic Resources Board that a privately funded presentation illustrating a new vision for Heritage Park was denied placement on the July agenda and then removed again from August's agenda after staff signaled they would delete slides the presenters considered critical.

"This Thursday, we were again informed that our presentation would be removed from the agenda," Estrada said during public comment, adding that the presentation included privately funded renderings and suggested alternate sites for a relocated bus terminal.

Estrada said Heritage Park stakeholders had hoped to present alongside city updates about MST relocation so both sets of information could spur constructive public discussion. She said the group re-submitted materials after the July denial but was told staff planned to remove a number of slides. "To recraft our presentation to suit the apparent objectives of city staff and to continue to block our information does not meet either objective," she said.

Craig Kaufman, executive director of the Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau, urged support for Heritage Park branding and signage and said the city's approval of the Heritage Park name at the city council clears the way for next steps. "Now that we've got our brand, we need signage, we need to do all the other things that we want to do to start to create this area as a point of destination," Kaufman said, tying the effort to broader heritage‑tourism and economic development goals.

Board members asked staff to pursue scheduling the full Heritage Park presentation. At the meeting Dean, a board member, requested the presentation be placed on next month's agenda; staff said they would take the request to the community development director. The board did not make a formal vote on the presentation request during the August meeting.