The process of ranking 103 proposed neighborhood projects starts tonight.

Democracy is a beautiful thing but as we all know, it can be messy. 

Pam Marino here, marveling at a democratic process that’s about to get underway in the city of Monterey tonight at 6pm. Neighborhood representatives are preparing to vote on which projects they think the city should spend money on to improve their quality of life. It’s open to the public, and you don’t have to be a resident to participate.

The representatives are part of the city’s Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program Committee (NCIP), established in 1985 to direct tourist-generated revenues back into the neighborhoods. A charter amendment requires that 16 percent of transient-occupancy tax money be allotted to the neighborhood projects, nominated by residents themselves. (There is one representative and one alternate from each of 16 designated neighborhoods appointed by Monterey City Council members to four-year terms.)

This year, 53 projects were nominated for consideration, with another 61 projects resubmitted after they were defunded at the start of the pandemic, for a total of 114 projects. A previous meeting to screen the projects resulted in removing 11 of them from consideration.

Tonight the NCIP representatives will vote on the remaining 103 proposed projects, by ranking them between 0-10. The highest ranked projects will get first dibs on available NCIP funds. City staff will nail down more specific cost estimates and do initial CEQA reviews before presenting to the City Council in September. The council gets the final say on which projects will be built.

The nominated projects include everything from standard repairs (storm drain improvements on North Fremont Street at an estimated $450,000, for example), to the whimsical (outdoor musical instruments added to the Laguna Grande Park playground, $60,000), to remodels of community gathering spaces (improvements and a facelift to the Hilltop Park Center, $500,000).

The least expensive project is adding at least one picnic table and benches to the Ferrante Park Playground ($15,000). The most expensive proposed project listed is $1.5 million for artificial turf in the infield at Jacks Park, across from the Sports Center.

One project that might have legs—after our region has seen wildfires, followed by this year’s winter storms—is $750,000 for forest management throughout the city, removing fallen trees, clearing underbrush and culling unhealthy trees. Or maybe since pickleball is popular the representatives will go for an eight-court facility in Ryan Ranch—located far from residents who might complain about noise and traffic—costing approximately $400,000. 

Here’s the messy part of tonight’s process, or rather, the rules to keep things from getting too messy: Since the people voting tonight might benefit from projects in their neighborhoods, as each project is voted on, those with conflicts will have to leave the council chambers. They get to come back for the next project if they do not have a conflict. In addition, they are encouraged to not express their opinions, so no lobbying for pet projects.

And since this is a ranking system and the meeting is hybrid—meaning some representatives will be in the room and others will be on video—they will use cards or paddles with numbers 0-10. A 0 is for a project that a representative thinks should not be funded, up to 10 for those they think definitely should be.

As I mentioned above, residents and non-residents alike are allowed to participate during a public comment period. Maybe you think the Rec Trail is worthy of restriping ($165,000-$600,000) or that it’s important to install a camera at Dennis the Menace Playground in El Estero Park ($75,000), maybe to keep an eye on the little scamp’s statue that has been pilfered more than once. 

The meeting takes place tonight at 6pm at Monterey City Hall inside council chambers, at 580 Pacific St. Or participate via Zoom by clicking here. You can find the agenda here.