California Cities Helen Putnam Award for Excellence

Alisal Vibrancy Plan Addresses Equity Issues in Salinas

The Alisal is a historically disadvantaged, 95 percent Latino community on the east side of Salinas (pop.162,222). Over 30 percent of Alisal residents (many of whom are farmworkers) live in poverty, and 50 percent of its population is under the age of 25. Most of the Alisal’s neighborhoods were developed when the area was part of unincorporated Monterey County before the City of Salinas annexed it in 1963. Because Salinas never had the resources to make all the necessary infrastructure improvements, the differences between the Alisal and the rest of the city are readily visible. East Salinas Building Healthy Communities (BHC) is a group of residents and community-based organizations working to support community engagement and leadership in the area. During a 2013 meeting in the Alisal about the city’s General Plan Economic Development Element, BHC pointed to the concurrent development of a Downtown Vibrancy Plan and advocated for a similar investment and vibrancy plan for the Alisal. In response, Salinas dedicated budget resources for funding and staffing, and work started on the Alisal Vibrancy Plan (AVP) in 2016. Building Community Ownership in the Process and Plan The AVP is the product of years of visioning, community organizing, and relationship-building between the City of Salinas and Alisal residents. Created with equity at its core, it is an action-oriented, community-driven plan to alleviate and reverse decades of neglect and underinvestment. Community engagement strategies developed through this process to eliminate barriers to participation have become best practices for community engagement throughout all city departments. The plan’s inclusionary engagement process led to residents’ ownership of and pride in the AVP, which increases the possibilities for successful implementation. The Salinas City Council unanimously accepted the plan in November 2019. “The city knew that it did not have the connections to conduct truly representative outreach with this community on its own, especially if it wanted to build trust and meet the needs of disenfranchised residents and have an authentic engagement process,” said Megan Hunter, director of community development for Salinas. Consequently, the city partnered with BHC to form a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of community-based organizations, whose work already focused on the Alisal, to develop a strategy for in-depth, equityrooted engagement that would enable residents to drive the plan’s content. Residents knew their input was essential. Miguel Alcala, who served on the AVP Steering Committee, said, “In order for To encourage attendance and celebrate the Alisal’s culture, community workshops include music and dance performances by

local youths. the city to make a change, people have to ask for it. If we don’t ask for what we want, how are they supposed to know what we need?”

To help focus on equitable activities, the TAC adopted the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Empowerment developed by the Action Council of Monterey, a local organization focused on empowering people in Monterey County to transform their communities.

The spectrum ranks activities on a 0–5 scale, from marginalization to empowering for impact. The TAC set out to create as many processes as possible toward the high end of the spectrum, sought to remove barriers to participation, and worked to provide a wide range of engagement opportunities.

To ensure a representative plan and process, the TAC also developed the roles, responsibilities, and process for forming a steering committee of Alisal residents. The TAC selected members who reflected Alisal demographics and had direct ties to its neighborhoods and a strong desire to improve their community. This resulted in a multigenerational group that gave the AVP a diverse perspective. The city provided capacity-building training for steering committee members, so in addition to guiding topics and

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The City of Salinas won the Award for Excellence in the Enhancing Public Trust, Ethics, and Community Involvement category of the 2020 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence program. For more information about the award program, visit www.helenputnam.org.