City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Government News Digest

“Well, people laughed when Ronald Reagan first sat down to play governor, too. And judging from Eastwood’s comments to a Herald reporter, this is not a frivolous exercise for him either,” the Herald editorialized in February 1986.

A longtime restaurateur and the owner of a Lincoln Street bar have taken steps to run for city council in November. Ken Spilfogel, who runs Flaherty’s, and Parker Logan, owner of Sade’s, took out nomination papers and must return them by Aug. 17.

The Jo Mora sculpture of St. Junipero Serra that was removed in June 2020 has been handed over to the Carmel Woods Neighborhood Association. However, it would be illegal for the group to return the statue to its former location, according to Monterey County counsel Leslie Girard.

The pursuit of a permanent outdoor dining program is taking a backseat after the Carmel City Council voted unanimously against making it a top priority. The decision dashes desires for resurrecting Carmel’s now-disbanded parklet program.

The members of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s forest and beach commission are arguing that any new sitting areas should be based on the public’s need to sit down, not individuals’ need to memorialize loved ones.

The Carmel City Council unanimously appointed former South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler to run its police department and serve as director of public safety on an interim basis. Uhler is filling in for Paul Tomasi, who is leaving to become the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s head of security.

The Carmel City Council voted 3-2 to allow dining parklets at least until Oct. 12. The decision comes with a catch: restaurants must pay for each city-owned parking spot they occupy.

A statue of Father Junipero Serra, carved nearly 100 years ago, was removed by the city of Carmel after Black Lives Matter protests began targeting monuments to Serra. No one quibbled over Carmel City Administrator Chip Rerig’s judgement in removing the statue, but questions remain over its future fate.

In response to a Voices of Monterey article by Carol McKibben about her neighbor’s Confederate flag, Carmel-by-the-Sea affirmed the city’s “ethos as a welcoming and inclusive community for all.”

Carmel-by-the-Sea residents who use the city’s taxpayer-funded service to have their mail delivered at home will soon have to prove they are physically unable to go to the post office.