City of Marina Government News

The City of Marina is known for its coastal access, diverse community and an array of international food options, but it’s missing a well-defined downtown area.

When the Marina City Council meets Jan. 17, Councilmember Cristina Medina Dirksen plans to announce her resignation, effective Jan. 28, with almost a year remaining on her term.

Between 2000 and 2010, Marina’s population dropped by 21 percent. During that same time, the city’s downtown flagged.

There aren’t many hurdles left to clear for Monterey-Salinas Transit’s SURF! project, a rapid transit busway between Marina and Sand City.

City expenditures are split among essential needs and quality-of-life benefits in a budgeting process. And with the fiscal year beginning July 1, government entities, including Monterey County’s 12 cities, are in various stages of tweaking and finalizing their annual budgets.

The prospect of a second cardroom, which allows games like blackjack and poker, has become a lightning rod of controversy.

The city of Marina joined the CSU Monterey Bay campus in becoming friendly to electric scooters after the council approved an agreement with Bird Rides Inc., a Miami-based bike and scooter rental company.

In the only contested council race in Marina, Liesbeth Visscher, chair of the group Citizens for Just Water, has an 8-percent lead against Les Martin, a Navy retiree, to represent District 4.

Elections this year will be different than last time voters went to the polls. For jurisdictions like the city of Marina that use districts, the 2020 Census means new district lines.

At the corner of 2nd Avenue and Eighth Street in Marina sits a 55-acre asphalt wasteland, a vestige left over from Fort Ord days, now an unused part of the CSU Monterey Bay campus.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking that right now is a challenging time for anyone to pay more in taxes. On the other hand, tax dollars might well be considered money wasted when cities continue to invest in outdated facilities.

Robert Wellington was the city of Marina's first city attorney, starting in 1975 when the city incorporated. And he served for 47 years in that role, until now as he downsizes his workload.

Besides abandoned structures that remain on the former Fort Ord, another vestige that still stands are hundreds of large trees, including Monterey cypress, Monterey pine, coast live oak and eucalyptus.

The city of Marina selected an eco-friendly vision for its newest planned hotel, which would be built in front of the Marina Shopping Center near Highway 1. The land is currently empty, but it was once home to rotted buildings…

The Marina City Council unanimously recommended new electoral districts for the next 10 years.