Seaside Is Embracing Diversity, Creating Opportunity

by Carol Lynn McKibben

ecause of its diversity [of ethnic groups], Seaside, California, has some- times been referred to as ‘Little Chicago,’” wrote Donald Thomas Clark in his 1991 book, Monterey County Place Names, A Geographical Diction- ary. That was also written about Seaside in the 1930s, but it still holds true today. Seaside is a quintessentially diverse city fighting for a new “Bimage. Thanks to creative new strategies by City Manager Ray Corpuz and Seaside’s city councilmembers, it is achieving that image. Beginning in the 1920s, racially restrictive clauses in real estate deeds that kept par- ticular minority groups from owning or renting property, together with less formal but equally effective customary exclusions, slowly forced Mexicans, Filipinos, and many Asians and African Americans out of Monterey proper, out of Carmel, Pebble Beach, and even Pacific Grove and into what was becoming, for many reasons, the less devel- oped margins of the city of Monterey—the subdivision of Seaside. Poverty and color became synonymous with Seaside in the minds of most Monterey Peninsula residents in the years between 1915 and 1940. And then Fort Ord arrived— for better and for worse. The mixed ethnic and racial population of soldiers, veterans, and their families who arrived with the establishment of Fort Ord in 1917 and the fort’s rapid expansion dur- ing the 1940s added to the ethnically and racially diverse demographic landscape of Seaside. It also added to the perception that Seaside and Fort Ord were intertwined, almost symbiotic. The relationship was a complex mixture of positive and negative, and the August 12, 1941, issue of the Seaside News-Graphic reported, “The biggest breadbasket the

24 Public Management  August 2008 peninsula has ever had is Fort Ord . . . The new Latino residents bought ger attracting new members in 2007. and we in [Seaside] are the nearest property in Seaside that had once Instead of African-American, Asian, [to] the head of the table where that been owned by African Americans, and white ethnic youth, the streets of bread is coming from.” and they made their presence felt in the city were now filled with families schools and in all aspects of city life. of Latino immigrants. Stages of Change “Is this America, baby?” one bewil- The shops and restaurants of Sea- Seaside, which incorporated in 1954, dered African-American community side, once mainly reflective of African adopted the council-manager form leader asked rhetorically in 2005. American, Southern white, or East of government and benefited from Census data showed a population Asian cultures, now included hun- such forward-thinking city managers decline in Seaside from 38, 901 in dreds of Latino markets, restaurants, as Gordon Forrest, Charles McNeely, 1990 to 31, 696 in 2000 and, more and small businesses. They catered and now Ray Corpuz who have cre- important, a dramatic shift in the to the new demographic of mostly ated both stability and growth despite racial and ethnic composition of Mexican Americans and Mexican sometimes turbulent politics. Seaside’s population. Between 1990 immigrants who made up more than In spite of the money brought in and 2000, both the African-American one-third of the population of this by its proximity to and relationship population and the non-Latino white city of 33,300 by 2005. with the military base, all of the nega- population declined by several per- Seaside now joins other California tive connotations of being a military centage points. communities that are coping with an town—violent crime, drugs, pros- influx of immigrants mostly from titution—were in place in Seaside the states of Jalisco and Oaxaca in by the time of the outbreak of Seaside largely escaped Mexico. However, in stark contrast World War II and only intensified with other cities where political ten- in the postwar years and all the the open conflict of sions between African Americans way into the 1990s. The positive and Latinos run high, Seaside seam- aspects of community develop- other transitional cities lessly elected its first Latino mayor ment and coalition building across in 2005 and, at the same time, con- racial and ethnic lines on every- because of its long tinued to elect both African Ameri- thing from politics and culture, to cans and whites to the city council social life and economic growth tradition as a mixed- and incorporate other minorities were overlooked by the local media into city government. and in the other communities of race military community Seasiders spent the better part of the Monterey Peninsula. the past two decades coping with And then, in a few short years, that required groups to the loss of Fort Ord as an active the reality changed. Fort Ord training base, which consumed ceased to function as an active get along. . . . city managers, planners, commu- training base in 1992. By 1994, the nity leaders, and local resources exodus of people who were closely While the Latino population dou- alike. Seaside aimed for a post–Fort connected to the economy of the base, bled, Asians—primarily Filipinos and Ord renaissance and, although the including soldiers and their families, Vietnamese—began leaving Seaside for city continued to struggle with mar- support personnel, and small-business Marina during this decade, but the cat- ginalization on the peninsula in the owners, left Seaside in a state of eco- egory of “Other,” which included Pa- decades of the 1990s and into the new nomic, political, and social turmoil cific Islanders, increased to more than century, it is largely accomplishing and disarray. 6 percent of Seaside’s population. its economic goals with little politi- In addition, budget cuts at the state cal fallout, which can be a model for and federal levels that affected local Demographic Shift California cities undergoing some of governments everywhere and turned The multiple changes of the 1990s the same challenges. them into competitors for meager meant that by 2007 Seaside was no In October 2007, I talked with Ray federal and state funds left Seaside longer a city in which non-Latino Corpuz, who had arrived to take on struggling with altogether new eco- whites were the largest group and the position of city manager in 2005. nomic and demographic realities. A African Americans were the largest According to Corpuz, new population of mostly immigrant minority. By 2007, Latinos outnum- Latinos streamed into Seaside in the bered both non-Latino whites and “[Seaside] was a city that was in obvi- 1990s, displacing African Americans African Americans. In my research, ous transition from a military-depen- from their traditional jobs in the ser- I learned that the organizations that dent community trying to find its place vice industry that had been the cor- African Americans had built from the on the peninsula where a brand idea nerstone of the peninsula economy. 1950s through the 1990s were no lon- [tourism] defined Carmel, Monterey,

ICMA.org/pm Public Management  August 2008 25 and Pebble Beach. Seaside was not also, most important, the economic part of that brand in the eyes of The 21st-century vision investment that Seaside is attract- the other communities. The city ing as a result of its efforts to recre- wanted to move beyond this transi- of Seaside is a blend ate an image that conforms to its tion of not being a fully recognized new reality. partner [with the other municipali- of resort destination Seaside largely escaped the open ties] and [at the same time it] was conflict of other transitional cities struggling to find both a direction with the social, cultural, because of its long tradition as a and a common vision both among mixed-race military community the leadership of elected officials and demographic that required groups to get along, and the community at large.” and it has attracted an enviable characteristics of level of investment in the past few Seaside under Corpuz did some- years. How did Seaside do it? thing novel in 2007. It attracted a multicultural When Ray Corpuz entered Sea- development not by papering over side’s government, he found a city its past or denying its new popula- population. council “more open to new ideas tions but by celebrating them and about how to make the transition including them in the process of to a destination city.” He began the redevelopment. afternoon Blues in the Park, and nu- Seaside History Project with the idea of Through a carefully constructed merous arts and cultural events that creating a first-ever narrative history of strategy of reorganization at the city celebrate Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, the city and also creating community government level and with commu- and diversity itself—express Seasid- events about Seaside’s racial and ethnic nity participation in all development ers’ embrace of the complexity and past that highlight the accomplishments plans, Seaside has now found itself multiplicity of peoples, and they at- of communities of color. These projects in the throes of redevelopment and tract thousands of visitors each year. gave residents a new sense of pride in gentrification, bustling with projects their history and challenged the nega- ranging from golf courses, five-star Acceptance and Vision tive image of the city in the local press. resorts, conference facilities, new resi- The 21st-century vision of Seaside is a Corpuz describes Seaside’s initiatives: dential and commercial development, blend of resort destination with the so- and plans for a mixed-use, transit- cial, cultural, and demographic charac- “We are trying to be as inclusive and oriented urban village that is expected teristics of a multicultural population. transparent and [at the same time] we to transform the downtown. Its historic success at building coali- are raising the expectation level [of Moreover, a new proposal submit- tions across racial and ethnic lines to what is possible for Seaside in terms ted to the Seaside city council on achieve political, social, and economic of development]. Seaside’s develop- March 20, 2008, by convention center ends makes Seaside a model for other ment priorities—the golf course re- adviser and consultant David O’Neal local governments currently struggling sort, regional shopping center, a new aims to create a 125,000-square-foot with racial tensions and conflicts. downtown and urban core [are all exhibition hall and convention cen- Other communities in demograph- upscale enterprises]. Multiculturalism ter on former Fort Ord land, which ic transition from African American to is reflected in the way people tell us would allow Seaside to make a unique Latino—communities throughout the what they want. We understand that contribution to the Monterey Penin- Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay ar- we do have a past that is about diver- sula business and tourism industry. eas and in other regions of the coun- sity. We acknowledge that by reviving At present, the Monterey Peninsula try—have encountered open conflict, and revitalizing the representation of has no such venue. Its largest indoor mistrust, and even violence between the commissions and upscaling com- space now seats only 500 people. Latinos and African Americans as munity events.” Today, Seaside looks a lot more Latinos gradually assumed majority Corpuz also successfully urged the like the resort destinations of Carmel, status. Although Seaside was never council to do an overall market study, Pebble Beach, and Monterey than the a majority African American com- bringing diverse coalitions and inter- marginalized suburb that it was forced munity, African Americans were the ests together to focus on development into becoming in the middle decades most significant population between in a holistic way. In doing so, no one of the 20th century. Unlike the other 1945 and 1990. As a result, neighbor- interest group dominated and all were peninsula cities, however, Seaside ing communities exclude them from included. Mayor Ralph Rubio sup- remains a “city of color” in the best everything ranging from development ported this new direction in creating a sense of the term. projects to regional events. “greater, a newer Seaside.” Its community events and celebra- These municipalities need exactly City government needed streamlin- tions—ranging from Cinco de Mayo, the kind of acceptance of their neigh- ing in order to accomplish its objec- the blues and jazz festivals, Sunday bors that Seaside is achieving and tive of working effectively to serve the

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'/$(') Seaside’s Racial Breakdown: 1990–2000 tearing down old structures, the city created numerous forums and focus Other 1.1% Other 6.4% groups directed to specific ethnic and racial communities that allow com- Black munity involvement, input, and a real Latino 12.6% impact on development: Black 17.4% Asian 22.3% “We are starting our third of a series of 10.1% Latino focus groups. . . . The first ones were Asian 34.5% overwhelmingly positive about an 12.6% urban village and having a new down- Non-Latino Non-Latino town core. Seasiders are hungry for White White improvement. Making them a part of 46.6% 36.4% it, that’s the key. The best changes that are made in the community must come from the community itself. The city 1990 2000 can provide the resources. Ultimately, it’s up to the community to decide.” Black Asian Non-Latino White Latino Other Seaside’s Goals public efficiently. “We had good peo- ing for them. Sixty percent of resi- Seaside is a model city in a state ple, but we had to move to the next dents recently showed that support defined by diversity. Under the man- level,” the city manager explained. by passing a sales tax referendum. agement of the city manager and his “Improving the capacity for each A crucial part of the response to the staff, Seaside has chosen a path that is employee to handle the expectations new challenges presented by the already accomplishing these goals: of our citizens [required] training in loss of revenue from Fort Ord and customer service and reorganizing the the surge of immigrants has been to 1. Seaside is Identifying and acknowl- city so that business systems could be ensure that work on all development edging the multiple communities, coordinated and effective. projects is on a competitive basis, especially the communities of “How people are treated, response that no special interest is allowed to color, that make up its dominant time, ability to solve problems, inter- dominate the process. population. pret regulations—all have to be done “It has been extremely successful. 2. Seaside is taking affirmative action with focus on the customer [the resi- Look at the entities we are dealing to include all ethnic and racial com- dents and investors in Seaside] and with now. We have interest from dif- munities and organizations at all doing what is responsive to the com- ferent parts of the state and the na- levels of city government, and it in- munity as a whole.” tion, and we have contracts with enti- vites participation in commissions The city, for example, offers free ties not based on Monterey County and boards. Spanish language classes and conver- or even the central coast. You have 3. As development projects move sational Spanish to all of its employ- to expand your scope in order to at- forward, the city is making a ees. Any employee who passes the tract investment,” Corpuz argues. concerted effort to reach out to language exam or who is bilingual is He believes this can be accomplished all of its communities to become eligible for an increase in pay. This only with a sense of the community active participants in everything sounds simple, but it has the effect of as special, unique, and able to work from the planning process to the incorporating the new population of together. actual implementation and build- Latinos into the business life of Sea- “The enormity of what we are try- ing of a newly revitalized city. side in a way that encourages them to ing to accomplish—not forgetting our 4. Seaside has found creative ways to participate and contribute. They are past and building on our strengths— become integrated into the regional not treated as outsiders or interlopers; that’s the challenge,” Corpuz says. concept of the Monterey Peninsula instead, Seaside has found that treat- He emphasizes that the concept of an as a tourist destination by adding ing all residents with respect, efficie urban village is based on a focus on developments that complement ncy, and fairness works. city neighborhoods, past and pres- rather than compete with its neigh- The city policy requiring all devel- ent: “Neighborhoods are [the] heart bors Carmel, Monterey, and Pebble opers to hire Seaside residents first in and soul of the city. It’s not just about Beach. PM any project accepted by the city has the buildings; its about what people given residents a stake in the out- believe what their city is about [and] Carol Lynn McKibben, Ph.D., is director, come and added to the perception by what they want it to be about.” So, Seaside History Project, Seaside, California residents that the city is truly work- rather than denying the past and ([email protected]).

28 Public Management  August 2008