While each department and its programs have multiple goals and objectives reflected in the City’s Adopted Budget, this section includes only those that align with the City Council Goals and Priorities for Fiscal Years 2025/26 and 2026/27 here.
Parks, Recreation & Community Services has 31 department goals across 4 core programs in line with the Strategic Plan, guiding community service delivery, recreational opportunities, and resource stewardship for the community.
This page presents First Reporting Period (July 2025 – December 2026) information to track progress and transparency.
Below, you will find:
(1) Department-wide highlights summarizing key accomplishments, public engagement, challenges, and priorities from the first reporting period;
(2) Individual Goal Tracking Sheets (PDFs) for users who prefer concise, traditional single-document reporting summaries rather than interactive tools; and
(3) an Interactive Strategic Plan Module that allows users to apply filters, including including program, status, or goal to find the information that matters most to you.
Both the PDF goal sheets and the interactive module include the strategic goal, objective, performance measure, current status, and a summary of activities completed during the reporting period, providing multiple ways to explore progress and outcomes.
Period One Reporting- Department Highlights
Department Summary
During Period 1, the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department advanced City Council goals through inclusive programming, strengthened partnerships, and data-informed decision-making across all divisions.
The AgeWell program made meaningful progress toward inclusion, partnerships, and data-informed programming. Partnerships with culturally connected organizations, including the Carpinteria Children’s Project and Legal Aid Foundation were strengthened through expanded program offerings. In collaboration with Carpinteria Children’s Project, AgeWell expanded its Abuelos meetup group from a monthly to a weekly program and partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation to provide a presentation focused on accessible legal education and available community resources for participants. Community engagement initiatives included a comprehensive AgeWell survey, a community feedback forum, and an onsite suggestion box, supporting transparency in program planning and development.
The Aquatics program advanced capital planning, equitable access, and fiscal sustainability in alignment with City Council goals. Fundraising for Community Pool renovations included securing a $250,000 grant and submitting additional grant applications totaling over $675,000. Expanded access to aquatic programming included successful Sunday swim lessons, achieving a minimum of 80% enrollment, and new Parent & Child lessons. Draft plans for kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding programs were developed to enhance resident wellness. Work has begun on the creation Youth Aquatics Scholarship Policy and targeted outreach efforts further supported equitable access and public benefit.
The Community Garden program continued to promote inclusion, engagement, and community partnerships. Translation of applications, forms, and on-site signage into Spanish has begun and will improve accessibility, with a target completion by the end of Quarter 3. Staff continue to gather participant feedback through conversations, emails, Google Forms and direct request for input in the monthly newsletter to ensure responsive and transparent programming. Three successful community events were hosted during the period – “Meet and Greet Mingling and Rock Painting” in September, “Volunteer Day” in October and the annual “Pumpkin Smash” in November and a new partnership with the Santa Barabara Community College Extended Learning Program brought the Santa Barbara Master Gardeners class to the garden
The Carpinteria Community Library advanced public awareness and access to programs, services, and resources through expanded, inclusive, and bilingual outreach efforts. This included consistent daily social media posting schedule to highlight programs, services and resources available throughout the week. In addition, specialized promotional campaigns were developed using curated content, including custom posts, reels, ad stories, to increase awareness of special events and initiatives. A social media audit informed the implementation of a consistent posting schedule and targeted campaigns to engage diverse audiences. Partnerships with local organizations were strengthened during this period through continued programing with Carpinteria Children’s Project, Carpinteria Head Start, First 5, Santa Barbara City College, the Mexican Consulate, and Saint Joseph Church. Program participation totaled approximately 4,900 individuals throughout this reporting period. MessageBee, a library-focused patron communication and engagement platform, was implemented to centralize patron communications and support consistent branding through in-house production of promotional materials. Platform features include branded email communications, automated SMS/txt reminders, phone notifications, and multi-language support to improve accessibility and patron engagement.
Overall, Period 1 reflects measurable progress across the department, highlighting inclusive and bilingual programming, strengthened community partnerships, expanded access to services, and the implementation of data-informed decision-making processes.
Major Milestones Achieved
- Adoption of the Library’s Three-Year Strategic Plan by the Library Board of Trustees.
- Library’s social media audit identified opportunities to increase engagement
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- Stories (48.3%) and photos (35.6%) dominated engagement, reels (7.9%) and multi-photo posts (5.8%) had lower engagement.
- Opportunities were identified to increase the use of dynamic content formats, such as reels and multi-photo posts.
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- Approximately 4,900 participants in Library programming throughout the reporting period.
- Community Garden fostered collaborations, including a Santa Barbara Master Gardeners course, hosting SBCC Extended Learning art classes, and weekly volunteer opportunities for the CLAY children’s group.
- Community Garden hosted three events at the Garden, “Meet and Greet Mingling and Rock Painting”, “Pumpkin Smash” and “Volunteer Day”.
- Successful implementation of Sunday swim lessons, 135 of 162 available lesson spaces were filled, resulting in 83.33% fill rate.
- AgeWell expanded its monthly Abuelos meetup partnership with the Carpinteria Children’s Project to weekly meetups, fostering closer collaboration while offering social connection, educational presentations, and resources to Spanish-speaking older adults.
- AgeWell partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation to provide a presentation focused on accessible legal education and available resources as part of the abuelos meetup.
- Draft program plans have been developed to implement Kayak and stand up paddleboarding classes in Spring and Summer 2026. Staff will present proposed program fees to City Council for adoption on January 26, 2026.
Significant Challenges Encountered
- Several vacancies during the reporting period impacted the Department. Difficulty in hiring part-time employees, in particular, required full-time staff to provide coverage at facilities and for programming, which reduced their availability to focus on other departmental priorities.
Community Engagement
- Department wide participation in National Night Out, August 2025
- AgeWell, Library and Aquatics participated in the Carpinteria Independence Day Parade, July 2025
- AgeWell program Coordinator was a guest speaker at the annual HOPENet Candlelight Vigil
- AgeWell participated in the Avocado Festival
- AgeWell & Aquatics participated in the Carpinteria Children’s Project Health Fair
- Library & AgeWell participated in the Carpinteria Holiday Parade, December 2025
- Community Garden co-hosted the Pumpkin Smash event in collaboration with the Public Works Department
- The Library hosted the Mexican Consulate, the event engaged 50 adults, fostering connections with Latino community members and identifying needs and barriers.
- In November, the Library hosted HeadStart Cafecito events, welcoming 25 adults each time, providing a comfortable space for Spanish-speaking parents to connect and learn about Library resources.
- Community Engagement Librarian Specialist facilitated multiple middle school class visits in November, with a total of 53 teens engaged, supporting youth outreach in Spanish and English.
- Outreach with the Carpinteria Children’s Project in November engaged 16 babies, 7 children, 18 teens, and 41 adults, offering culturally relevant programming and resource sharing.
- Community Engagement Library specialist led additional middle school class visits in December, reaching 34 teens, and on December 10, delivered a winter Storytime at Aliso School with 32 children and 25 adults participating, promoting bilingual literacy and family engagement.
- Community Engagement Library Specialist participated in the Carpinteria High Winter Concert outreach engaged 8 teens and 3 adults, connecting with families through culturally relevant events
- Program Manager presented to Noon Rotary
- Hosted Community Pool Project information session
Upcoming Department Priorities
- Complete the development of a fundraising plan for the Community Pool project.
- Completion and formal adoption of the Youth Aquatics Scholarship Policy.
- Finalize translation of Garden and AgeWell applications and forms in Spanish.
- Create, translate and post bilingual garden signage.
- Continue with phased implementation of the Library Strategic and Operating Plan.
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