SAN MARCOS — Three band parents and two marching band members from Mission Hills School urged the City Council to help find a way to hold this year’s annual Holiday Parade.
The appeal comes after the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos announced in March that it could no longer absorb the spiraling costs of sponsoring the parade, leaving its future in doubt.
While the City Council has been working to find a new sponsor, no other community organization has stepped forward to run the annual event that has become a community fixture over the past 30 years.
The impassioned pleas came during the oral communications portion of Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting. Because the parade was not on the agenda, council members could not take action on the feedback.
Cheryl-Ann Calica introduced herself as the president of the band boosters at Mission Hills High School.
“We believe it will be a big mistake to cancel the December parade,” Calica told the council. “First and foremost, thank you to Carrie Clevers and the Kiwanis Club for initiating and running the San Marcos parade all these years.”
Calica said told the council that the parade is an important part of the high school experience for marching band members.
“The parade provides valuable exposure and allows students to represent their school, showcase their talent, gain additional marching and performance experience, and strengthen friendships and program pride,” Calica said. “It is also an opportunity to connect with people who may not attend football games or competitions, and could inspire younger children to join marching band in the future.
“Please, please find ways to keep the December parade.”
She also read comments from several students who could not attend because Tuesday evening is marching band practice.
Natalie Amador, the student band president at Mission Hills, told the council members that this year’s senior class may miss its last opportunity to march in its hometown parade.
“Visibility is extremely important to the success of our band program.”
Pablo Lara, a drum major in the Mission Hills marching band, pointed out that 200 students participate in the parade.
“Each and every one of them is looking forward to marching in the San Marcos Holiday Parade,” Lara said.
Konane Martinez, an anthropology professor at Cal State San Marcos and a self-proclaimed “band mom,” said that the marching band “is the largest program on campus – even bigger than football,” and that the same is true across town at San Marcos High.
She also noted that the two programs alternate who leads the parade each year.
A third band parent said her daughter is a senior this year, which gives events like the parade extra meaning.
“These little moments really mean a lot. Not just for our band families, but for our community,” the band parent said.
Massage clinic updates
In other business, the City Council voted to accept a staff recommendation to update the municipal code to reflect new state regulations regarding massage parlors. While the county formerly conducted annual environmental inspections, state law preempts that, so the municipal code was updated to remove references to those inspections.
The updated section (Chapter 5.44) of the code also requires massage facilities to display their city and state permits, prohibits any housing use of massage facilities (to help prevent trafficking of sex workers), and adds a provision that if a massage facility is shut down by the city for violations, no new permit can be issued for that same address – closing a loophole that allowed illicit operators to file a new application under a new business name.
Senior housing
The City Council also heard a second – and final – reading of the zoning overlay that preserves senior-housing designations at several mobilehome parks in the city.
Firefighter pinning ceremony
The San Marcos Fire Department held an emotional “badge pinning” ceremony at the start of the council meeting. New firefighters and those receiving promotions had family members, mentors or other meaningful individuals pin their new badge on them.
