The City of Gonzales has won the 2026 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence from the League of California Cities. This is the third time the city has received this statewide award and the second time it has been recognized for engaging youth in local government.
The 2026 award recognizes the city for empowering young residents to participate, from concept to completion, in developing the Dennis & Janice Caprara Community Center Complex, the city’s first community center. The center’s first phase opened in January . I t has several amenities, including a space for teens and an amphitheater and it’s home to Monterey County Free Libraries’ Gonzales branch.
The city first won the award in 2011 for Excellence in City-Business Relations, and again in 2022 and 2026 for Engaging Youth in City Government. The first youth-related award recognized the Gonzales Youth Council ’s work on mental health during the pandemic in 2020, which they spearheaded, leading to an additional licensed clinical social worker position for the 2021-2022 school year at Gonzales Union School District. The district and the city funded this position.