By Felix Cortez

    MONTEREY, California (KSBW) -- Monterey is looking to join other cities across the state that have painted some of their crosswalks in rainbow colors to support and celebrate local LGBTQ+ communities.

In Monterey, the idea is being pushed by Mayor Tyller Williamson, the city's first openly gay mayor.

“We have a really great opportunity here to leave our mark and pass on something great for the next generation so that they know that no matter what your background is, who you are, that you're going to be welcoming and accepted in our community,” the mayor said.

Three potential crosswalks have been identified to include the entrance to Alvarado Street, in front of the city library, and at the intersection of Lighthouse and Reeside avenues.

It's the Lighthouse location that has historical significance to the local LGBTQ+ community. A popular gay bar, After Dark, used to be located there, and it’s near where a gay man was brutally beaten.

“A member of the LGBTQ community got attacked and beaten pretty close by to there so we felt like that could be a really good place to really show that we show support for the LGBTQ community,” Williamson said.

But it's the cost of the colorful crosswalks that is raising some eyebrows, between $2,000 and $15,000 in taxpayer dollars, depending on how many crosswalks are painted.

“You know, there's a lot of potholes, there's a lot of buildings that are crumbling, a lot of infrastructure that really are in dire need of those dollars and so as a city, we need to be focused on those issues,” said Carina Powers, a member of the Monterey county republican party.

The local party is calling the rainbow crosswalks “a misuse of public space and public dollars for purely ideological ends,” and they say the mayor is trying to mute public discussion by taking up the issue Friday afternoon during a special session that gets underway at 2 p.m.

“Allow enough time for the community to be involved and to give their voice on whether it's something that we can put our dollars into it or not and we're not given that time we're not given that proper, you know, notification so that we can really assess the entire process,” Powers said.

“There is no intentionality around the placement of this in a special council meeting and the fact of the matter is, is that we didn't have to even put this on the agenda I asked staff to put this on the agenda so that we were intentional about making this more public and transparent,” the mayor added.

The Monterey county republican party said Friday’s discussion should be postponed.

“It would be a good idea for the mayor to hold off on this meeting and then perhaps push it to a regular scheduled meeting,” Powers said.

But time is running out if the city wants to have rainbow crosswalks before the start of Pride month celebration on June 1st.

One option would be to paint them temporarily for the month-long LGBTQ celebrations, making them permanent could cost more, as the crosswalks would have to be maintained throughout the year.

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