Headshot of District 1 Councilwoman Mary Zendejas. Courtesy of the Long Beach Council District 1 office.

District 1 Councilwoman Mary Zendejas will kick off weekly virtual check-ins with residents from parts of West, Central and Downtown Long Beach starting next week to seek ideas to improve the community.

The first virtual check-in will launch Monday, Nov. 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and will maintain that schedule moving forward, with the exception of a a few Mondays off during upcoming holiday weeks.

After registering through a bilingual form (Spanish and English), residents will receive a Zoom link to the virtual meeting the Monday afternoon before the check-in, according to District 1 chief of staff Ray Morquecho.

Spanish translation services will also be provided during the Zoom meeting, he added.

During the meetings, District 1 will first present updates on issues that are brought up by residents, city staff, agenda items, and then welcome comments and questions from attending residents, according to Morquecho.

Launching these check-ins comes as a response to multiple neighborhoods asking for increased communication, especially since the COVID pandemic has caused many in-person neighborhood meetings to disappear.

“Weekly meetings will help add consistency, accessibility and opportunity to learn what is happening that monthly meetings spread across multiple organizational meetings just can’t do,” Morquecho said in an email.