June 2, 2004

City budget woes may force scaled-back park services

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Revenue shortfalls are leading the city to rethink how best to spend its limited funds for park services. One method is to scale back services for the smaller community parks.

That’s exactly what the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) has suggested—reassigning employees from small community centers to larger ones with more programs. The smaller rooms can still be rented for community events or meetings, but personnel for each separate park will be assigned to nearby locations where there are larger centers with a numbers of programs.

The idea is sort of like a community center hub, according to the PRNS proposal. The other centers are called satellites. “Currently, 42 community centers, satellite community centers and neighborhood centers are operated throughout the city by 115 staff,” the proposal says.

Under the PRNS proposal, “Sixteen community center ‘hubs’ would operate under the new model, supported by 11 satellite community centers, three neighborhood centers and a complement of 76 staff… At least one focal point community center ‘hub’ would be maintained in each Council District while at the same time allocating consistent staff resources. The proposed outreach to satellite community centers includes utilizing the sites for programming leisure classes, special events or after school activities. However, this proposal removes on-site staff at those satellite centers in order to consolidate resources at the hubs.”

The PRNS is using geographic location, expanded function of capacity, high attendance, unique amenities or lack of similar services as criteria in their determinations.

The community center hubs include Willows Senior Center, Hoover Community Center, Alma Community Center, Evergreen Community Center, Camden and Kirk Community Centers and the Spot Youth Center in Almaden. Satellite Centers include Shirakawa, located at the site of the Williams Senior Program to focus on senior services. Cambrian Community Center is considered a facility for programming only. It would experience minimal change and continue to offer leisure classes and facility reservations.

The PRNS has recommended closing the following centers because of location, limited function or capacity, low attendence or performance, new facilities nearby with higher capacity and amenities or nearby CBOs. These include Bramhall Park Neighborhood Center—no leisure classes or facility reservations; Hogue Park Neighborhood Center—primarily houses the Camden Youth Center until that center completes renovations. Programs would return to the Camden Center when renovations are complete.

River Glen Park Neighborhood Center would also close. It has a small shelter building and isn’t used for leisure classes. Its primary tenant is a Little League group. Sherman Oaks Community Center, co-located with Sherman Oaks Elementary School would continue as an after-school site and community meeting location, but the center portion will no longer house leisure classes or facility reservations. Staff would be relocated and users directed to the Hoover Community Center.

“The larger community centers, such as the Willows, Old Hoover and Gardner are not affected,” said District 6 City Councilmember Ken Yeager. “I think the cuts had to do with the type of center; the bigger ones with more activities will stay open,” he said. The important thing about these recommendations, he added, is that they will “cut millions out of the parks budget. Each department was recommended to cut 12 percent. These parks cuts are ones that have the least amount of impact.”

But Yeager, as well as a number of people from Willow Glen and Cambrian Park, do not think that closing the restrooms for four days a week is a good idea. The restrooms in parks would be closed and locked from Monday through Thursday, but reopened on the weekends.

“That’s really not good enough,” said Laura Beth DeHority, whose two sons play on Little League Teams. “Our children practice at those parks during the week, and what are they supposed do when they have to use the bathrooms?”

Yeager agrees and told The Times that he’s working to ensure the restrooms will be open for seven days. At least, he added, he wants to keep them open all week during the summer, but he’s hoping to make it year round.

Finally, there’s been much discussion throughout Willow Glen about removing the hose wagon from Fire Station 6. Yeager says he also is working to keep the hose wagon. However, he adds that no matter what, the fire station will remain open. It has a regular engine that would remain, he said.