UNEASY PEACE
Frustration Simmers in Parks Department
By NATHAN S. WELTON
South Coast Beacon
A morning stroll through Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens is refreshing.
Emerging light casts long shadows across the grass, smiling dogs tug their
owners along the paths and couples walk hand in hand, smelling flowers.
The park’s tranquility, however, doesn’t seem to represent
the inner workings of the administration that maintains it.
Over the past few months, people from across town have accused the Parks
and Recreation Department of acting as its own entity, routinely ignoring
park neighbors, park users and even its own employees. Among many of the
gripes: the city’s park rangers want to be armed, but claim their
requests have been ignored; park neighbors, after numerous protest letters
to management and city council, are irritated that the department’s
caretakers and horticulturalists were shuffled to other posts last month;
and employees have yet to express satisfaction about their new positions.
Although many cite an undercurrent of frustration arising from concerns
that fall on allegedly deaf ears, department officials contend that the
only way to create a successful system is to diversify — and in
doing so, they acknowledge stepping on toes is an infrequent, unintentional
necessity.
“You’re going to have these flare-ups when an organization
is active,” said Assistant Director Jeff Cope. “But if we’re
going to remain the world-class organization that I think we are, we have
to be adapting. In a few months, the problems will subside and things
will settle in.”
Despite some negative sentiments, the department seems healthy at first
glance. If Santa Barbara were among the largest 55 cities in the nation,
its park acreage per resident would rank it at 14th, according to a recent
study conducted by the Trust for Public Land. At 1,800 acres in 57 parks
for 89,000 residents, some 20.2 acres exist per 1,000 people. This gives
Santa Barbara has as much public space per person as Honolulu, nearly
as much as Portland and almost seven times as much as Fresno.
In recent years, residents have enjoyed a renovated Chase Palm Park, rocked
out at free summer concerts by the beach and attended numerous ethnic
festivals.
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