City Parks in Peril

Credit: Photos by Gabriele Rau

From Griffith Park, the largest municipal park in the United States, to Grape Street Pocket Park the City of Los Angeles has 15,710 acres of parkland. Besides the better-known parks, such as MacArthur Park, Elysian Park and Balboa Park, there are a Moonshine Canyon Park and a Titmouse Park out there somewhere. The 390 public parks include approximately 372 children's play areas, 287 tennis courts, 176 recreation centers, 59 swimming pools, 30 senior centers, 24 childcare centers, 13 golf courses, 9 dog parks, 9 lakes, 7 skate parks, 7 museums and 2 beaches.

Historic structures, such as the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, Wattles Mansion in Hollywood and the Andres Pico Adobe in Mission Hills, fall under the protective wing of the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks (DRAP). Rec and Parks offers swimming lessons, teen clubs, wheelchair sports, day camps and universally accessible playgrounds for children of all abilities. There are also therapeutic centers with specially designed programs for people with disabilities.

For a city often and accurately criticized as lacking open space and being park-poor, the catalog of parkland, facilities and activities available on DRAP's website is impressive. But one had better enjoy these parks and the recreation opportunities while they are still available, for the city's current financial meltdown portends ever more drastic cuts to DRAP's budget and the continuing loss of hundreds of staff, potential closure of several parks and the reduction or elimination of dozens of programs upon which many at-risk communities depend.

In a December 2009 letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Jon Kirk Mukri, General Manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, outlined three budget scenarios for the coming year. The first assumed zero growth in financial support for the Department; the second assumed a 10 percent reduction in funding, and the third assumed a 20 per cent reduction. Mukri pointed out that 'any of the three scenarios will have significant and drastic cuts in service hours and service delivery.'

Zero budget growth would result in repairs being delayed and facilities falling into disrepair, elimination of therapeutic programs and closure of three facilities, closure of 24 out of 26 licensed childcare facilities, closure of year-round swimming pools two days a week, closure of the Griffith Park Observatory one more day a week, and shortening of the summer swim season from 10 weeks to 8 weeks.

The consequences of a 10 percent funding reduction would include closure of 20 facilities, fewer hours of operation in facilities kept open, maintenance reduced even more, reductions in part-time recreational staff, which will impact programming for seniors and at-risk youth. The 20 per cent funding cut would force DRAP to eliminate all programming related to seniors, camps, youth, after-school and the Observatory. Services for youth at risk of joining gangs would be slashed, the result being, according to Save L.A. Parks, that the parks themselves 'could soon become crime scenes.'

February 8, 2010, DRAP employees got phone calls warning them of possible layoffs. The following day, in a meeting with management, employees were told that dismissals would begin in March and continue through June 30, when union contracts covering tens of thousands of city employees will expire. Major cuts to DRAP staff, closure of parks and the reduction or elimination of programs upon which many underserved communities depend are a direct threat to environmental quality and to social justice in highly urbanized Los Angeles.

DRAP's 2008-2009 Operations Budget was $177 million. In 2009-2010 it was reduced by about $37 million. The City Administrative Officer (CAO) has put forth a 'Three- Year Plan to Fiscal Sustainability' proposing more substantial cuts in DRAP's budget in 2010-2011. In addition to deeper cuts, CAO's plan imposes new fees for water and power used at park properties as well as millions in new liability for pension costs not previously charged to the department. Moreover, the Plan recommends the privatization of assets such as golf courses.

The CAO plan proposes that DRAP be required to pay fees for LADWP water and power usage at each of its properties. This will mean the loss of an estimated $20 million from the Department's already decimated operating budget. The parks have long provided cost-free locations for the DWP infrastructure required for the acquisition, transfer, storage and delivery of water and power to the city. In exchange for free use of recreational land, the DWP has historically provided water and power free to municipal parks. Now, in Griffith Park, 44 acres of dedicated parkland, the Headworks, are being removed permanently from recreational use, without monetary compensation, and being converted into a new DWP emergency water storage facility for northeast L.A. In addition, the DWP is currently digging down 50 feet in Griffith Park to replace the 96' diameter River Supply Conduit pipes, which run the length of the Park. During this three-year project, public access and recreational activities in the park are being restricted, again without monetary compensation. If DRAP is compelled to pay for water and power, it seems fair to require the DWP to pay market lease rates to DRAP for the public land they now use.

Privatizing municipal golf courses is another proposal in CAO's plan. Revenue from the city's golf courses goes back to Recreation and Parks. The average revenue to DRAP from golf operations, including concessions, is approximately $21 million a year. Privatization of these facilities directs the revenue stream elsewhere and changes the mission of the golf courses from service-centered to profit-centered. Golf course fees contribute to the Department operating funds that pay for children's sports programs, for example. 'Privatizing these and other valuable park assets is foolish in so many ways,' remarks Bernadette Soter, Chair of the Parks, River and Open Space Committee of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council.

City parks in heavily urbanized Los Angeles provide many residents with their most immediate, and sometimes their only, access to open space and nature. These sometimes tiny green dots on L.A. City maps often help children take a first step on the road to greater exploration, enjoyment and protection of the environment. The City of Los Angeles is facing hard economic times, but we need our parks more than ever, and we need a viable Department of Recreation and Parks to safeguard and maintain these precious resources.