March 16, 2005 - Top Stories
By DAVID ROSS
Valley Center’s oldest park appears headed to the scrap heap.
The VC parks & rec district has signaled its intention to give its first park, Adams Park, back to the school district. It has leased the land since 1976 when Adams Park Pool opened to the public (see related story, this page).
Adams Park hasn’t made money in several years. The State’s confiscation of $6,000 a year in property taxes for the next two years apparently convinced the parks board that it had to cut loose something to make ends meet.
“For us $6000 is a lot,” said Joyce Johnson, general manager of the district.
But the losing trend began long before this year. Mrs. Johnson provided information to The Roadrunner that shows that the pool and the tennis courts have lost money since 1999.
In 1999 the pool lost $3,089; in 2000 it made $16,1113; in 2001 it lost $11,702; in 2002 it made $5,115; in 2003 it made $11,135 and in 2004 it lost $5,181.
In 1999 the park, tennis courts lost $1,241, in 2000 they lost $9,096, in 2001 they lost $4,575, in 2002 they lost $46,354, in 2003 they lost $9,629 and in 2004 they lost $8,446.
“So far this year,” said Mrs. Johnson, “we have received $46,635 in property taxes. Because Cole Grade Girls’ Softball Field has been flooded from the rains, there most likely will not be revenue coming in this year. It will be weeks before the field will dry out. However, expenses continue, i.e. rental of a piece of equipment to dig a trench for drainage for $1,400.”
The vote Wednesday night was 4-0 with Eric Jockinsen, Tom Bumgardner, John Scibilia and Tom Litchfield voting yes, (Fran DeWilde was absent).
At Thursday night’s school board meeting Supt. Karen Jobe read a letter from the parks board that began: “The purpose of this letter is to formally express the Board of Directors of the Valley Center Parks and Recreation District’s desire to terminate our leases with the Valley Center/Pauma Unified School District as soon as feasible.”
It concluded, “We regret having to make this decision, however, find it in the best interests of the district to terminate these leases within sixty (60) days and concentrate our resources on the remaining facilities managed by the district.”
Mrs. Jobe told trustees that the park is held by the parks district in a joint powers agreement dated from 1977.
She asked for and received direction to talk to an attorney about the district’s rights and obligations.
“I want to find out can they unilaterally give it back to us? Do we want to take it back?” she said.
Mrs. Jobe and Mrs. Johnson will be meeting this week.
“I want to be able to explain to the board what your obligations. Would you have to keep it as a park? Could you close it? I told parks and rec that I can’t guarantee that we would have an answer in their timeframe,” Mrs. Jobe said.
While the probable closing of the Valley’s oldest park may come as a surprise to the public, it doesn’t shock those who are familiar with the financial problems the district has faced for several years.
Ron Lamb, who retired in November after more than two decades on the parks board, told The Roadrunner: “I have a feeling that the parks board wanted to run the district without losing any money and the only way to do that is without fewer services.”
Referring to the failure to pass Prop. CC, which would have raised $19 a parcel a year from local property owners, Lamb commented, “Does the community want parks and is it willing to pay for them?”
Morgan Rogers, who led last year’s unsuccessful efforts to pass Prop. CC, told The Roadrunner: “It’s a shame that now we are realizing the consequences of not passing Prop. CC. We can’t maintain the services that we have been accustomed to. Hopefully, we won’t lose further services, but maybe this is what it takes for people to realize that an assessment like Prop. CC is necessary to maintain the quality of life in Valley Center.”
Another former parks director, Art Weller, who put many years of volunteer sweat equity into creating the park, told The Roadrunner. “I don’t like the idea. But, the board says they don’t have enough money to take care of it, and that has been proven by the appearance of the place. If the parks board could figure out how to get more money I would prefer that it stayed with the district.”
Weller said he has done much volunteer work on the park over the years. “That has declined and that is part of the problem.”
He added, “I’d much prefer that the park stay with the parks district. A lot of people use the park for tennis and swimming and for a place to sit under the oak tree. If that gets shut down we are missing something in VC. We don’t have an equivalent.”
Unlike some of the park district’s other enterprises, (Aerie Park, the ballfields, etc.), Adams Park doesn’t have a built in constituency of interests who are available to got to bat for it if it ceases to exist.
One group that does use the park is the Dos Valles Garden Club.
Roger Ramey, a former president of the club, told commented, Roger Ramey: “We have a memorial garden over there and I suspect we will want to maintain it. We do share the Gang Ranch with the school district. I suspect we’ll go with whatever the school district wants to do to. We might have to go somewhere else to garden. We’d collect all our stuff and pot it up and maybe take it somewhere else.”
Last year’s campaign to pass Prop. CC made no mention of the possibility that some parks would be lost if the measure didn’t pass. Instead the proponents of Prop. CC used a positive approach that told what might be built (a new community center, a senior center) if it passed.
Asked to comment on this, Mrs. Johnson said, “You may be right that we should have used a more negative approach to the voters . . . . That doesn’t mean that any more people other than our regular users/supporters would have voted yes.”
Mrs. Johnson was also asked why the board didn’t hold hearings or invite public comment before making its decision.
“Perhaps we should have gone to the community before the board made their decision. However, it doesn’t change the fact that we need more revenue coming into the district. We have very little reserves. Unless we concentrate on facilities that can generate income, things will get worse.”
The 60 days that the parks district gave the school district was “the board’s decision,” according to Mrs. Johnson. “Their concern was that we can’t go on losing and even not in a break even situation. It’s not something that they want to do but it’s something that would help us become a little stronger revenue wise and concentrate our efforts on the other facilities at this point in time and try. Or new possibilities on generating revenue on an ongoing basis.”
When people hear about the parks district’s economic challenges they always wonder why it is able to build new parks and facilities.
That’s because the district has access to hundreds of thousands of dollars of PLDO (Parklands Dedication Ordinance) funds that are collected as developers’ fees whenever a building permit is pulled on a new house in Valley Center.
However, that money can only be used for capital improvements, not maintenance.
It is analogous to being able to buy a new car but not to have money to put gas in t or new tires.
The district doesn’t even have access to the interest that accrues from the PLDO money that is held for it by the County. That interest goes to the County even though the money is collected for Valley Center.
“People that know us say I’m amazed that you’ve kept your head above water all these years,” commented Mrs. Johnson.
The following is taken from the Roadrunner archives, May 1976.
Pool dedicated, splash…soon!
The accent was on youth Saturday at the dedication of Valley Center’s new Robert H. Adams Park and olympic-size swimming pool.
Rippled slightly by the breeze, the pool waters reflected a brilliant blue sky. And fleecy white clouds, in a speaker’s words, completed the beauty of the forest-like setting which contains the community’s vast new recreational complex.
The day was on the warm side, and though the cool water was inviting, no one dove in. A few Red Cross safety details remain to be completed before D-(for dunking) day arrives sometime this week.
CLIMAXED by a stirring talk by Sen. John Stull, the ceremony began with the presentation of The Colors by Cathy Allen and Kris Kratz.
Youth activities of assisting Optimist and Rotary clubs were outlined by MC Monroe Foster, Optimist president, and Carl Murphy, Rotary chief and VC Planning Group Chairman. $10,000 for tennis courts was raised by Rotary.
Community Services Pres. Bob Cronin recalled past efforts for a pool which led to the successful completion of today’s park. Commenting on the $100,000 HUD grant, he reminded the audience that the money was not the school’s, not the service district’s nor the county’s, but it belongs “to all of us,” as does the park itself.
He quoted Sup. Dick Brown’s statement that the grant would not add a penny to local taxes.
Mrs. Ramon Darton sang God Bless America to the piano accompaniment of Judy Roth. Ted Marioncelli, aide to Sup. Lee Taylor, expressed his pleasure over the successful outcome of the effort for pool funding and its completion.
THEN FOSTER paid tribute to those most responsible for the park construction, starting with Robert & Betty Adams, with Mrs. Adams responding.
Others included Phil Shipley, the landscape architect who designed the facility; Lucretia Allen, first Community Recreation Inc. prexy; Mrs. Sheryl Kratz, present president, and Mrs. Sharon Martineau, secretary.
Joe Rodriguez, who did the paving, and Al Thomas who did the brick poolside seating facility, were presented, as were school board members and other contributing individuals, architect Ray Knowles, Noel Nelson, Jim McCarley, Ted Sam and Paul Cote who donated his talents to completing the landscaping. He said he and his helpers planted more than 5000 daisies by pool time.
For her teenage committee, Debra Arndt presented to Mrs. Adams the profits from four teen dances.
“It is an honor for us to present this to you,” she told Mrs. Adams. She also thanked VC Chamber of Commerce and Rec. Inc. for sponsoring the dances.
Financial contributors acknowledged were those of Tom Sefton, San Diego Trust & Savings Co., Oceanside Federal Savings, VC Optimist Club, VC Chamber of Commerce, Jack Bose of A-1 Irrigation, Art Griffin of Griffin Pharmacy, Pauma Hills Ranches, Gilmore Foundation, Thomas Sommermier, Sam Meyer of National Fast Foods, Jack Weir, VC Grange and VC Bowling League.
These donations along with the Helms Foundation grant brought the construction to its present state of completion. Additional facilities will be built with the HUD funds.
THE SYMBOLIC ribbon-cutting by Mrs. Adams was followed by remarks by her husband. Adams said he regretted that there were some who did not favor the addition, but he said they and everyone in the community were welcome to make use of the park and he was obviously sincere in his invitation for all to do so.
A concert by Sean & Company — minus Colleen Dempsey who was off competing in the Optimist oratory contest in San Diego — concluded the dedication with several selections.
Original songs composed by Mrs. Roth and sung and played by her group, were dedicated to The Adams Family, Sen. Stull and Mr. & Mrs. Foster.
Stull was moved by the unexpected tribute to him and took a few moments to become composed before he began his prepared remarks.
WORDS to The Adams Family follow:
“Their names are Bob & Betty,
And they are always ready
To do for Valley Center
…The Adams Family!
They’ve given strong devotion
To a cause they’re put in motion,
A park & pool for VC
…The Adams Family!
They’ve given us this pool
To keep us nice & cool.
People like these are far & few
…The Adams Family!”
Long before it was over, the tune had brought out Mrs. Adams’ hanky and teardrops fell.
Invocation by the Rev. Donald Anderson of Community Church was based on Jesus’ teaching by the water—and His calming of the stormy waves. Benediction was by Ramon Darton, LDS Church.
Animal Control Officers from the County’s Department of Animal Services served search warrants March 8 and March 9 at a West Lilac Road property in unincorporated Escondido and seized several fighting birds and a large quantity of cockfighting paraphernalia.
The warrants were obtained after a short investigation where officers developed evidence of suspected cockfighting. upon entry to the property, officers discovered more than 1000 birds. In addition, they found various implements used by cockfighters, including knives, drugs, medications, training aids, etc. A representative sample of the birds and all of the implements and paraphernalia were seized as evidence.
“Cockfighting is a bloody venture where two birds are set to fight with each other,” said John Carlson, Regional Director of the Department of Animal Services’ North Regional Animal Shelter. “These birds have had their natural spur removed and the cockfighters place sharpened knives to the bird’s leg. When they fight, they will cut each other apart until one dies or is so weakened it cannot continue to fight.”
“Unfortunately, the birds used in cockfighting cannot be rehabilitated,” Carlson said. “Their aggressive traits have been bred into them for generations. Even without the addition of the knives, the birds would be dangerous to other birds.”
The individuals arrested included Rogelio Guilean-Rodriquez and Juan Manuel Uribe, both of whom reside on the property, and Jose Antonio Avila, who resides elsewhere. All were cited and released..
A small earthquake (3.5 on the Richter scale) centered just four miles south of Palomar Observatory, startled locals Sunday afternoon, but apparently caused no damage. It occurred about 4 p.m.
No damage was reported to the 200-inch Hale telescope, which, when it was built over 50 years ago, was designed with earthquakes in mind.
According to CalTech the “micro-quake” was “felt widely throughout San Diego county, from Boulevard to the south, to San Clemente and Hemet to the north.”
Illiena Ross, a resident of Palomar Mountain (and wife of the editor), lives almost at the epicenter of the quake.
She reported: “It was kind of strange. I was playing with the dog and the dog was jumping around, and at the moment he jumped down it felt like someone grabbed the building and jerked it real hard at the bottom. I kept thinking, ‘Did the dog do something to the house?’ Then I realized it must be an earthquake.” Unlike other residents she didn’t hear a bang!
“You can never hear a bang on a granite rock. You feel the jerk. If you are sitting like our house is sitting on the rock you feel a jerk.” She added, “Very unpleasant, but with a stronger earthquake there’s a jerk and they become stronger, and that’s frightening. I was sitting and waiting for another one and there wasn’t another one.”
VC resident Tom Hickey, who lives just off the Cole Grade extension reported, “We could hear it before we felt it. We could hear it rolling in. In our house it was like a boom. It popped.”
Val Jonas, a VC resident who was alone working in an office at the time, recalls, “I was here by myself. I felt it really clear. It sounded like a train was going by and we don’t have a train in Valley Center.”
VC resident Donna Jorgensen told The Roadrunner: “I was standing in front of the dryer loading clothes and the floor started to move. Then there was a loud boom and all the windows shook. That was it.”
The Valley Roadrunner
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