AnonymousBy an edhat reader
The Santa Barbara City Council will vote on a new plan soon proposing park rangers to be on-site and in uniform. Does anyone know the approximate cost of this?
Apparently, they’re proposing for uniformed rangers to manage the properties and try to prevent crime at Skofield, Franceschi, and Hilda Ray McIntyre Parks.
Supposedly this will cut down on police responses for transients and lurking adults at playgrounds, as adults without kids will not be allowed at these park’s playgrounds.*
Where we can we find the numbers to compare the police response costs versus paying for park rangers every day?
*[Editor’s Note: The submitter of this question clarified their description of the proposed ban]
That is ludicrous, why will adults without children not be allowed at these parks? I understand Hilda Ray McIntyre, but Skofield and Franceschi do not have playgrounds or anything for children except snakes and old buildings. Why should the City Council assume that every adult without a child is a pedophile? Aren’t they already required to stay away from parks with playgrounds.
YES, this is what’s being proposed. Read the KEYT article https://www.keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/santa-barbara-park-hours-and-site-rules-proposed-to-improve-safety/1099318352
If true, the City is going to get sued and we will all pay for it, then all will return to how it used to be – what a waste of time and money. Age is a protected class, you cannot exclude someone from using a public park for its intended use based on their age.
Having park hosts is a great idea. If people are camping after the park closes (usually at sunset) the host can call police to evict them. Wearing a badge saying “Park Host” is all it would take to identify who they are.
Though I probably agree with the intent to make our parks safer, if it is true that the city council is considering barring adults without children from being in public playgrounds, this has got to be one of the most offensive ideas I’ve heard in a while. The 2010 US Census says that fewer than 30% of Santa Barbara households have children between 0 and 18. So, the city council is saying that over 70% of the local population is suspected of being child abductors and should be banned from public playgrounds. So if I, a 67 year old adult, want to go for a swing on a swing set in a public park, I am breaking the law and considered a danger to children. If the city governed using actual data, they would ban parents and close relatives from playgrounds, as they account for 82% of all child abductions. If this looney idea goes forward, I think we are going to have to have public parks where parents and children are banned.
I hope that the ACLU jumps on this… not being allowed in a public place without children? Does it have to be your own children? Kooky City Council just asking for it.
They ought to just close playgrounds down all together considering the fact that in places like Kids World adults dispose of their bodily fluids there alot. If I had kids I would never take them to a park anyway.
Come on folks, a little reading comprehension – “There will also be a ban on adults who are alone in children playground areas.” https://www.keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/santa-barbara-park-hours-and-site-rules-proposed-to-improve-safety/1099318352 ———- That means, adults can’t hang out at playgrounds unless they have kids with them. Doesn’t say childless adults can’t go to the parks.
Still age discrimination. Reasonable on private property, but not for any part of a public park – even the playground.
You can never pay too much money to keep our children and the public safe. There have been far too many needles found and children stuck by them. These “adults” have no business on a playground. Period.
LCP112233 – Just because drug users shouldn’t be allowed on playgrounds, we should ban all adults without kids? Kind of overkill I think.
Can’t anything be for safety without being age discrimination ???
What kind of adult with no kids should be allowed to hang around a playground? Creepy.
LCP112233 – How about the elderly who are just sitting on a bench watching the children play and reminiscing? You going to kick them off because they don’t have kids?
” . . . as adults without kids will not be allowed at these parks.” I read the KEYT article and listened to the broadcast report. The OP has written a specious and inflammatory account of what is being proposed. Complete nonsense. There have been Park Rangers all along. What this new ordinance proposes is definite times for park use. The whole idea, as I understand it, will prevent the bums from sleeping overnight in the parks. And hooray for that. I just hope I don’t get busted for walking through Alameda Park West late at night. Sometimes, despite all the riffraff camped out there, I like to use that diagonal path as a short cut when I’m walking back home. Maybe I’ll have to carry a copy of my water or electric bill, so I can prove I’m not homeless.
It sounds like a great idea. I don’t understand why any normal person would complain about adults without children not being allowed in the playground areas. Children’s safety should be our priority. I think the city should go a step further and put a fence and lights around the playgrounds and lock them at night. The money saved in maintenance would help offset the cost.