Tracy Press

 
The city's parks commission will convene outside at city parks to make it easier for people to get to meetings and to point out problems or things that need to be fixed.

The skate park could be discussed at next months park commission meeting at El Pescadero Park. Press file photo

Commissioners hope to hold their regular meetings at various parks throughout town through the end of this year and into the next, city employees said, starting in September at El Pescadero Park, 301 W. Grant Line Road.

They hope the outdoor meetings will make behind-the-scenes conversations about city parks and recreation literally more open and accessible to the public.

“This meeting will help foster a stronger bond between the commission and the public who uses the parks,” said Rod Buchanan, interim director of the Parks and Community Services Department.

Bringing the commission outside, he said, will not only allow people to talk about what they want in their parks, they’ll get to point them out in person.

On Sept. 10, commissioners plan to talk about the history of El Pescadero Park, they’ll talk about the responsibilities of the city parks department and they’ll hear what changes the public wants the city to make.

At the first meeting, commissioners will present a few quick reports and then set aside the rest of the evening to hear from attendees.

They’ll set up workshop stations to talk about El Pescadero’s activities and amenities, maintenance, the dog park and the skate park.

The city will also introduce and try to recruit members for a fledgling grassroots crime watch group, dubbed for now “park watch.” Much like a Neighborhood Watch, the aim is to get neighbors to keep an eye out for suspicious happenings at local parks.

Hopefully, city employees said, it’ll curb crime and money the city spends to fix things like graffiti and other forms of vandalism.

• To reach a Tracy Press reporter or editor, call 835-3030 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

At a glance

WHAT: Parks Commission meeting

WHEN: 6 p.m. Sept. 10

WHERE: El Pescadero Park, 301 W. Grant Line Road

INFO: 831-6200

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (3)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

...
written by LAM , August 25, 2008

“This meeting will help foster a stronger bond between the commission and the public who uses the parks”. That sounds good to me, but I am wondering how often they have these meetings? Ever think about the weather? There are four seasons, and it is not always sunny and bright. Rain, wind, frigid temperatures may keep people away from these meetings if they are outside the whole year. That is just my thought.

...
written by what? , August 26, 2008

Add lighting to the city parks. Cant report crime if you cant see it!

...
written by Tom Benigno , August 26, 2008

Who cares:
They do what they want anyway. Good or bad.



t. b