Tom Modica, Long Beach's government affairs manager, issued a statement in response to Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., calling the 14th Street Skate Park project an inappropriate use of stimulus funding.
The city's press release appears in full below. The Press-Telegram story on the issue is on our home page. LBReport, which broke the news, and LBPost also have stories.
The City of Long Beach today defended the multiple community benefits of a proposed skate park expansion and rejected a Senator's assertion that the project is an inappropriate use of Stimulus dollars.
Today, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) released a list of 100 projects that he believes are not appropriate uses of Stimulus dollars passed by Congress. Long Beach's 14th Street Skate Park Expansion project was listed as number 96 on the list.
It is absurd that the merits of the 14th Street Park Expansion are being called into question," said First District Councilmember Robert Garcia. "This project meets so many of the Stimulus package goals passed by Congress. It creates jobs, is shovel ready, meets the guidance published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and has the added benefit of making a true impact in the lives of youth who have very little to look forward to."
The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the 14th Street Park expansion on June 2, 2009 after passionate testimony from the community about the need for this park expansion. The project utilizes Community Development Block Grant funds to expand a 3,000 square foot Skate Park in one of the lowest-income and historically high-crime areas in Long Beach into an 8,000 square foot park at a cost of $620,000. The project is shovel ready, creates 10 full-time construction jobs, and can be awarded within 120 days from the date the funds are made available.
"The Long Beach 14th Street Skate Park is an essential recreational facility for young people in one of the most vulnerable and densely populated areas in the country," Mr. Garcia said. "It will bring jobs and an improved quality of life to Long Beach, and I would like to personally invite the Senator to visit our community and to tell the kids who want and need this park why he wants to take it away from them."
The City of Long Beach is extremely proud of its efforts in securing Stimulus funding. The City and our government partners have accepted $22,843,204 in funds thus far for the Long Beach area. We expect to receive a total of $53 million in Stimulus dollars through formulas, and are competing for $552 million in additional funds.
While Stimulus dollars cannot be used for casinos, aquariums, golf courses, swimming pools, and zoos, there is no prohibition on using this funding for skate parks. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued guidance that the funds may not be used for "recreational facilities that serve a predominantly higher income clientele." Over 85 percent of the population served by the 14th Street Skate Park are low/moderate income residents, and 44.5 percent of the youth in the neighborhood live in poverty. In addition, Long Beach has not received any official notification from HUD that this is not an allowable project under the Stimulus guidelines.
Improvements to the 14th Street Skate Park include fabrication and installation of new skate park equipment as well as associated site work, grading, concrete, fencing, shade structures, and benches. This area is located in one of the most impoverished areas in Long Beach, and the park currently has given hundreds of kids in the neighborhood an alternative to drugs, gangs and the many negatives they face each day. The City's application shows that the project meets the goals of Job Creation, Benefiting Low Income Communities, Blight Reduction and Economic Development and Smart Growth.
Facts about 14th Street Park:
- Poverty Rate - Within ¼ mile of the park, 47.5% of the residents live in poverty, and 44.5% of the youth in the area live in poverty.
- Number of Youth - 3,739 youth live within a ¼ mile of the park
- Reduction in Crime since the Skate Park was installed: From 2003 to 2008, crime has dropped in the immediate area around the park, which has historically been a very high crime area of the city. Since 2003, drug related incidents have dropped 60.9%, violent crime has dropped 29.3% and overall incidents have dropped 22.8%. Further, calls for service have dropped 23.0%.
- Current Use of the Site - While the 3,000 sq ft. skate park has been in operation for several years, the area identified for the expansion is currently occupied by homeless. This project will activate the park and provide a place for kids and young adults to skate, rather than the current use as a homeless gathering place.
- Design of the Park - Youth from the neighborhood have been actively involved in the design of the park, and this has been a project that has been based in community involvement.
The skatepark is an excellent use of Stimulus funds. The Tony Hawk Foundation has been working with municipalities across the U.S. since 2002 to help them develop proper, free, public skateparks in areas where youth need positive athletic recreational opportunities.
The 14th Street skatepark project is an important part of Long Beach's efforts to provide suitable facilities for its growing number of skateboarders (currently estimated at over 20,000), and is being led by a number of prominent citizens and professional skateboarders from the area. It has all the resources, short of funding, to be a world-class facility for Long Beach youth to enjoy for decades to come. And the park they plan to build should be durable and not require ongoing maintenance, as some above-ground temporary skateparks do.
Based on the proposed design and plan for the 14th Street Skatepark, the Stimulus dollars Long Beach has committed to the skatepark will immediately address the needs of the community, and put Long Beach on the map for skateboarding and action-sports enthusiasts the world over. As we have seen in community after community, the dollars spent on this skatepark will very likely result in a facility that will be the city's most popular recreation destination.
It's precisely the result the Administration had in mind when allocating the funds they have to the stimulus package. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma needs to visit the communities he's commenting on. Clearly he has no idea what a positive impact a skatepark like the 14th Street project can have on youth. Long Beach residents can be proud and excited to be home to this facility.
- Miki Vuckovich (Executive Director, Tony Hawk Foundation)
The skatepark is an excellent use of Stimulus funds. The Tony Hawk Foundation has been working with municipalities across the U.S. since 2002 to help them develop proper, free, public skateparks in areas where youth need positive athletic recreational opportunities.
The 14th Street skatepark project is an important part of Long Beach's efforts to provide suitable facilities for its growing number of skateboarders (currently estimated at over 20,000), and is being led by a number of prominent citizens and professional skateboarders from the area. It has all the resources, short of funding, to be a world-class facility for Long Beach youth to enjoy for decades to come. And the park they plan to build should be durable and not require ongoing maintenance, as some above-ground temporary skateparks do.
Based on the proposed design and plan for the 14th Street Skatepark, the Stimulus dollars Long Beach has committed to the skatepark will immediately address the needs of the community, and put Long Beach on the map for skateboarding and action-sports enthusiasts the world over. As we have seen in community after community, the dollars spent on this skatepark will very likely result in a facility that will be the city's most popular recreation destination.
It's precisely the result the Administration had in mind when allocating the funds they have to the stimulus package. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma needs to visit the communities he's commenting on. Clearly he has no idea what a positive impact a skatepark like the 14th Street project can have on youth. Long Beach residents can be proud and excited to be home to this facility.
- Miki Vuckovich (Executive Director, Tony Hawk Foundation)
I think this is a very effective way to use stimulus money. I am the president of the Clinton County Skatepark Association in Wilmington Ohio. We have a shovel-ready "Grindline" Park that needs funding of $500,000.00. Our leading community employer, "DHL" just left our community, population 11,000, without 10,000 jobs. The only funding grant options for skateparks for us is the Tony Hawk Foundation and the Ohio Natureworks grant. We have all, as a community, worked very hard over the last 3 years to raise the $20,000.00 needed to get the surveys, geotech reports, conceptual design and construction plans done so we could be shovel-ready. I grew up with a skatepark in my backyard. I personally know what a wonderful sport skateboarding is, and how important it is to have positive influences in you childhood life. That is why I am so dedicated to this cause. We are shovel-ready, we will stimulate jobs. $.64 of every dollar spent with Grindline goes right back into our local economy. That's $320,000.00 in 6 months Why shouldn't this be considered for the Stimulus Dollars?
I think this is a very effective way to use stimulus money. I am the president of the Clinton County Skatepark Association in Wilmington Ohio. We have a shovel-ready "Grindline" Park that needs funding of $500,000.00. Our leading community employer, "DHL" just left our community, population 11,000, without 10,000 jobs. The only funding grant options for skateparks for us is the Tony Hawk Foundation and the Ohio Natureworks grant. We have all, as a community, worked very hard over the last 3 years to raise the $20,000.00 needed to get the surveys, geotech reports, conceptual design and construction plans done so we could be shovel-ready. I grew up with a skatepark in my backyard. I personally know what a wonderful sport skateboarding is, and how important it is to have positive influences in you childhood life. That is why I am so dedicated to this cause. We are shovel-ready, we will stimulate jobs. $.64 of every dollar spent with Grindline goes right back into our local economy. That's $320,000.00 in 6 months Why shouldn't this be considered for the Stimulus Dollars?