SB Parks: The economics of decay

Ever wonder how the city's parks devolved from picturesque family havens to unkempt hives of drug sales and homelessness?

In short, it's the money, which is compelled by the politics.

Over the past few days I've spent some time talking to Parks Director Kevin Hawkins and other local leaders about this issue.

A clear historical narrative emerges: Soon after Prop. 13 in 1978, localities started getting pressed for money. By the early 1980s, diminishing revenues and increasing costs for public safety put other programs on the chopping block.

As a result, park spending plunged in proportion to other expenses. Over the same period, with new development and popular projects, total park acreage expanded, increasing the workload for a shrinking and defunded staff.

In 1991, the department's budget was the same in unadjusted dollars as it was last year. With inflation factored in, the budget has plunged by a third.

Today, 35 maintenance staff are responsible for more than 30 parks totalling around 550 acres.

In the early 1980s, there were more than 60 staff, according to department records.

Per industry standard practices, an adequate ratio is one staff per 10 acres. In Inglewood, Hawkins' former employer, the ratio is about one staff per three acres.

In San Bernardino, the ratio is stretched to one per 16, or 60 percent higher than accepted standards.

The prospects for boosting staffing - and funding - are grim. With an economic downturn and rising costs of public safety, this year’s budget will be tight.

That said, progress is being made in cleaning up the parks, mostly due to some innovative tactics Hawkins brought from Inglewood. They are clearly better than they were two years ago. I should have a detailed article on that progress next week.

But next time you wonder about why the parks aren't the sunny places of your youth, think about the economics - the dollar decline and widening staff to acreage ratio.