What needs fixing in San Benito County
This uninviting entry to the picnic area at Veterans Memorial
Park in Hollister should not be an entry at all. Users cut a hole
in a chain link fence erected by the city. A small bridge that once
safely crossed the concrete culvert was removed, and now users must
jump a ditch filled with shards of broken glass.
What needs fixing in San Benito County
This uninviting entry to the picnic area at Veterans Memorial Park in Hollister should not be an entry at all. Users cut a hole in a chain link fence erected by the city. A small bridge that once safely crossed the concrete culvert was removed, and now users must jump a ditch filled with shards of broken glass.
To understand the problem a history lesson is in order. Veterans Park spans both sides of Memorial Drive. While surrounded by Hollister, the park itself remains the province of the county. Many years ago, the city parks staff maintained the picnic area and a tot lot that was a popular play area for children.
The county abruptly took back maintenance responsibilities and unceremoniously removed the tot lot. The park’s long slide began, and the spot has become a popular place for people to meet and perhaps consume adult beverages out of paper sacks; hence the broken glass.
When the park was in its heyday, the neighboring Parkside neighborhood was developed, and the developer thought direct access to the park for pedestrians and cyclists would be a nice amenity to offer, recalls Marcello Orta, who directs park operations for the city of Hollister. Orta, a 33-year veteran of city parks, recalls when the area was a showcase. Simply put, the park is in the purview of the county and the walkway is the city’s headache.
As the park has deteriorated, neighboring residents began seeing the walkway as a conduit for undesirables.
“The county didn’t want more trouble from the element that hangs out there,” Orta said. “The county wanted to close our easement to the park.”
While it would be nice to let the city resume maintenance and perhaps restore the park to the asset it once was, Orta cautioned that funding cuts mean he’s working with six fewer parks workers than he once did.
The city’s parks operations fall under the Hollister Parks Commission, while the county’s fall to a similar condition. And there’s a bit of good news in this bureaucratic tangle. Don Kelley of Hollister is the chairman of both panels. Kelley can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
But, Orta warned, “you don’t just call and things get done.”
