Dear City Council members and Mr. Szegda,
I represent Friends of Bedwell Bayfront Park and write concerning item G4
on the agenda for August 12 - the agreement with San Jose Conservation
Corps for ranger services at Bedwell Bayfront Park.
We applaud you for selecting this group. Training young people in
environmental work and stewardship while they work is good for them and for
us.
While we appreciate the need to manage costs throughout the city, we are
concerned about leaving the park with no ranger service coverage for one or
two days per week, depending on season. People use the park pretty
consistently throughout the week. How will you assess how this is working
out? If there are more problems at the park on unstaffed days versus
staffed days, what will be done to correct the situation?
Has the city assessed park usage now versus a few years ago? If usage has
increased then ranger services should be fully maintained. With the new
apartment complexes along Haven Avenue, the Citizen M hotel, development
around Independence Drive, it would seem likely that park usage is
increasing. Not least, schools and organizations often use the park for
running and other activities.
We hope that the item “provide park information to visitors” will include
information about geographic features and natural history and wildlife, in
addition to information about trails, regulations, toilets etc. Friends of
Bedwell Bayfront Park, as well as probably the San Mateo County Bird
Alliance, California Native Plant Society, Save the Bay and Grassroots
Ecology (to name a few local organizations) could perhaps help with this.
Chris MacIntosh
friendsofbayfrontpark@gmail.com
