As kids in three neighborhoods in northwest Gilroy prepare to
shoot hoops, climb on the jungle gym or picnic with their parents,
one councilman is drawing attention to the children who missed out
on those opportunities.
Gilroy – As kids in three neighborhoods in northwest Gilroy prepare to shoot hoops, climb on the jungle gym or picnic with their parents, one councilman is drawing attention to the children who missed out on those opportunities.
Councilman Craig Gartman says families have moved into neighborhoods with small children and watched them grow and leave without ever having a chance to frolic in parks promised to them years ago. Sunrise Park, for instance, should have been built 15 years ago, he says, while Los Arroyos Park was promised to residents seven years ago. Those public spaces, as well as Carriage Hills Park, are scheduled to open by early November.
While welcoming the much-anticipated openings, Councilman Craig Gartman – who is running for re-election in November – is criticizing past and present councils for shunting aside neighborhood parks in favor of various large-scale projects, including the sports complex and cultural arts center.
Such public facilities are financed by a single pool of money raised by charging developers $19,642 per unit of housing they construct. Developers generally pass those fees on to residents in the cost of the home.
“When people pay for a neighborhood park, I think the neighborhood park should be built,” Gartman said. “That way you don’t end up waiting 15 years from the time you bought the house to the time the park is open. Other communities seem to be able to build parks and have them up and operational before people move in. So why can’t Gilroy do the same?”
To that end, Gartman has proposed requiring developers to construct neighborhood parks before officials release home-occupancy permits. While the city would still finance the parks, the first developer to break ground in a new area on the outskirts of the city would be responsible for the project – rather than leaving the matter to a shifting fate at the hands of council.
That idea may sound familiar to some residents who followed the 2000 election, when Gartman raised the issue during his first run for city council. He has placed the issue on his agenda again as he gears up for a re-election bid this fall. In the intervening years, Gartman said he has raised the matter without success during informal policy discussions with other council members.
“We have brought it up a number of times during our council retreats, but as of yet we have not had enough council members in favor of doing something about it,” Gartman said. “It has died at the retreat.”
Neighborhood park projects languish, Gartman said, so costly new projects such as the arts center, with a price tag of more than $10 million, get placed at the top of the agenda.
“I think we need, as a council as a whole, to take care of the neighborhoods first,” Gartman said. “The city made promises. They need to fulfill those promises before they go off spending on different promises.”
Mayor Al Pinheiro pointed out, however, that Gartman is one of seven councilmen who have signed off on the city’s spending priorities during each of the last four budget seasons. He said Gartman’s plans to build parks before residents move in could result in a bunch of public spaces that no one likes.
“We have pretty much followed the direction that we need input from the neighborhood (before building parks),” Pinheiro said. “That means having enough people around to give the input. In the past it’s been proven that people go in there and are not excited about how things were done. It would be wonderful if we could have the best of both worlds, but obviously that’s not possible.”
City parks and facilities manager Bill Headley said the city faces the classic problem of allocating limited resources. Funds for projects constantly ebb and flow based on council’s changing priorities, he said. Sometimes, those priorities are determined by necessity – such as the need to replace a dilapidated school gym floor for safety reasons. At other times, councilmen may choose to invest in a large-scale project such as the arts center in order to improve the downtown area or some other part of the city.
“You can go to any other community in the Bay Area and find projects that were put on the dance card and got bounced,” Headley said. “You have to be keenly aware that prioritization is a fluid process. Council has an opportunity to question, challenge and re-prioritize these projects and they do. It’s not a cake walk. There’s never enough money to go around.”
Carriage Hills Park
$1,038,593
2.92 acres
kid’s playground
rock-climbing wall
Full-court basketball
Crest Hill Way and Valley Oaks Drive
Los Arroyos Park
$871,010
2.52 acres
kid’s playground
picnic tables
two basketball half courts
Hirasaki Drive and Martiri Court
Sunrise Park
$1,776,936
8 acres
kid’s playground
outdoor picnic tables
Full basketball court
tennis courts
baseball field
Hogan Way and Saddler Drive
