County May Sell Ad Space on Park Structures

Trash cans and beach benches as moneymakers? Ventura County says both are resources that should be tapped in these tight financial times.

Advertising space on county benches, garbage cans, lifeguard stands, bike racks, restrooms and picnic tables could be sold to private companies under a measure to be considered Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.

Officials, who say they have no idea how much money the program would make, have chosen the county’s 22 parks and beaches as the places they will first try to sell ad space.

“The parks were selected because their countywide locations and positive public image would appeal to potential advertisers,” Peter S. Pedroff, general services agency director, said in a letter to the board.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee said the ad sales seem like a good idea.

“I always think of the Coppertone ad when I think of this,” she said. “I’m glad we’re coming forward with it. But we’re going to proceed fairly cautiously. I’m not sure I’d be willing to have all the county cars going around with ads on them.”

Pedroff said the ordinance ensures that the advertisements will be “in good taste and in accordance with county standards of propriety.”

No come-ons for alcohol or tobacco products will be allowed, he said.

Nor will the county allow companies to erect billboards to hawk products on county property. All ads would be on existing structures, Pedroff said.

Los Angeles County, which in the 1980s pioneered the concept of park property for rent, makes $1 million a year from ads at its beaches. A small truck manufacturer has even given that county its beach vehicles because of high visibility. Other departments will start ad programs this year.

Los Angeles County’s successes, however, cannot be used as a barometer of what Ventura County should expect, said Rebecca Arnold, a Pedroff assistant who researched the new ordinance.

“We’re just testing the waters,” she said. “Nobody’s real certain where it will lead.”

Los Angeles was able to persuade a radio station to buy $400,000 worth of trash barrels for the beach in exchange for labeling the barrels with the station’s logo.

Arnold said that Ventura County--because it is much smaller and less of a tourist draw--might offer an advertiser the chance to plug its products on 100 garbage barrels if the company will pay the $10,000 price of the containers.

Whether anyone will queue up to buy ads in local parks is uncertain. The county will try to peddle the program to businesses such as surf and bicycle shops, and once word spreads, Arnold said she thinks she will start to get calls from potential customers.

“Those calls will better define what our opportunities really are,” she said. “We didn’t want to turn our backs on anything, given what has taken place in the economy and the budget.”

The money the parks department makes or saves through its ads will be put back into its budget to save endangered programs or offer new recreation classes to youngsters, she said.

Traditionally, funding for county parks has been more reliable than for other departments because the department operates independently and receives rental income from restaurants, marinas and shopping centers at the county-owned Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

But county Budget Manager Bert Bigler said county parks revenue--like the rest of the county budget--has been hit hard by the recession, and income is down for the second year in a row.

“Times are tough for them right now,” Bigler said.