REGIONAL REPORT : No Fun Under the Sun : Cutbacks Could Curtail Summer Activities for Kids

As Southern California grows warm under the summer sun, outdoor activities for children at state beaches, county centers and city parks are drying up because of the looming threat of drastic state budget cuts.

Funding reductions that are needed to close the state’s $10.7-billion budget gap may force park and beach closures, or partial closures, higher prices for county-run recreation activities and the elimination of some city-operated programs, including after-school drug and anti-gang education for inner-city children.

Youth workers say the cuts could leave children, particularly in some inner-city areas, to stare at television sets in empty houses or play unsupervised in parks where jobs for recreation leaders have been eliminated.

“These kids don’t have anything anymore, and I see it getting worse,” said Debra English, recreation leader at Jesse Owens Park in South Los Angeles, where parents are being asked to pay for programs that used to be free.

Statewide, 20 to 30 of California’s 280 state parks and beaches could close and 300 to 400 people could be laid off if the Department of Parks and Recreation is forced to take the $33-million hit that has been proposed. The layoffs would be in addition to the 360 vacant positions in the department’s 2,200-member work force.

Although most of the closings would be concentrated in the northern half of the state where beaches and parks attract the fewest visitors, the hours or days of operation in Southern California parks could be reduced, their lifeguard staffs could be depleted and interpretive services, such as campfire sing-alongs and nature walks, may be cut back or eliminated.

Losing campfires and nature walks would be “awful,” said Michael Perez, a 9-year-old Burbank boy whose family has spent Fourth of July holidays at McGrath State Beach in Oxnard since Michael was a baby.

“We get to learn about different animals that are extinct and how we shouldn’t be crazy people and go around killing birds and things,” Michael said on a recent Friday night as he and other boys crowded around Ranger Andrew Zilke, who was building a fire in a pit in front of a small amphitheater.

Bob Hudson, assistant director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, said breaking the state parks’ 125-year tradition of ranger talks would be a measure of last resort.

“We would hate to do it,” he said. “But if resources allow you only to engage in crowd control, the interpretive services will suffer.”

The cutbacks in summer opportunities come as the recession-driven economy has coaxed more vacationers out of hotel rooms and into the more economical accommodations at campgrounds.

“There is a bigger demand for camp sites and an abnormally high number of people trying to get through to make reservations,” Hudson said. “People want to take their vacations in parks instead of hotels.”

Hudson and a spokesman at the state’s reservation system said it is not uncommon for reservation seekers to call for days before getting through.

In San Diego County, three of four state parks would probably have to close at least one day a week and at least two of the public bathrooms in Old Town San Diego would have to be shut down, District Supt. Edward Navarro said.

Programs such as the junior rangers, which draws 25 to 30 children twice a week to learn about nature and life in the wild, would have to go. And maintenance on all park facilities would be put off, Navarro said.

“But even if we have to stop all major maintenance, we can only afford to do that for so long,” he said.

In Orange County, which includes eight miles of the most heavily used beach areas in the state park system, rangers have turned to court trustees who have been assigned to community service to maintain the beaches and pick up trash.

As in other areas, Orange County parks have cut lifeguard hours at Bolsa Chica and Huntington state beaches and Crystal Cove State Park. Lifeguards perform more than 2,000 rescues a year at those beaches, which draw 2.5 million to 3 million visitors annually, said David Pryor, lifeguard supervisor for the district.

“I would hate to think of the consequences if we have to cut more lifeguards,” Pryor said.

Programs offered by counties that depend on state funds to subsidize local tax revenues would suffer as well if state budget cuts come in at projected levels.

In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, officials said the self-supporting parks and recreation programs would be forced to raise admission prices at pools and parks and reduce maintenance at the facilities.

In Ventura County, the summer youth program, which includes baseball leagues and trips to museums and Magic Mountain, could be canceled.

In Los Angeles County, where the Parks and Recreation Department budget has been cut by 74% since 1978, teen-age clubs and music and dance events have been eliminated, and charges have been imposed for programs such as arts and crafts, day camp and team sports.

Public facilities are particularly important in inner-city areas, including South Los Angeles, where youths have fewer summertime options than their counterparts in many suburban communities.

Since the riots, calls from parents have flooded into Jesse Owens Park, said Judy Jones, recreation services supervisor. The parents ask whether they can keep their children in the day-camp program even though they cannot afford the $25-a-week cost. But Jones said the county has no provision for subsidies.

Los Angeles County has so far managed to keep its 33 inner-city pools open and free and has no plans to impose fees, officials said.

Jones said about 1,000 children and adults use the public pool at Jesse Owens every summer day.

“God only knows what these kids would be doing if that pool was closed,” she said. Dominique Alex, 17, of Los Angeles, who lounged by the pool on a recent balmy afternoon, said she would have been home with friends in front of the television set.

“Ain’t nothing else to do,” she said.

A proposal to close the county’s $278-million budget gap--partly caused by cuts in state funding--calls for the closure of nine staffed nature centers in county parks. The centers offer everything from hiking trails and picnic grounds to small natural history museums, and draw students from throughout Los Angeles.

The centers, even those in remote locations, such as the 351-acre Placerita Canyon Park in the golden rolling hills of Newhall, draw children from the inner city and from rural and bedroom communities, said Frank Hovore, natural areas administrator for the county.

“There are no drive-by shootings here,” Hovore said of Placerita Canyon. “It’s a major escape from the stresses and tension and uneasiness that grips so much of Los Angeles County these days. How do you put a value on that?”

Scott Butler, a 13-year-old from Valencia who has worked the last two summers as a volunteer at the Placerita Canyon nature center, lamented the possible closure of the nature centers. “I think it’s really bad that they’re trying to close our natural areas,” he said, as the center’s pet python, Graham, wound around him, flicking its forked, black tongue at Scott’s face and hair to pick up his scent. “It’s a fun way to learn about animals and to help people understand about nature.”

In cities such as Bell in southeast Los Angeles County, the state budget cuts could wipe out entire recreation programs. Bell’s parks and community center could be all but abandoned if a budget is adopted on Sept. 4 as it is proposed, said Community Services Director Jess A. Carbajal. The entire recreation program in Santa Ana, with a 70% Latino, low-income population, may be eliminated if it loses a projected $13 million in state funding.

In addition to subsidized day camps, community pools and after-school programs, Santa Ana sends counselors to schools to teach children about the dangers of gangs and drugs. To combat what a survey showed is a growing community concern about gangs in city parks, Santa Ana also helps gang members find work, said Jon (Rip) Ribble, assistant director of Recreation and Community Services for the city of Santa Ana.

“The loss of these programs would be devastating to the youngsters of this community,” he said.

Only the federally funded U.S. Forest Service and National Parks report stable budgets.

Southern California’s four national parks and one national monument have seen a slight increase in funding. But with inflation, and more visitors every year, the parks will not be able to expand services or staff, said Mallory Smith, a national parks spokeswoman.

“We’re barely keeping pace,” she said.