Another Haven Is in Danger : Violence and new entry fees both are threats at county pool in Watts

The Will Rogers Park pool at 103rd Street and Central Avenue is the only place where many neighborhood families can relax and escape the summer heat. What’s more, as is typically the case in poorer areas, the Watts pool long has been seen as a refuge, a place where parents could safely leave their children--perhaps still physically close to the violence that can spring from the streets but seemingly a world away.

Now, sadly, even this summer sanctuary has been defiled.

In a series of reprehensible, gang-related attacks at the pool, six lifeguards have been injured and one, Paul Alba, is in critical condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Such assaults on people whose job it is to save lives are of course absolutely intolerable. But violence is only one part of the problem at the Will Rogers Park pool. The other part is economics.

The Department of Parks and Recreation recently began charging entry fees--$1 for children, $2 for adults--at pools throughout Los Angeles County. To most county residents, a dollar or two may not seem much, but it is for many of the youngsters who live near Will Rogers Park.

The appropriate course of action here is obvious. The greater Los Angeles community must chip in. In a major city such as this one, there are plenty of good corporate citizens that can make a difference.

County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke says that $65,000 in largely corporate donations has been raised in the hope of offsetting children’s fees.

However, it’s not only up to companies. Government has to fulfill its obligation, too. As budgets are prepared in hard times, it’s important for lawmakers to remember that cutbacks carry consequences that can severely affect real people.

Certainly more policing at the Watts pool would help, but it won’t fix what’s broken there. The fix will come only when society can give kids constructive alternatives to the mean streets. One place to start is dropping entry fees to ensure that all public pools are accessible to everyone.