El Cariso Park Takeover Proposed

In a plan to save El Cariso Park, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon proposed Friday that the city take over the sprawling regional recreation area in Sylmar before it is closed by the county this fall.

“This park is absolutely vital to the northeast San Fernando Valley,” Alarcon said.

Alarcon and others made appeals to save the park during budget hearings held by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The board is reviewing cutbacks of park and library expenses--including the closure of 30 county parks and six swimming pools--to help close a $1.2-billion budget gap for the 1995-96 fiscal year.

The county will remove park police, stop mowing lawns and board up buildings if the cuts are approved.

In addition to El Cariso, supervisors are considering whether to close several other area parks including Dexter Park in Kagel Canyon, Crescenta Valley Park in Glendale, as well as Pearblossom, Jackie Robinson and Apollo parks in the Antelope Valley.

El Cariso, which has been operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for the past year, will revert to county management on Sunday because the conservancy can no longer afford to provide services, officials said.

Alarcon, who represents the northeast Valley on the City Council, told the board he understands the county’s financial troubles but said there are alternatives to closing the popular park.

“I believe we can save El Cariso Park,” he said. “I will sit down with Supervisor Yaroslavsky and Mayor Riordan about having the city take over the park. I think we [the city of Los Angeles] have the funds.”

Yaroslavsky, who represents the area, agreed.

“I think it’s doable,” he said. “That way, the park wouldn’t be on this [closure] list every other year.”

The move is not unprecedented, Yaroslavsky said. Several years ago, the county transferred ownership of Pan Pacific Park, in the Park La Brea area, to the city.

Alarcon said a new group, called the “Coalition to Save El Cariso,” has volunteered to help maintain the park if no deal between the city and county is struck before September.

Among the members of the coalition are Mission College; the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce; Pueblo y Salud, Inc., a social service agency; the San Fernando Valley Peace Treaty, and several youth and religious groups.

Alarcon also said he planned to meet with 10 local corporations to ask for money to pay for some of the park’s recreation programs.

The county last month eliminated recreation programs at its parks--saving enough money to keep those parks targeted for closure open through the summer.

Some residents said they feared that without park patrols and the current level of public activity at the park, El Cariso would become a crime hot spot.

“There’s a whole community here that really needs public safety,” said Randee Miller, who lives next to El Cariso Park. “The gangs do come in. . . . Lives will be taken.”

Yaroslavsky pledged, however, that the park and its residents will be taken care of.

“The park will not be abandoned,” he said. “Between now and September, we will work out a permanent arrangement.”