Take Care of 18 Regional Parks

The bankruptcy recovery, at least in its relatively early stages, has not produced the wide-scale pain or deterioration of infrastructure that it might. It is also true that rebounding will not be possible without some cost to ordinary citizens accustomed to good county services.

The increase in vehicle entry fees at county parks is a case in point. Parking, camping and other recreation fees have doubled, and in some cases more than tripled, as a way to raise revenue to meet the shortfall.

Mindful of the county residents’ concern, officials have tried to put increases in the most favorable light. They say the fees are reasonable and necessary to meet costs associated with providing services. In one case, at Irvine Regional Park, a train ride recently opened.

While people don’t want to pay more, the good news so far this year is that the public seems to be paying and turning out anyway to use facilities. The county’s 18 regional parks have managed to maintain good and in some cases better attendance during important holiday periods this year.

However, increases at parks generally fall on the people who least can afford them. It is important to remember that a core constituency for the parks is made up of people who have the fewest recreation alternatives. It has become incumbent on ordinary citizens to shoulder some of the financial heavy lifting.

If this is so, the other side of the bargain ought to be that the county makes every effort to keep the facilities up. A danger of the post-bankruptcy period is that services will erode, while the affluent continue to have their recreation spots.

Over the long Fourth of July holiday period, our visit to Salt Creek Beach Park, one of the county’s jewels, revealed a big turnout, but also some matters that needed attention. The general cleanliness of the approaches to the beach was not what it could have been, and there were several storm drains on the access road running from the parking lot to the beach that needed work. One of them appeared to be missing a bar that could have prevented toddlers from falling through.

Attention to safety and cleanliness is important at any time, but the county must be on guard especially after bankruptcy.