HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 1GFrom:Christy Holstege
To:City Clerk; Scott Stiles; Teresa Gallavan; Grace Garner; Yvonne Wise; Naomi Soto
Subject:Fwd: Sunset Park -- help on making it ok for kids
Date:Thursday, October 26, 2023 2:51:52 PM
Christy Gilbert Holstege, Esq.
Councilmember
District 4
City of Palm Springs
Begin forwarded message:
From: Matthew Cavnar <matthew.cavnar@gmail.com>
Date: October 26, 2023 at 1:58:41 PM PDT
To: Christy Holstege <Christy.Holstege@palmspringsca.gov>
Cc: Jana FitzGerald <jana.fitzgerald@gmail.com>
Subject: Sunset Park -- help on making it ok for kids
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Christy,
I am a relatively new resident of Palm Springs, moving here in 2021. My wife and
I live near Victoria Park with our three year old daughter and eight month old son.
We've been excited to throw ourselves into the city, contribute to local
government, and be involved as much as possible.
Our experience over the past couple years unfortunately is probably best
represented by Sunset Park. When we first moved here, we loved taking our
daughter -- but we've noticed the park has deteriorated noticeably since then.
Here's some specifics:
The turtles were removed from the round-ish circular cement area, leaving a
depressing empty space that looks like an abandoned pool.
Random holes appear around the park -- can't tell if these are animals or
what -- but the most recent one was big enough that our daughter could
have stood in up to her hips -- I am not joking (and she's a big kid)
Trash all over -- the condom wrappers under the play equipment at Ruth
Hardy park are bad enough, but Sunset Park is not to be outdone and is
often awash in bizarre trash. Last week our daughter found a collection of
discarded used tooth brushes and was about to pick them up. There's almost
always some kind of plastic trash kicking around, and the areas near the
picnic tables seem to be a reliable dumping grounds.
10/26/2023
Public Comment
Item 1G
And that's just the exact play area of the park itself -- stray a little distance from
the equipment and you'll find huge dogs running loose, water fountains which are
mostly broken -- a feeling of general abandonment.
I think it's worth noting that I am saying nothing about the homeless population
which I am not asking anyone to address -- we can address a lot of my issues just
by holding things to a level of basic cleanliness and decency. If someone could
look after the condition of the park, keep it neat, identify and close up the random
burrowing holes / small caves and minimize the spread of bizarre discarded
goods, we would be victorious.
Thank you!
Matt Cavnar
10/26/2023
Public Comment
Item 1G