Rec. and Park Plans for Projected Budget Shortfall

By Carol Dimmick

San Francisco Recreation and Park Department officials laid out a bleak scenario for the City's parks and recreation programs because of growing budget shortfalls at a recent community meeting held at the Sunset Recreation Center.

According to the latest estimates, the city faces a $175 million budget deficit for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. In next year's budget the department will lose $4.3 million in city revenue, which represents 10 percent of the support the department receives from the city's General Fund.

In addition, SF Mayor Willie Brown asked the Recreation and Park Department to reduce its reliance on city dollars for the remainder of this fiscal year by $3.5 million.

The bad news hit the department just as it was recovering from years of budget cuts, low employee morale and struggles to implement a $400 million capital improvement plan.

Elizabeth Goldstein, general manager of the Recreation and Park Department, warned the 60 residents from Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7 who attended the meeting Feb. 4 that the road ahead was going to be a tough one.

"The department is confronting an uncertain financial future," Goldstein said.

Goldstein pledged to protect staff positions by not filling vacancies as they come up and by moving staff into areas where dedicated funds are available. She also said the department is considering ways to raise more revenue by increasing program fees and user fees for various permits.

But department officials warned that the cuts are likely to affect many of the programs the department operates throughout the City.

And to help the department identify where to make the cuts, Goldstein asked for suggestions about specific programs and services the department operates in the west side Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7.

West Portal resident Helen Johnson told Goldstein to take a survey and make the cuts in underutilized programs. Johnson said the $10 fee for the latchkey program the department operates seemed low to her and suggested a sliding-scale fee instead.

Others quickly defended the program, saying they knew of minimum wage earners who would be hit hard if the program suffered.

Still, others suggested that the department coordinate its programs for children and teens with other departments, such as the school district and the police department, to maximize savings and protect services.

Some residents urged Goldstein to protect the city's natural areas from cutbacks by making urban reforestation a top priority.

One resident wanted to know what the department is doing, if anything, about the bathrooms at Rossi Park, which he said were being trashed by teenagers. He also warned that kids were climbing on the gardener's shed and that there was no director for programs for the 200 to 300 teens who congregate at the park after school.

Goldstein thanked the attendees for their suggestions and told them there could be more money for the city if a state $2.6 billion bond measure passes.

The annual community outreach session on the department's budget is the first step in a public process that runs until July 31, when a final budget is considered by the SF Board of Supervisors. The budget then goes to SF Mayor Willie Brown for his signature.