September 16, 2004

Kids need sports fields

By Vice Mayor Pat Dando
Special to the Times

In almost a decade of service as your City Councilmember, one issue remains far and above all others with regard to interest expressed to me through phone calls, letters, and personal conversations. That issue is youth sports fields. The overriding question is “with such a need why does it take so long for the City to build more places for our kids to play sports?”

This lack of playing fields has frustrated parents, children, coaches, previous council members, and myself. I hope this article will shed some light on the action we are taking to address this obvious need.

As a former soccer mom, Little League fan, and softball coach for my own children, I experienced firsthand our community’s lack of adequate places for our kids to play sports. Today, some 15 years later, our youth athletic leagues continue the struggle to find field space. Local schools have even less land to meet this demand because of added portable buildings and they often have their own recreation programs. In addition, our local parks are overused and too small for regulation games.

We agree that investing in the needs of our children today helps ensure for their productive future. I fear that if we cannot accommodate our children’s interests, we may be setting them up to choose less productive or dangerous activities. More often than not, youngsters are tempted to turn to destructive behavior out of boredom due to the lack of supervised places to play after school or on the weekends.

Over the years, a great deal of time and energy has been spent trying to identify land to accommodate our local youth baseball, softball, and soccer leagues. Available land in the Almaden area is almost nonexistent and if there is some, the cost is exorbitant. This dilemma led me to explore the 77 acres on McKean Road that is owned by the San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD).

Several facts have convinced me that this site is the prudent place to build the fields. First, the land has already been paid for with our tax dollars. SJUSD bought the land 30 years ago for a future school site in preparation for the growing number of children that would move into the area. Second, a school, with sports fields, will most likely be built on the property in the future. Third, SJUSD, under the leadership of Board Member Gary Rummelhoff, former Superintendent Linda Murray, and Superintendent Don Iglesias have agreed to lease portions of the property to the City of San Jose for $1 a year. The price is right. Finally, why should we let this publicly owned land lay fallow when there is a great need today?

A partnership between the Almaden Youth Association (AYA), SJUSD, and the city of San Jose was developed to address the shortage of playing fields. The plan is to develop 35 acres of the McKean Road property for a children’s sports complex. Last July, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was completed and circulated for community review. An EIR is an environmental study that determines impacts that may occur when a project is developed. As a result of comments, input, and a legal protest from neighbors, further environmental studies were required in the form of an amendment to the original EIR. This additional work cost $294,000 and added an extra year to the project. The amended EIR is now complete and currently being circulated for public review and comments.

The next steps of this project will include several opportunities for public input. A community meeting will be held in October and a presentation will be made before the Planning Commission in mid November. Finally, the City Council is slated to discuss and act on the merits of the proposed sports field plan in December.

With the community’s support, I am dedicated to making these sports fields a reality. The private fundraising efforts of the AYA will leverage the city funds to develop a place where our kids can play soccer, baseball, and softball. Our children deserve a place to play.

Sports fields are places where people come together to learn teamwork, a strong work ethic, and make memories that can last a lifetime. San Jose, as a vibrant city, needs to continually provide and upgrade amenities for its growing population, especially its youth.