Eric Hutchinson, from San Jose, wearing full protective gear, watches Felipe Suarez-Pinto do tricks in the bowl without protective gear at the skate park Friday.
Relief is on the way for young skateboarders, their parents and the seniors at the senior center, all of whom have been affected by the opening of the unstaffed Morgan Hill Skate Park.
The city originally planned to staff the park, but the council opted not to in January due to budget constraints. The staffed park plan, brought about after numerous complaints of rulebreaking there, will cost the city $12,000 this year, and $16,000 each year after, according to staff.
Starting Sept. 2, a recreation staffer will be situated there, making sure all the park's rules are followed.
Two weeks later, the city will begin charging the $1 a day, or $15 a month user fee. The Morgan Hill City Council will likely finalize these changes during their meeting Wednesday night.
Since opening June 27, the park has been replete with violators of its rules: no helmets, smoking, drinking, stealing. There have been few incidents there in recent weeks, however.
On Aug. 15, an 11-year-old boy took a younger boy's scooter. The boy's mother then took the 11-year-old's skateboard and held it in her car, according to the police department's activity log. Eventually both parties got their wheels back, the log states.
Incidents like these have plagued the park since opening, prompting the council to unanimously approve supervising the park and begin charging users to help pay for the staffing cost.
Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming said incidents have tapered off since school started last week and the enthusiasm for the new park waned.
Cumming said crime hasn't gone up since the park opened. It's just that a lot of it is now concentrated in one area, an area that already has a lot of attention on it, he said.
"(The skate park)'s not a magnet for bad behavior, it was just on the radar there so everybody saw it," he said.
Cumming and others have pointed out that the skating community nurtures a sort of "no rules" mentality, but the city, of course, has rules.
"I don't think that's unreasonable at all, but that's how it is," Cumming said. "I'm sure some of them feel that way. They'll go back to their renegade skating" at areas around town that remain unsupervised, Cumming said.
Recreation Manager Chris Ghione said with a staff person manning the park, his department can promote anti-bullying and anti-gangs.
"We want to build the same environment we have in the Teen Center out there in the skate park," he said.
Many skaters say they've heard of certain incidents of stolen skateboards and the like, but none copped to witnessing or experiencing anything nefarious firsthand.
Chris Houle, 15, said he hadn't heard of any troublemaking.
"I don't like the helmet rule, and the fact that we have to pay," he said, pointing out that the city already used more than $600,000 in taxpayers' money to build the park in the first place.
"To pay again is totally asinine," he said. "They're using our money to pay someone to watch us. What do they need that money for?"
John Ringo, 10, said his skateboard deck was stolen about three weeks ago. He hasn't found it yet, and he doesn't know who stole it. He said some of the older kids mess with him sometimes. They hit him and then run away, he said.
"People who are being mean, and not wearing their helmets, shouldn't be allowed to come," Ringo said.
Miguel Perez, 11, said he skates there almost every day and said he's heard of stolen skateboards once or twice.
But Ezra Santana, 15 of Morgan Hill, said he hasn't seen or heard of any problems, and he rides his BMX bike there almost every day.
If Santana rides his BMX bike there every day, then he's one of the rule breakers. BMXers are only allowed at the park Thursday and Sunday morning. BMX hours are all day Thursdays and Sunday mornings. Any other time, BMX riding is prohibited as skateboarding is the park's main purpose.
Santana will have more time to ride his BMX come Sept. 2, when the proposed schedule will better accommodate BMXers, according to the staff report on finalizing the new skate park rules, which the council will deliberate Wednesday night. BMX users will have exclusive use of the park Tuesdays and Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings. All other park hours will be designated for skateboaders alone, according to the report.
Natalie Everett
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett is the education and city reporter for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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