Some Sacramento residents grow frustrated over park conditions in underserved neighborhoods
It comes after Sabrina Lovelady, the team mom for the Dragon Youth organization, spoke with CBS13 last month about the issues her team has been facing at Lawrence Park in South Sacramento.
Sacramento's Parks Department said it works proactively to keep parks safe and clean. But some residents expressed feeling like there is preferential treatment depending on a park's location.
"McKinley Park has more money than Tahoe Park," said Martha Anderson, who lives in Tahoe Park.
Anderson said she has noticed that the grass really is greener in other parks in the city.
"Half of the park gets watered, and the other half does not," Anderson said.
Anderson said there was a time she stopped coming to Tahoe Park altogether because, between the graffiti and homeless camps, she did not feel safe.
"It's like you call and it is like, 'OK, we'll send it in,' and maybe six months later they might do something," Anderson said.
It is a similar story at Lawrence Park, where the Dragon Youth Organization team said a man exposed himself in the restroom to 16-year-old Neveah Lovelady.
"I want to say it feel safer since when we last talked, but not really," Neveah said. "Right now, this is the most homeless people I have ever seen."
Our cameras captured a confrontational exchange between the team mom and a group hanging around the restroom on Tuesday. She called the police to make a report.
"My irritation is growing, but I am still going to come out here and do what we can for the kids," Sabrina said.
CBS13 asked the city about how it prioritizes park maintenance. The city responded with this statement:
"The Park Maintenance Division is structured into seven operating areas, each overseen by a Park Maintenance Supervisor. Rather than deploying staff all at once to individual parks, maintenance is managed by region, allowing for equitable and efficient distribution of services across all city neighborhoods. The current Park Maintenance Division consists of 125 frontline and supervisory staff members with a current budget of $14,241,033.
The majority of work performed by Park Maintenance is proactive, regular maintenance aimed at cleanliness, functionality, and safety of park landscapes and amenities. While 311 requests are an important part of YPCE's service delivery, they are supplemental to this regular, ongoing care."
Lovelady said she is exhausted from calling the city and trying to keep her team safe. Her team is actively looking for a new practice space.
CBS13 also reached out to Councilmember Eric Guerra, who oversees the district Lawrence Park is located in, but he was unavailable.
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