Eliminating Park Rangers While Raising LLAD Tax

The City is out to eliminate the Park Rangers at the same time it asks property owners to pay an increased Landscape and Lighting assessment (LLAD) for park maintenance.

Oakland's Park Ranger unit is supposed to maintain safety and civility in the city's 130 parks and public grounds. Five years ago there were 20 officers in this unit. Today there are only five; as of June 2, 2006, there will be only four, and one of them is out on disability.

Almost a year ago the city council reduced the budgeted number of park rangers to eight. The city would like to abolish the entire unit, but as one manager was heard saying, "We can't lay off any rangers because of the political outcry, so we just won't fill any vacancies."

Indeed, three of the eight budgeted ranger positions are vacant, up from two vacancies in February. On June 2, there will be four vacancies. Where is the City moving the money that was budgeted to pay for these unfilled jobs?

Because of the understaffing, no park rangers are on duty after 8 p.m. Two recent murders might have been prevented if rangers were patrolling the parks as they did five years ago. See www.savetherangers.org for the story.

A police department memo spells out how the City will abolish the Park Ranger unit (see link in box below). A few weeks ago, says community activist Hannah James, "I was assured by the City Administrator's office that the Ranger unit was not being done away with – and now, this! So much for any trust anymore."

The police department's memo calls for loading park ranger functions onto Measure Y, specifically onto the problem-solving officers. Voters were given a specific list of community policing functions in Measure Y; park rangers were not on the list, but the city attitude is, who cares?

Perhaps you have seen a Park Ranger on his or her motorcycle, although it is unlikely since rangers are so scarce. Rangers know the park trouble spots, typical behavior patterns, and the good and bad times of the day. Telling a busy police officer to take a swing through a few parks (first question: "Where's my motorcycle?") cannot substitute for what the Park Rangers do.

Favored developer Phil Tagami, councilmember Jean Quan, and others are campaigning for an increase in the LLAD tax, with permanent annual raises as well. Their literature talks about a "green and safe Oakland." If their motives really included safety, the council would not be grinding the Park Ranger unit into the dust. In fact, Tagami and crowd do not care about safe, clean, civil parks, at least not if it takes money away from their subsidized development projects.

The consistency is not in the insiders' rhetoric but in what they do. They are killing the Park Rangers unit by attrition, and City documents admit that 55 cents of every new LLAD dollar would provide no new park maintenance or other landscape or lighting service. The consistency in the behavior of the insiders is: voters, give us more money.

Tell your councilmember that you want the Park Ranger unit staffed at full strength.

"(Police chief Wayne) Tucker said there are no plans to disband the rangers. However, department commanders are exploring ways to effectively police the parks until more rangers can be hired. Only three of the eight park ranger positions are filled, and the department is focused on hiring officers, not rangers, the chief added." (Oakland Tribune, June 15, 2006.)

Since the department has more than 100 vacancies for police officers, chief Tucker in effect confirmed that the City will destroy the Park Ranger unit by attrition.