this COULD be it...

Thanks to Jim Conroy, East District Administrator of the Parks & Rec Dept, there just might be an actual solution to this longstanding burr in my side.
In addition to sending an employee by the gate several times a week to unlock it (only to be frequently relocked by mysterious and sinister forces), he has made good on his promise to place a sign right on the gate itself declaring that it shouldn't be locked when school is not in session.


In a addition he relocated the existing sign into a supplementary position that makes it hard to miss. It will be hard for anyone to claim that they didn't know the gate was supposed to be left open. Of course based on past experience anything is possible but this really looks to be the final solution. Mr. Conroy also said he will be sending someone by to check the gate 7 days a week! Couldn't ask for more. (PS - Maybe he is suspicious of the school's intentions?)

Thanks again to Jim Conroy!

letter to Councilperson Carol West: Ward 2

Sahuaro HS unfairly restricting public access

Dear Carol West,

I have an ongoing issue with the Sahuaro High School facilities department which I have been unable to resolve through normal means.

The outdoor basketball courts are to be available for public use during school days from 5-10PM, and 6AM-10PM on weekends and holidays. There is a city Parks & Rec sign posted at the pedestrian access gate on Vicksburg that provides this information.

The school has been keeping this gate locked during the proscribed public access hours for quite some time, and I have been attempting to get the situation remedied since November of 2005!

I first went through Sahuaro High School and then TUSD public relations, after several months of contradictory stances and no real activity I went to the Arizona Daily Star. Brian Pederson researched and published a story about the "misunderstanding" on June 29th, 2006. I can provide an electronic copy of this article along with notes and documentation of every phone call I have made and every e-mail I have sent and received pertinent to the discussion. The crux of the article was that the gate should indeed be kept open and steps would be taken to correct the problem. A Parks and Rec official and Principal Giardana of Sahuaro HS were both quoted as attesting to this.

The problem still exists, 7 months after that article and 14 months after I initially started contacting the appropriate government agencies!

I have been contacting the following on a weekly basis via e-mail concerning the problem:

Abel Ramirez - Sahuaro Asst Principal of Facilities

Jim Conroy - East District Administrator of the Parks and Rec

a few others that are on thread and I am unsure of their actual positions, one is TUSD Security.

Glenna Emslie

Marcia Chapman

Al Robles

Jim Conroy has been attempting to resolve the problem by making sure the gate is unlocked, but someone with a key comes along and locks it again. I can only assume that the school is suffering from gross mismanagement or is deliberately attempting to subvert the public's access to this area.

At this point I am extremely frustrated, and have grown tired of begging the school to do its job and keep that gate open during the proscribed hours.

Lately, frequent mention is made of "security problems", but does that mean the public suffers? Are we going to fence off all the parks because of "security problems"? I have wasted far too much time with this - but it is obvious that if someone doesn't continually complain, the gate will never be open - and the community suffers for it.

I informed the aforementioned group on the e-mail thread that I would now be contacting my City Councilperson and writing letters to the editors of both daily newspapers to complain.

All I am asking is that the Sahuaro High School pedestrian access gate at Vicksburg remain open during the proscribed hours. Such a small request - and yet this has taken up too much of my time, and the time of others who undoubtedly have more important things to do. My view of the City's ability to deal with its problems effectively has been radically changed. How sad that I am still wrestling with this minor issue 14 months later! I am starting to realize there must be many more problems like this out there, problems which get suppressed and cast aside because no one is willing to take the time to push against mismanagement and apathy.

Sincerely,

Blah buh Blah

Letter to the editors: Arizona Daily Star; Tucson Citizen

Why is Sahuaro HS unfairly restricting access?

Sahuaro HS is still restricting access to the outdoor basketball courts during hours of public access!

I though this problem was resolved with Brian Pederson's article published in the June 29th, 2006 issue of the Star, "Confusion Threat to School Parks" which contained the following:

'According to TUSD school planner Bryant Nodine, the courts have been mistakenly locked up because of "a miscommunication of what should be left open and what shouldn't be."

Nodine, who cited recent turnover in Sahuaro's custodial staff, said Sahuaro Principal Sam Giangardella has been informed of the situation and will make sure his employees keep the courts open during the designated public-use times.'

The problem still continues. I have been in weekly contact with Sahuaro's Asst Principal of facilities, The Parks & Rec East District Administrator, and a representative of TUSD Security about the problem and it is still unresolved.

How long will the public's access to this area be unfairly restricted?

Sincerely,

blah buh blah

heating up.....

My latest letter to: the Parks & Rec Administrator, Assist Principal of Sahuaro HS, TUSD security and someone else - I'm not sure who they are.......

Sun 1/14 and Mon 1/15/07

1) gate still locked
2) there is already a City Parks and Rec sign 20 feet from the gate designating the public access area and listing the hours thereof.
3) if security is truly a CONCERN and not merely an EXCUSE, then you will be greatly disturbed to learn the following: Later on Sunday, Jan 14th a vehicle pulled up and unlocked all the driveway gates, then proceeded up to the gym and the occupant went inside. This was followed shortly by 2 other vehicles which went to the gym and the occupants went inside. I went over to ask who these fellows were, since they seemed to enjoy unrestricted access to a very secure area. Perhaps they could unlock the pedestrian gate as well. All the doors were locked and no one answered my banging on them, apparently they couldn't hear me over their private basketball game on the school's indoor gym, which I could clearly hear going on inside. While these folks were in the gym - any number of "skateboarders" or "vandals" could have been driving onto the school fields and tearing up things, stealing things, vandalizing things, whatever they wanted to do. The guys with the keys playing in the gym would never have known.

Seems like that's a HUGE security risk compared to letting some kids use the outdoor courts.

Not to mention the insult of certain people having private access to the indoor court while the public is unfairly restricted from their rightful access to the outdoor courts.

Who are these people and how do they enjoy this privilege? Can I get access to the indoor court when I feel like using it?

By the way - I have the license plate numbers, etc from the three vehicles. Would these be school employees? Who are they?

I am hoping elected officials will take a greater interest in resolving this dilemma.

Sincerely,

Jim Miller

the latest response

I wonder if every time things aren’t getting done they pull out the old “bad people are doing bad things and we had to do it for security reasons” routine, a la President Bush….

Mr. _,
Sahuaro H.S. experienced some serious vandalism over the holidays. Skateboarder’s were seen leaving the campus out that gate on Vicksburg when TUSD Security was coming through the front of the campus. I know the gate was unlocked on Friday afternoon at approx. 3 p.m. because I drove by there and I have a staff member checking this gate Mon. - Friday at approx. 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. and we will continue to do that.

I have also gotten approval from Mr. R_ to have a sign made stating that the gate should be left open after school and on weekends, I’m hoping we can get the sign made this week, if not next week. This sign will be placed on the gate right next to the gate handle (next to the lock). I don’t want to suggest that the lock be taken off permanently, this would leave the campus unsecured. With all the security concerns the school already has during the school day I don’t want to suggest we do that.

We will get the sign made and continue to have the gate checked Mon.- Fri. (as stated above). As we both know, there may be security issues that occur, such as weekend vandalism when the gate should be locked. Unfortunately, we are continuing to see more acts of vandalism and theft in our parks system. J_ C_

Must have been exciting….c’mon - ” Skateboarders were seen leaving the campus out that gate”?!? And this after the school experienced “some serious vandalism”. I wonder if the police blotter has the info on this, it would had to have been reported, right?

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Lest we forget….

The ongoing problem with TUSD over the access gate at Sahuaro HS is in fact, ongoing…

The latest e-mail from me to the usual group of City folk: Asst Principal of the school, East District Parks and Rec admin, and TUSD security is as follows…

From: gympanzi
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 10:31 AM

Subject: sahuaro gate locked again - sun 1/7/07!

Importance: High

Once again public access to this area is being unfairly restricted. This is truly ridiculous!

I guess it is time to contact my CouncilPerson and write cranky letters to the newspapers. Especially interesting to me is this article and statement which I will quote one more time:

article in the Az Daily Star on 6/29/06 titled “Confusion threat to school parks”

‘The outdoor basketball courts at Sahuaro High School, 545 N. Camino Seco, were supposed to be left open for public use from 5 to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and school holidays. According to TUSD school planner Bryant Nodine, the courts have been mistakenly locked up because of “a miscommunication of what should be left open and what shouldn’t be.” Nodine, who cited recent turnover in Sahuaro’s custodial staff, said Sahuaro Principal Sam Giangardella has been informed of the situation and will make sure his employees keep the courts open during the designated public-use times.’

I’ll keep you posted….