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