Judy Montero

As I type this, the Rockies lead the Phillies 3-0 in the 2d inning of Game 1. Hold ‘em, fellahs.

We’ve been so focused on the EMU/DMU stuff at this blog that I have neglected to pass along Judy’s displeasure regarding Parks and Rec’s proposed service cuts to District 9 rec centers. You might have read about it in the Rocky yesterday. Like all city departments, Parks/Rec is facing a 3 percent budget reduction, an unenviable position. Judy sympathizes; she knows the department has to disappoint someone. But instead of spreading the cuts around throughout the city, the department sought the majority of its cost-cutting in District 9. Of the 11 rec centers in line for reduced hours under the new budget, more than half are in District 9 — a patently unfair distribution. Parks/Rec proposes to cut service at the Aztlan, Johnson, Swansea, Globeville, La Alma, and 20th Street facilities — six centers, or one more than in all 8 other districts combined.

 The department’s position is that all 6 of the centers have low usage rates, which justifies the reduced hours. Judy couldn’t disagree more. From her standpoint, the usage rates demonstrate that these centers need more resources, not fewer. Heretofore, Parks and Rec has been insufficiently responsive to the needs of District 9 communities. This has contributed to the low attendance — which, in turn, is now being used to justify service cuts that make the Rec Centers even less responsive to community needs.

Judy thinks we need to turn that cycle around and become more responsive, not less. In her opinion, it makes no sense to cut rec center hours in District 9 while simultaneously increasing expenditures on gang enforcement and graffiti abatement. The rec centers should be part of the city’s overall anti-gang and anti-graffiti policy; they give kids a place to go and channel them into constructive activities and away from destructive ones. Cutting the hours of these centers is totally counterproductive; it contradicts and undercuts other priorities in the budget.

A better answer, in Judy’s view, is to use the rec centers to reinforce and support anti-crime initiatives. In particularly, she would like to see

• a revised fee structure that increases access for low-income families
• Saturday / Sunday hours at the rec centers in question (they are currently closed on weekends)
• programming that’s more culturally appropriate for the local communities
• increased outreach and recruitment

Cutting the hours is a quick and dirty way to meet the 3 percent budget-cut requirement, but it’s not good long-range management — nor a wise use of taxpayer dollars. This policy is apt to cost taxpayers more in the long run, in the form of higher rates of petty crime and vandalism, higher enforcement budgets, and so forth.