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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13A - COMMITTEE RPT - PREY 10-29-13 AND 07-29-13 • MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH October 29, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting convened at 5:31 p.m. in the City Hall, 2nd floor conference room, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, California. ATTI~.PQIANCE Councii members Present Michele Martinez (Chair); Sal Tinajero Vincent Sarmiento Staff Present: Gerardo Mouet, PRCSA Executive Director; Jose Sandoval, Chief Assistant City Attorney, Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager; Jenny Rios, Community Services • Manager; Jose Perez, Community Services Supervisor; Public Present Shane Barrows, Resident Michelle Bretza, Pony Baseball John Bretza, Pony Baseball Carlos Nava, Pony Baseball Gilbert Ochoa, Pony Baseball Sulema Urquiza, Pony Baseball Lori Elizalde, Pony Baseball Raul Ortiz, Resident/Pony Baseball Tony Zuniga, Pony Baseball Eric Eckenwiler, Pony Baseball Javier Ollevidos, Pony Baseball Brandie Nava, Santa Ana Pony Baseball Brett Franklin, Resident Mark Mulkerin, Resident Leon Raya, Resident Julie Stroud, Resident Glen Stroud, Resident Ron Foster, Little League Jorge Robles, SA Pony Baseball Elsie Robles, SA Pony Baseball Jessie Anguiano, Santiago Little League • Jose Rivera, Santa Ana OCRBL PREY Regular Meeting Page 1 October 29, 2012 13A-1 • Henry Buenrostro, SA High School Harvey Contreras, Valley Little League Jaime Contreras, Valley Little League Erasmo Ramirez, Segerstrom High School Mike Jurado, Santiago Little League Peter Zapata, Santiago Little League Oscar Diaz, Valley Little League • APPROVAL OF MINUTES o Minutes of September 25, 2012 accepted as presented. • PUBLIC COMMENTS: o Tony Zuniga indicated he lived in Santa Ana and provided background on why as a youngster he went to Tustin Pony League. At the time, Santa Ana had no Pony League and he wanted a league to compete and improve his skills. o Eric Eckenwiler indicated he played in the Little League program, but went to the Tustin Pony League because it was more competitive. Other cities around Santa Ana have Pony League, whereas Santa Ana does not. o Glen Stroud indicated he lives in Santa Ana by Riverview Park. He coached • Little League at Riverview Park, but is concerned that children across the river cannot play little league at Riverview. He supports the program changing over to Pony League. o Raul Ortiz indicated he was President for Valley Little League for two years. He is not sure if Pony Baseball is the right thing, but supports the fact that he has a choice. o John Bretza spoke in favor of transitioning Little League to Pony League. Pony League prepares players to real baseball and they are better equipped to play baseball. o Shane Barrows indicated his son is 6 years old and is here to gather information and asked if there is an existing contract with Little League. o Henry Buenrostro indicated he is the Head Coach for SA High School. The high school has been losing games and players are leaving the district. o Julie Stroud indicated the coaches are excited and are getting behind the team, but players need to be better equipped. She supports the transition to Pony League. o Leon Raya indicated we need to look at the process to transition from Little League to Pony League. Kids are not being recruited by Little League and Pony League. It's Travel Ball where the kids are being recruited. He is in the process of establishing a Travel ball League, but his goal is to recruit from Santa Ana kids. Councilmember Vince Sarmiento arrived at 5:50pm. o Erasmo Ramirez indicated he is the Head Coach of Segerstrom High School. • He has played professional baseball for over 10 years and later obtained his PREY Regular Meeting Page 2 October 29, 2012 13A-2 • teaching credentials. He played with Valley Little League and learned a lot, but feels there is a problem since players are leaving to other city leagues. We need to keep players here in Santa Ana. If we have a Pony League, kids would play here and stay in the Santa Ana Unified School District. o Jamie Contreras indicated he is a coach for Valley Little League. He is concerned that kids are leaving, because we don't play year round. If baseball is not allowed to play year round, kids will go to travel ball. o Harvey Contreras indicated he is the President of Valley Little League. He supports both the Little League and Pony League programs. We need to keep kids in the baseball program. There are not enough fields in Santa Ana and other sports have priority in September to December. Santa Ana has 39 fields and it is difficult to share the fields all year long. o Mark Mulkein indicated he lives in Santa Ana and has seen kids play in Northwest Little League and Pony League. The leagues have outreached to the community. Little League provides recreational play and fairness. He has talked to some of the residents and indicated the community supports the transition to Pony League. o Peter Zapata indicated he is President of Santiago Little League. Most important is to teach the kids the fundamentals of the game. Pony needs to run some clinics for each of the leagues. He has coached in both Pony and Little League and indicated it boils down to how kids are being taught. o Ron Foster of District 30 indicated right now there are 5 leagues and there is • no Northwest Little League. It comes down to preference and the level of coaching. September 29, 2012 minutes approved as presented. • NORTHWEST LITTLE LEAGUE PROPOSAL o The Santa Ana Pony Baseball proposal was distributed to the PREY Committee by Carlos Nava. o Councilmember Tinajero indicated he has been part of both Little League and Pony League. In Fountain Valley both Little League and Pony share a park. Pony and Little League has different rules. Pony is strict on starting on time. The average team per league is 6 teams, but the numbers have decreased to 1 or 2 teams per league. If players want to improve they have to go outside of Santa Ana. Change is difficult. Little League has a great concept but need to change with the times. We need to provide options for the kids to choose. Need to have a park where all the fields are used by the league. o Councilmember Sarmiento indicated he is in support for kids having options. Kids have talent and need options to thrive and be successful. The basic fundamental issues are: 1) Lack of fields; 2) Year round sports on the field; and 3) the introduction of providing a new layer of options. o Gerardo Mouet indicated staff prepared a handout and will be monitoring field usage. At this point there is not a problem of providing the fields. PREY Regular Meeting Page 3 October 29, 2012 13A-3 • o Councilmember Sarmiento expressed concern of cost to the player. Indicated we need to keep it affordable. Indicated we need to have a program for kids to sharpen their competitive edge. o Carlos Nava indicated Pony Baseball is set up as a non-profit organization and has the proper insurances. Little League is a good establishment. The cost is about the same and a scholarship program has been set up for kids that cannot afford to play. Pony Baseball has been holding clinics for years. Status quo is not working. Pony will be an asset to push kids to a higher level. o Leon Raya asked about the process in which to transition from little league to pony baseball. He also indicated extending the boundaries will not help since all the fields are at maximum capacity. o Gerardo Mouet replied fields need to be monitored to ensure fields are used through the reservation process. o Councilmember Sarmiento requested staff to balance the use of the fields. If boundary's changes can fields be shared or adjusted based on the change? o Ron Foster indicated currently there is no Northwest Little League organization. The boundaries would have to shift. o Councilmember Tinajero indicated he does not want Northwest Little League to be targeted to move. The reason Santiago Little League is increasing is because of the leadership. He recommended staff monitor the use of Riverview Park ball fields by Pony Baseball and report back in one year. o Councilmember Martinez indicated she has experience growing up with the • various leagues and was disappointed when she reached high school. Her experience through the leagues lacked training to prepare her for high school. Some residents just want to play recreational ball and not necessarily competitive play. Staff is currently working on a master joint use agreement with the school district to make additional field's available afterschool. We don't want children to miss opportunities to succeed. Santa Ana is a young city and needs fields for youth. She asked the leagues to provide options to select healthy snacks at the concession stand. o RECOMMENDATION: ¦ PREY approved Pony Baseball to use Riverview Park ball field on a 6 month trial basis and staff to report back to PREY on field usage. • STAFF UPDATE o Gerardo Mouet provided an update on pending agenda items requested by PREY and provided a list of 11 items. o Councilmember Martinez recommended the following items for the next agenda: • CDBG FY 13-14 Priority Setting ¦ Update on Parks and Recreation Agency Budget for FY 13/14. ¦ Update of HEAL Resolution • Amendment Update on Play Rules for Non Organized Sports • Zoo RFP Update PREY Regular Meeting Page 4 October 29, 2012 13A-4 • o Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 28, 2013. Staff will check if the January 28th date will work for the Council Committee and staff. • COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS o Councilmember Tinajero thanked everyone for attending and clarified for the audience that PREY is recommending a 6 month trial for Pony baseball and requested staff to obtain usage numbers. o Councilmember Sarmiento thanked everyone for attending and indicated he is looking forward to implementing a better system of providing options for the kids. o Councilmember Martinez thanked everyone for attending and reminded the leagues to provide healthy choices in the snack bar. ADJOURNED: 7:00 p.m. • Gerardo Mouet Executive Director, PR SA PREY Regular Meeting Page 5 October 29, 2012 13A-5 13A-6 • MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH July 29, 2013 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting convened at 5:31 p.m. in the City Hall, 2nd floor conference room, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, California. ATTENDANCE Council members Present Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Tinajero (Chair) Angelica Amezcua Roman Reyna Staff Present: Kevin O'Rourke, Interim City Manager, Gerardo Mouet, PRCSA Executive Director Lisa Storck, Assistant City Attorney Jeannie Jurado, Interim Community Services Manager • Jose Perez, Community Services Supervisor Hiram Uribe, Graphic Designer. Public Present Jesus Nieto, Pacific Baseball League Manny Quintana, Golden Baseball League Pedro Magallon, S. A. Youth Soccer Association Alex Vega, S.S.B.A Henry Buenrostro, SAUSD Carlos Nava, S.A. Pony Javier Ollevidos, S.A. Pony Sulema Urquiza, S.A, Pony Lori Elizalde, S.A. Pony Harvey Contreras, Valley Little League Liza Rodriguez, Valley Little League Jaime Contreras, Valley Little League Oscar Diaz, Valley Little League Pedro Rodriguez, Valley Little League Aaron Rodriguez, Valley Little League Tyler Lopez, Valley Little League Ruby Woo, Resident Debbie Freedman, FOSAZ Juan J. Rivera O.C.R.B.L. PREY Regular Meeting Page 1 July 29, 2013 13A-7 • • APPROVAL OF MINUTES o Minutes of October 29, 2012 accepted as presented • ESTABLISH BY-LAWS o Lisa Storck - Answered question indicating it is okay to modify By-Laws. This is a standard procedure for all Council Committees. The PREY By-Laws will go before Council for approval. o MOTIONS: • Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero - Motion to establish Committee, Motion passed ¦ Council Member Amezcua - Motion to appoint Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero Committee Chair - Motion passed • Council Member Reyna - Motion to appoint Council Member Amezcua Committee Vice Chair- Motion Passed • PUBLIC COMMENTS: o Pedro Magallon asked when sports lighting to DYSC #2 and #4 would be repaired. Many lights are not working. Mr. Magallon also asked when damaged turf to DYSC #4 would be repaired and the timeline for the work to be completed on the Spurgeon fields. o Jesus Nieto objected to the changes made regarding recent adult baseball • lottery and redistribution of fields. Rules have been violated. New league does not meet the required Santa Ana player resident percentage to be able to have fields. Small percentage of players are Santa Ana residents and do not comply with the rules. Certain individuals were given privileges. The new league is bringing in teams from outside of Santa Ana. Requested Council committee to do what's best for Santa Ana. o Manny Quintana indicated he is a resident of Santa Ana for 50 years and was the first to bring adult baseball to Santa Ana. Some people indicated he profits from using school fields and blames him for damaging the school fields. He was the first to use school fields and has letters from different schools on donations he has made to schools he used. He said he received a call from Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero and was told it can be proven what he has done over the years and why doesn't he take his league to Fullerton. The new lottery only affected him. o Henry Buenrostro indicated that the new lottery system is good because it benefits the community, youth and schools. School fields look good and the lottery system levels the playing field for all leagues. The fields belong to the community and the city, not the leagues. The Council Committee is moving in the right direction with this decision. Competition is good as it improves the quality a program has to offer and holds everyone accountable. Baseball is alive in Santa Ana and he loves the game. He feels privileged to have played the game at a high level and would like to give back to the community. They have former players that maintain the fields the right way to keep them • looking nice so players feel proud to play on well-maintained fields. He PREY Regular Meeting Page 2 July 29, 2013 13A-8 • thanked the council committee and staff for a great job in moving in this direction. o Alex Vega indicated that the lottery process was corrupted, that he was lied to by Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero and Gerardo Mouet. The new league brought in six teams from Long Beach to increase the teams in their league. Mr. Nieto gave the new league Hector Godinez fields on Saturday. The Godinez fields are the best fields in Santa Ana. The new league was allowed to by-pass the process and used Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero to get fields. o Javier Ollevidos indicated that this is the first year for Santa Ana Pony League. Nearly 400 players participated in the program. Other cities are very competitive and Santa Ana never competed well against other cities. The Program is a volunteer program and he puts in approximately 15 volunteer hours a week as a coach and umpire. He is passionate about the game and thanked the Council Committee for allowing the Santa Ana Pony League to move forward. o Carlos Nava indicated he is the president of Santa Ana Pony League. Because of him, the league kids are coming back to Santa Ana to play baseball. The current youth leagues puts restrictions on players and Pony League eliminates those restrictions allowing the game to be played as it is meant to be played. The teams in Pony League represented Santa Ana very well. The league offers scholarships and allows players to grow and develop. They offer regular clinics to teach players basic fundamentals of the game. • The league conducts background checks on everyone involved with the league. The league keeps kids in Santa Ana where they should be and not going to other cities to play in other Pony Leagues or travel ball teams. He thanked the Council Committee for allowing Northwest Little League to transition to the Pony League and to continue forward. o Javier Contreras indicated that the adult leagues are not crying for fields but are crying for profit. Kids are fighting for the game and for fields to play and practice baseball. Does not understand why grown men are fighting for fields. Young athletes are proud, will not going to back down and will fight for fields. o Aaron Rodriguez indicated he is 12 years old and attends McArthur School. He is proud to live in Santa Ana and does not understand why they don't have fields and why they have to fight for fields. He plays baseball year round and baseball is an outlet for him and keeps him off the streets. He wants to make his parents proud and baseball gives him pride. o Harvey Contreras indicated that he does not know why we are here discussing field issues when Mr. Nieto does not even live in Santa Ana. Everyone is fighting for fields and this needs to end. He is fighting for Valley High School and Jerome fields because kids in his program live by these fields. Baseball keeps kids out of jail. He is a volunteer and is not doing it for profit like Mr. Nieto. The lottery was fine, the lottery needs to stay. Do it for the kids. o Tyler Lopez indicated he attends McArthur School and baseball is a lifestyle, it keeps him fit. His older brother plays for Godinez High School and the • fields are in bad condition. The team has to do regular fundraisers to help PREY Regular Meeting Page 3 July 29, 2013 13A-9 • maintain the fields. The little League fields are in better condition than the school fields. His parents taught him to be proud. o Debbie Freedman asked what is the status of the management of the zoo, has not heard anything in a while regarding this matter. Proposed viable option for FOSAZ to manage. Funds saved by the city could be used for other programs, such as baseball. FOSAZ needs to know if they need to hold onto funds. • Interim City Manager Kevin O'Rourke instructed staff to set up a meeting with FOSAZ to discuss. o Juan Rivera indicated he has lived in Santa Ana for 25 years and is the President of Orange County Regional Baseball. He thanked Council Committee and staff for the opportunity to use city fields. He has nothing against the other adult baseball leagues and feels the community should have the opportunity to choose what league they can play for. He is not in it for the profit and will always give back to the community. OCRB will look to become a non-profit. The youth today need more support and OCRB will provide scholarships to Santa Ana youth. Recent news article stated Pony league and Little Leagues are doing very well in Santa Ana. • REVIEW OF PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS o Gerardo Mouet provided park project update • • Pacific Electric Park Improvement - El Salvador Park Community Garden & Picnic Area Improvements ¦ Memorial Park Picnic Area Improvements • Madison Park Joint-Use Community Garden & Basketball Court Improvement • Centennial Park Skate Park Improvements ¦ Leisure class instructors to teach community to grow own gardens • UPDATE OF ADULT BASEBALL PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROGRESS o Gerardo Mouet presented Power Point presentation and handouts on history of adult baseball in Santa Ana and current status. • This issue was presented, reviewed and discussed at the July 24, 2013 Board of Recreation and Parks meeting. The board expressed support in the direction staff took regarding the lottery process for the three adult baseball leagues. • Implementation of Adult Baseball Surcharge of $18 per game with monies going back to help maintain adult baseball fields. Fees voted and approved by City Council as part of Miscellaneous Fee Schedule and took effect July 1, 2013. o Council Member Reyna appreciated everyone's involvement and acknowledged Aaron and Tyler to be able to speak in a public forum at such a young age as it is not easy to do so. He is a product of youth sports and • attributes much of his success to youth sports. All organizations using city PREY Regular Meeting Page 4 July 29, 2013 13A-10 • fields should be non-profit. He referenced SAUSD going through a similar field allocation process several years ago and the school district leaned towards youth over adults. The City and SAUSD over the years have shared ideas to better this process to ensure fields are being used by Santa Ana residents. o Council Member Amezcua indicated that the lottery was done fairly and was a random draw not favoring one league over another and will be an annual lottery. o Mayor Pro Tem thanked staff for a great job; it is not an easy job to distribute fields when there is a lack of open space in Santa Ana. Before there were two leagues with six available fields, one league had four fields and the other had two. Now there are three leagues and each league has two fields. OCRB has shown that they will maintain fields and the other leagues will have to do the same - only time will tell. It's about choice and providing a good product. When there is a monopoly on fields quality is low, fees are high and fields are not maintained. Recently the dug out at Valley High School was damaged and league did not take responsibility to report the damage to the school or the city. It seemed leagues were running amuck and coaches and players did not have a voice. Coaches now have a voice. Choices empowers kids first and adults second. No one lost in this situation, everyone is still here. Kids need to know if they don't fight for something they will never get anything. With the adult Baseball Surcharge we will have money to fix fields • which will benefit everyone. We ask that everyone be good stewards of the fields. ¦ MOTION: • Council Committee Members, Tinajero, Amezcua and Reyna supported and approved staff's direction on the lottery process for adult baseball. • STAFF UPDATE o None • COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS o None ADJOURNED: 6:55 p.m. Gerardo Mouet Executive Director, Lf PREY Regular Meeting Page 5 July 29, 2013 13A-11 13A-12