Volunteers may patrol Paularino Park

Deirdre Newman

Homeowners in Mesa North have done what they can to spiff up

Paularino Park -- planting trees and installing benches and garbage

cans.

In the future, members of the Mesa North Homeowners Assn. might be

doing even more to keep the park running smoothly -- as field

ambassadors.

The idea is the brainchild of Trudy Olig-Hall, a 35-year resident

of the area and longtime member of Mesa Consolidated Water District.

She stepped up to the plate after resident Martin Millard brought his

complaints about the park to the attention of the Parks and

Recreation Commission.

The concept is still in the planning stages, and the volunteers

would need to be trained by the city, but Olig-Hall is excited by the

prospect.

“We should all watch out for each other and be happy for each

other,” Olig-Hall said Friday.

Paularino Park is a small neighborhood park. Larger group sporting

activities are not permitted there.

The commission talked about the park at its July 23 meeting mainly

because of concerns from resident Martin Millard, who asserted that

the use of the park is dangerous for kids who play sports there.

Millard asked the city to post signs banning soccer, baseball,

football, field hockey and similar sports because he had seen balls

hitting pedestrians and automobiles and seeing soccer players running

into the middle of Paularino Avenue chasing balls.

“I have almost hit two players -- on different days -- who

suddenly ran into the street when I was driving down Paularino,”

Millard wrote in an e-mail.

Millard said he is opposed to the idea of roving field ambassadors

because it “legitimizes activity that is inappropriate and dangerous

for the players, the toddlers who use the tot lot, the handicapped

people who use the park, passing pedestrians and passing

automobiles.”

The commission was in the middle of its discussion on the park

when “ambassadors” were mentioned, causing Olig-Hall to spring out of

her seat and volunteer.

“When they said ‘ambassador,’ I thought, ‘it sounds great,’”

Olig-Hall said. “I didn’t even know [it is a paid position]. That

wasn’t my intention.”

The ambassadors would be on the lookout for improper behavior,

such as children hanging on trees. They would give a friendly warning

the first time and then report it the next time, Olig-Hall said.

Staff found that Millard’s allegations were unsubstantiated by

police and fire records, with no significant record related to calls

for service about accidents, injuries or any other park matter. The

park is not appropriate for field games, they found. But posting

signs banning games such as baseball and hockey would prevent even

simple family outdoor activities such as playing catch, they added.

Commissioner Wendy Leece said she thought the Mesa North

Homeowners’ Assn. acting as ambassadors was a good solution.

“Maybe that’s all that’s needed -- enlightened information,” Leece

said. “It’s their neighborhood park, so they should really be able to

have a say in how it’s used.”

The ambassador program in the park would be a pilot program, to

see if it helps clear up the problems, Leece said.