Little League needs big help

Dave Brooks

Would you be willing to pay $60 a year to save Little League fields?

That was the question of the hour Monday night when the City

Council met to discuss possible strategies to keep several Little

League fields from being developed into housing.

What was once the problem of the Fountain Valley School District

has become a perennial debate for the Huntington Beach City Council.

On Monday, about a dozen activists and local residents attended a

special city meeting on the issue, some asking the council to back a

property bond to raise money to buy the fields from the school

district.

Similar bond attempts to create recreational spaces for youth have

failed, but a well-managed campaign to generate funding has a chance

of passing this time if the community gets behind it, Councilwoman

Debbie Cook said.

“If we all pulled together, I think we could convince the voters,”

Cook said, adding that past attempts to pass a property bond usually

asked residents to contribute about $5 a month.

“Yes the cost is great, but the cost of not doing something is

greater.”

The biggest barrier will be getting the required two-thirds

approval from Huntington Beach voters, a difficult task in an area

known for disliking additional taxes.

The cost of a special election would be another barrier, estimated

at about $280,000 by City Clerk Joan Flynn.

Councilman Dave Sullivan said the low probability of the bond

passing wasn’t worth the high price tag.

“To put a general obligation bond on the ballot would be like

flushing $280,000 down the toilet,” Sullivan said, later adding that

he was reluctant to “do something that would enable the bad conduct

of the school district.”

Sullivan had particularly strong words for school district

officials during the meeting, characterizing statements by district

Supt. of Business Barry Blade as “moronic,” while calling the

district’s plan to sell the site into private development

“reprehensible.”

“It’s like selling off your body parts,” he said.

The school district decided to sell Wardlow Park and the old Lamb

School site at a Feb. 10 meeting. Money from the sale of the schools,

expected to generate about $25 million each, would be invested and

the interest used to help fund school operations.

Once an elementary school, Wardlow Park has transformed into a

bustling center of activity housing the Huntington Valley Boys and

Girls Club, the local chapter of Head Start and six Little League

baseball diamonds.

The baseball fields were built in part from a $200,000 donation by

former big leaguer Mark McGwire and the Major League Baseball Players

Assn. Parent and nearby resident Alan Gandall said he’s been working

with both groups to prepare a strategy to block a developer from

converting the field into a residential development, and his group

Saveourfield.org retained an attorney to work on the proposal.

No clear timeline has been set on the property bond. The city is

considering entering into negotiations with the school district to

consider a proposal to purchase the school site under the provisions

of the Naylor Act, a state law that requires districts to first offer

former school sites to local cities at a reduced rate before selling

them into residential development.

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

966-4609 or by e-mail at [email protected].