March 24, 2006

Council looks to forums, surveys to help determine future of community centers

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

The Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department is one step closer to making its recommendations to the City Council for the reuse of several community centers.

There are a total of 47 community centers in San Jose—24 community centers, 11 senior centers and 12 youth centers. Initially, 34 were selected for reuse. On April 11, PRNS will present a pared-down list of 10-14 sites for reuse to the city council.

During meetings on March 10 and March 15, PRNS staff went over the community forum and survey results for the different council districts. The group is recommending that some sites be taken off the list. Some of the centers not chosen for reuse will be closed until further funds are available, some will be torn down and the others will remain open to be used for existing programs.

PRNS announced last fall it would be looking into finding nonprofit groups instead of city employees to run various community centers. The program was created as a last-ditch effort to save the city’s community centers. This year’s budget is $6 million, down from the $10 million budget four years ago and staffing has been cut to 75 full-time equivalent employees, down from 149 employees four years ago.

“We need an ongoing, long-term source of revenue,” said Angel Rios, acting deputy director of the Community Services Division of PRNS. “This program allows us to start now and do a little bit at a time. At the same time, we find a new source of revenue [to keep the centers going] and to maintain services at the same level.”

Two Evergreen centers
Two community centers in Evergreen—Meadowfair and Millbrook—are currently on the list for reuse, although there is some discussion that the Millbrook Center will be taken over by Millbrook Elementary School. At present, District 8 City Council member Dave Cortese’s office had no knowledge of non-profits or the school taking over either community center, said Rabia Chaudhry, Cortese’s Chief of Staff.

No specific non-profits have expressed interest in either of the District 8 centers, said Nancy Thome, an analyst for the grants unit for the city of San Jose. However, that doesn’t necessarily indicate there is no interest, she said.

During the community feedback forums, Evergreen citizens noted the Meadowfair site should be kept open for tiny tots childcare and for after school programs. However, they were unanimous in their concerns about traffic, asking the center be kept on the smaller side in order to keep from creating additional traffic in the area.

Survey results differed slightly
Top priorities for Meadowfair were after school activities and programs, closely followed by adult and child literacy programs, a health clinic as well as educational and fun field trips. Survey respondents asked that linguistic/cultural understanding and experience in neighborhood demographics be considered when evaluating outside providers.

As for Millbrook, the survey respondents said that a number of programs conducted by the center were important. These include a preschool program, homework assistance and tutoring, recreation programs, after school care/activities and programs and summer camps. Other activities seeing multiple responses were sports programs, a safe place for kids, summer programs, weekend activities and sports, a quiet environment to do homework and adult classes.

The survey question about special considerations in evaluating outside non-profit providers included community services, good preschool programs and a safe, close environment with a helpful and caring staff. Respondents overwhelmingly asked that existing teachers and community representatives who are knowledgeable about the surrounding population also be considered.

The compilation of survey and forum feedback provides PRNS with the background to approach the City Council. Through these meetings, PRNS was able to determine that only 10 to 14 centers will be up for reuse instead of the 34 in its initial presentation. Some of those taken off the block include senior centers and others that needed more square footage for area populations.

Recommendations will be presented at the April 11 City Council meeting and await the council members’ vote. Once that has been completed, PRNS will begin negotiations with potential nonprofit or other group operators so their operations can begin service by October.