Santa Rosa, You’re About to Make a Big Mistake

Recently, word has spread through Sonoma County that the City of Santa Rosa is proposing to charge people for parking at Howarth Park. On the surface, the proposed fees – $2 for two hours; $5 for the day – are not anything to get your feathers ruffled about. That is, until I began to really think about this proposal.

As a life-long Santa Rosa resident, Howarth Park was always the defacto destination for days out in the sun. The ajoining parks – Spring Lake and Annadel State Park – make it quite easy to spend hours and hours hiking, bike riding, feeding the ducks, fishing at the lake and things of that nature.

The problems I have with the proposal are as follows:

Taxes

In Santa Rosa, we are already paying 9.250% sales and use tax. If this isn’t bringing in enough funding to keep the few free, quality services we have, then there are larger money-management issues in Santa Rosa, and charging $2 or $5 for parking at a park is not the answer.

Attractions

One of the great things about the park, is that there are many things to do with your kids, yet they all cost money. To take my son on the train costs $2 per ticket and to take my two oldest children on the pony ride costs $5 for two tickets. If I now have to pay $5 to park all day (anyone with kids knows a trip to the park always takes more than 2 hours) PLUS pay to take my kids on the park’s attractions, that’s a rip off.

If I have to pay just to park my car, management officials have blinders on to then expect me to then shell out more money for sub-par attractions. Think Disneyland: You pay a premium to park your car and get through the gate, but the attractions are free (food and trinkets being the exception).

I don’t mind paying to park if my boy can ride the train 15 times in a row if he wanted to.

Overhead

If the city is considering this move, solely due to fiscal reasons, then what sense does it make to set up a system which will neccessitate an increase in overhead of $42,850 per year for each new Parking Enforcement Worker (excluding equipment, benefits, etc.)? Implementing a system which will create that much more overhead, just in the hopes of making a few bucks, while angering park patrons is not the smartest idea.

Street parking

One of the items on the table is the possibility of making street parking in the neighboring areas no parking zones. I have a BIG problem with this for two reasons.

• Parking Meters: Say I drive to the park, circle the lot and find that all of the spots are full. Do we then have to walk several blocks just to get into the park, if we cannot park on the streets?
• Pay to drive in: If the City is going to charge folks at the gate, just to drive into the lot, what happens when the lot is full? Then you have to deal with refunding money and still the issue of where to park when the lot is full becomes an issue.

Pay-to-park will become our bridge toll

Call me a pessimist, but I’ll bet my $5 parking fee that every time, from implementation on forward, the City needs more money, they’ll up the parking rate.

“C’mon guys, it’s only 25 cents.”

“Seriously, fellas, it’s only another 50 cents.”

All of those increases add up. Don’t belive me? Ask anyone driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is not a short term solution

Again, going back to my distrust of “the man,” if you honestly believe that this will be a short time solution and that once (if) Santa Rosa gets its budget under control they’ll remove the charged parking, you’re foolish. Once Santa Rosa gets used to that income it will never go away. Once they start charging us for parking, they will continue to charge for parking, even if the actual budget concern is no longer an issue.

The poor

That’s right; what about poor families? From my own personal experience, I can tell you that there are times when the only thing you can do for your kids, is to take them to the park. Why? Because it’s FREE. If we begin charging to park your car at the park and make street parking illegal, then we alienate the very people who use the park the most.

My solution?

I propose that if the City of Santa Rosa insists on pursuing this option, that they make available a way for Sonoma County residents to purchase an annual park pass. The State of California offers one for state parks and it at least gives people an alternative to paying as they go each and every time. If annual pass holders cannot find parking in the lot, let them park along the streets where the public cannot.

Let frequent park visitors have the option of purchasing an annual park access pass and let those who wish to simply pay as they go, do so.

It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than bending us tax-paying residents over a barrel when we’re not the ones messing up the the city’s budget.

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