Go ahead and use the fields, just be responsible

As president of the Sycamore Park Homeowners Assn., I feel I should

respond to the material printed on Sept. 17 and 20 regarding the use

of Kaiser Elementary School fields by soccer groups. Our association

and most of the other surrounding neighbors have been involved with

this for more than six years, from tournament use to American Youth

Soccer Organization game use and practices.

Something not mentioned is that the city has a use agreement with

the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for joint use of these

fields, but they are school property. Costa Mesa offers permits and

is supposed to manage and police the use of the permits.

The event described by Barbara Carson and Cheryl Guy are things we

all see way too often, as well as our neighbors. When they park their

cars, the soccer participants block driveways and crosswalks, double

park to chat and park in the red marked curb areas. The events

observed included the toilet use of the area described, but also

included the kicking of soccer balls against chain link fences for

extended periods and -- now that storage containers are located in

the area -- against the steel containers.

Steve Macleod stated in his Sept. 20 response, “I can’t imagine a

more joyful sound on a weekend morning than the voices of young

children having fun playing soccer ... . Who would really find that

to be a problem?” Well, Macleod obviously has not had the pleasure of

being awakened at 7 a.m. to these young children kicking balls

against metal in front of adults. After warmup, the young children

play with their adults screaming and yelling. At least we have been

able to have the amount of whistles, air horns and bullhorns reduced.

Then, there is a group of adults that respond to complaints from

neighbors with profanity and personal attacks -- in front of their

children. We get soccer balls over the fences into our rear yard, an

act which is then followed by an adult boosting the children over the

fence to trespass to retrieve the ball. We have also been provided

dirty diapers, empty beer bottles and garbage from the field, tossed

over the fence by thoughtful adults.

All of this is compounded by the complete lack of policing by the

city. I have seen several plans to supervise these events, only to

see them fail due to officials’ lack of interest. First, park rangers

were the solution, except they were never on duty when needed. Then,

we were given field ambassadors, only to find that no one answers the

cell phone number given to call.I do understand that most of the

soccer parents do not teach their children to use the field as toilet

facilities, but there are too many parents who provide little or no

supervision, and this and worse do occur. Macleod said that Guy and

Carson should be ashamed of themselves to want to limit the weekend

use of the fields just to restore quality of life. This I truly do

not understand. Does he mean our quality of life isn’t meaningful,

and if so then whose is?

Soccer use of the fields is by permit only and clearly means that

this use is not a right but a privilege. Macleod also implies we are

making this up. Well, I invite him to join us in the experience. He

obviously has been on the other side of the fence.

Chris Rohan notes that we should accept this since our houses were

built in the late 1980s and soccer proceeded this date. Well, he

should be comforted that the neighboring residents in the homes that

are original to the area also resist plans for increased use.The city

plays its own part in the problem with its parking requirements.

Costa Mesa has all but ruined many businesses because of its

off-street parking rules, and yet it permits soccer events without

any such restrictions.I am not supporting the elimination of athletic

field use, I am in favor of responsible use, and currently, the

groups using the fields are not taking responsibility. I have

suggested at city meetings that the groups be required to hire and

pay a security company to police the attendees and post a sizable

bond to insure their neighborly behavior. This is based on the

knowledge that people only understand problems in terms of money, and

the threat of losing part or all of a bond when they to not comply

should solve the greatest part of the problems.

Remember, the property in question is school property and in the

end is subject to district control. The lights and restrooms proposed

must be a requirement of the school, not the groups using the fields.

Those who want to light and toilet the school property should be

ready for a long wait due to state building requirements. In the

meantime, proponents should volunteer their front lawns, toilet

facilities and driveways.

I am willing to meet the field user groups to describe the

problems and work out a solution that would meet everyone’s needs.

Generally, we need the users to police their players, coaches and

adults, just as they have with spectator violence.

BILL WARREN

Costa Mesa