HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-08-2013 pc wallaceRECEIVE D
JAN 08201 3
:ITY CLERKCOUNCILMEET ING :8 ~3
ITEM NO .:
January 7, 201 3
Dear Mayor Marx and Members of City Council ,
I am writing as a citizen of San Luis Obispo and as the former supervisor of the SLO Skatepar k
in support of adopting the building of a concrete skatepark as a Major City Goal .
Instead of giving a handful of statistics and economic factors, I'd like to share two experience s
from my tenure at the park . When I first took over supervision of the skatepark in 2006, the par k
was being held together with "bailing wire and duct tape" but kids were still coming and skating .
The staff were Cal Poly students who loved to skate and enjoyed spending time with the younge r
kids who were at the park every day . On a visit one afternoon, I was speaking with a staffer wh o
said "See that kid?" and pointed to a mildly grubby middle school aged kid . He continued "Tha t
kid is here every single day . Yesterday, one of the dads of the other kids gave him shoes becaus e
he didn't have good shoes ." I soon discovered that most of the regulars were latch key kids fro m
low income single parent households, but what they had created was a community unto
themselves where sharing and helping each other out was common place .
In July of 2010, one of the regulars of the skatepark was killed in a horrible train accident . A s
word spread of the accident, the skaters gathered at the skatepark . A small shrine wa s
constructed ; broken skateboards fashioned into a heart were attached to the fence and kids jus t
sat together and intensely grieved . Once again, I saw the community they had created com e
together and they leaned on each other . I am still moved by the strength they pulled from eac h
other and in a life changing event such as this, they grew even more tight knit .
What a skatepark offers these kids is much more than a safe and legal place to skate . It's a place
they find solace no matter what the circumstances and a place where many of them have foun d
family . Please consider making an investment in the youth of this community by funding a ne w
skatepark .
Sincerely ,
Stine Wallace
Islay Street