George Wolfberg Park has a nice walking trail.
After spending hours on March 6 trying to get an answer from Palisades Rec Center Director Jasmine Dowlatshahi, and from West Region Rec and Park Superintendent Sonya Young-Jimenez, about why a resident could not access the George Wolfberg Park after 4 p.m., a reader fixed the problem.
The resident wrote to Robert Buenrostro, Principal Grounds Maintenance Supervisor II City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation and Parks on March 7, and sent the story (https://www.circlingthenews.com/george-wolfberg-…losure-a-mystery/).
The resident wrote about George Wolfberg Park, “It is such a beautiful place, and I am so lucky to live on its rim. However, park gates have been closing too early in the day and depriving many visitors of afternoon walks.”
“Could you please help us keep the park open during the required sunrise-to-sunset hours,” the resident asked.
Buenrostro responded immediately to the resident. “Thank you for your email. I will reach out to our locksmith and have them adjust the timers.”
CTN nominates the resident to be the new Palisades Rec Center Director. Not only did the resident reach out to the correct person to fix the problem, but also responded immediately to CTN with an answer.
Today, March 8 around 5 p.m., Young-Jimenez responded to CTN in an email: “The gate’s programming was not working properly and has since been fixed. With daylight savings coming up it has been set to lock at a later time starting this weekend.”
These bureaucrats’ brains cease functioning after a couple years on the job. Civil service syndrome.
Can anyone explain why the hours for Potrero Canyon were set at sunset, when there is another hour of twilight when people could be walking? Palisades Recreation Center does not have locking gates nor does it have sunset hours for walking, despite the fact there is a great deal of vandalism and criminal activity that takes place in that park.
I am curious what was special about this park that it received both a locking gate and special hours. Or is that the adjacent residents receive special treatment?
Also, how does the park plan to account for the fact that sunset times change constantly?
Timers these days are set up to automatically be in sync with DST as well as sunset and sunrise. Let’s hope this one is. That shouldn’t be asking for too much.
Temescal Canyon Park and all the bluff parks in Pacific Palisades have the same hours, which are listed as either dawn to dusk or sunrise to sunset. No special treatment, just common sense. There are no lights (like Pali Rec Center), it is pitch black in the canyon after sunset, and these parks are in high fire danger zones. Shortly after the park was open, the gates were programmed for 7am-5pm (not 4pm) because those were the daylight hours. They did not reprogram them until a citizen alerted the maintenance staff, who immediately fixed the problem. They will have to continue to reprogram them to unlock and lock around sunrise and sunset.