This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

FENCE NO FENCE, HOW ABOUT A SOLUTION

Update #1
For those that demand that the fence must go. This is what is happening in surrounding communities. 

RIVERSIDE: Armed guards to patrol city’s parks, Adams says.

Original Blog:
There has been a lot of talk about the fence surrounding Windsong park.
How it must go mostly by folks that live nowhere near the park.
Why it must stay by those living next to the park. 
Nothing short of an impenetrable cage will keep everyone out of the park after hours. And the current fence is damn ugly. 
What hasn’t been talked about is a solution to the problem which is well documented by checks written out to repair the vandalism, replace a porta-potty that was burnt in early 2010 (this one incident cost more than the proposed annual budget for security at Windsong Park), painting over the graffiti, the list goes on and on and occurs at all three parks in Wildomar. 
Some have called for more law enforcement with each additional deputy costing in excess of $150,000 per year this is not going to happen with the current financial situation in Wildomar.
One workable solution is to increase the current annual budget for security patrols from its current $6,200 for all three parks ($600 at Windsong, $600 at Heritage and $5,000 at Marna O’Brien) or $17 dollars a day, 19 cents per year for every man woman and child in Wildomar for those that like break things down. 
Along with this increased budget should be guidelines as to what a security patrol is, is it a drive-by look see or walk thru the park by an armed or unarmed security guard. Is security going to be required to check in, with whom and how. 
In addition to this could be a citizen watch program whereby a citizen patrol would check up on the parks primarily on days when the problems appear to be the worst. (Something a Parks Commission could look into).
The current fence should be replaced by a short two rail fence like the one currently installed a Marna O’Brien. This would define the boundaries of the park for honest citizens while providing a safety barrier for children that might chase a ball into the street.
At the openings to the park could be posted the hours of operation and a warning that the park is patrolled by a security firm, citizen patrol and cameras (which is called for in the current budget).
Speaking of cameras, In the past $12,000 was budgeted for camera’s at Marna O’Brien (December 9 of 2009 from Community Block Grants), what happened to it.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?