ORD-24 Correspondence – Daniel D. Kelson
From: Daniel D. Kelson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 3, 2022 2:40 PM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: City Council Agenda Item 22-0482
-EXTERNAL-
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers,
As a 24 year resident of the great city of Long Beach, and coming shortly into my second decade as a homeowner in the Wrigley neighborhood, I am mortified by agenda item 22-0482 of the upcoming city council meeting.
There are numerous angles by which one can be offended by this proposed ordinance and I would like to elucidate a few of them.
First—if the point of the proposed ordinance is to ensure that nobody who is of the “right demographic” to potentially cause destruction or commit malfeasance to the playgrounds can ever be around a playground long enough to cause destruction or commit malfeasance, then you’d surely see that without police stationed at these parks 24 hours a day, you’ll surely never have anyone near enough to stop the supposed perpetrators of the malfeasance. And surely we are not going to turn all the playgrounds into 24 hour police stations.
Second—as a father of a 13 year old and a 16 year old, both of whom like to hang out with me at playgrounds (with or without our dog), it seems utterly bizarre that such familial diversions would suddenly be illegal. Why on earth would you make it illegal for me to stand next to the swing set, talking with my daughter about her school day or whatever, while she enjoys some time on the swings? All across the city you are going to shut down such classic family activities? Really? And you know that because the property destruction will be happening when nobody else is around (and certainly no police will be around) all this ordinance will do is criminalize quotidian activities, while undoubtedly doing little to actually prevent the problem you are seeking to address.
Third—if it is 2am and one of our unhoused neighbors would find it comfortable to lay a sleeping bag on one of the softer spots by, or in, a playground, then the last thing we should be doing is criminalizing a logical choice that any one of us might make should we be in just as unfortunate a situation.
It is my hope that if you are not swayed by the first and third items, then surely you can see that the second—one in which you are simply criminalizing the activities of families with teens all across this city—makes the whole endeavor ludicrous and not just offensive on its face.
Thank you for your time,
Long Beach resident and
Astronomer at The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for ScienceDan Kelson [email protected]