From: Rob & Regina Wilkinson
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: agenda item 11 Calder Creek
Date: Friday, January 28, 2022 7:49:30 AM
1/28/22.
Sebastopol City Council,
We are writing to comment on the Ives Park Master Plan. One of the proposed plans includes the removal of Polley Field. Polley Field has been great asset to the Sebastopol Community for over 40 years and is an integral part of the Sebastopol Little League program. To remove this asset from the community would be a major blow to the Sebastopol Little League community and to the children of Sebastopol. Polley Field is an important part of the Sebastopol Little League program as there is only one other diamond in town with the correct measurements for the minors/majors divisions. The minors and majors divisions provide the baseball experience for over 200 children from the age of 6-13 yrs old each year. Scheduling practice and game times for all those kids is already a challenge, and the removal of Polley Field would make that task close to impossible.
Plans A and B for Ives Park will no doubt be a positive improvement for the Sebastopol community, as it preserves the baseball diamond used by hundreds of community children. Plan C, on the other hand, would unnecessarily eliminate an already existing and useful resource--Polley Field. To ignore the fact that hundreds of Sebastopol families rely on Polley Field as part of their children’s physical, social and emotional development would be an unconscionable decision on the part of this council. Have we forgotten the importance of youth sports and physical activity in the rearing of our children? Have we forgotten the importance of getting our kids involved in after-school activities as a way of deterring drug use and juvenile delinquency? Have we forgotten the role that youth sports plays in building teamworking and leadership skills in kids?
Rather than removing Polley Field, perhaps we could use the resources allocated for the Ives Park Master Plan to refurbish and upgrade the baseball diamond and modernize the concession and restroom building so it can be used for generations to come. Let’s use this opportunity to upgrade a valuable resource rather than to take something away from our community.
Rob and Regina Wilkinson
Sebastopol Residents