Unlike Other City Parks, The City Doesn't Run This One

By Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, the Voice of San Diego

April 24, 2023

When San Diego’s newest soccer club was scouting for a location to unveil its logo and club name, Chicano Park with its momentous murals and regional cultural significance was an obvious choice.

The organizers hoped to make a celebration of it. They wanted to announce their club’s name in a grassy area near the park’s basketball courts, where people would be playing soccer in the background. Their vision included music and food trucks. It had all the makings of a great photo op.

But to make the event happen, San Diego Loyal Soccer Club first needed the permission of a private group. Only then would the city approve the permit to use the public space.

The group is the Chicano Park Steering Committee, a group of volunteers not officially associated with the city. The Steering Committee decided that while it appreciated the team’s interest in Chicano Park, the event would not be appropriate.

That’s because there would be an overlapping ceremony on Nov. 2, 2019, for the Day of the Dead. The park would be decorated in honor of those who have died, and family members would be paying respects to their loved ones.

So, instead, the San Diego Loyal Soccer Club unveiled its logo and name in downtown San Diego.

The Chicano Park Steering Committee has effectively overseen the park for decades. The group was instrumental in the park’s creation and has cared for it and led its transformation from a dirt lot under the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge to a National Historic Landmark home to the largest collection of outdoor murals in the country.

That stewardship has given the group authority over the park. They run their own events calendar, and over the years have become increasingly involved in approving and denying special event permits requested through the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

That arrangement is unique to Chicano Park. A spokesman with the city said it’s because of the park’s history.

The construction of Interstate-5 in the 1960s bifurcated Logan Heights and displaced residents. It was one in a long series of injustices and insults to the predominantly Latino community that had been battling an influx of junkyards setting up shop next to homes because of the area’s zoning laws.

Then the building of the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge displaced more families and below left massive concrete pillars. Residents urged the city to build a community park – and the city promised to do so.

But on April 22, 1970, the community came across bulldozers preparing to clear the area for the construction of a California Highway Patrol station. Residents organized a protest and the Chicano Park Steering Committee came together to lead the occupation. That lasted 12 days.

The Steering Committee kept pressuring the city until it built the park.

Since then, volunteers have overseen the creation of murals that decorate the gray concrete pillars of the bridge. They have advocated against proposals that could damage the murals such as retrofitting efforts to the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge in the 1990s. And led efforts to secure a museum and community center at a city-owned property next to the park.

The group also puts on educational tours and the annual Chicano Park Day, held on the third or fourth Saturday of April to celebrate the park’s history and those who fought to protect it. The work that they do for the community has both earned them respect and admiration from residents. Those who serve on the Steering Committee’s board are artists, residents and long-time community activists.

The group encourages anyone interested in holding an event there to attend their weekly meetings to get permission. They routinely check with the city on maintenance issues and remind city workers to keep the lights on at the park so residents can safely enjoy it, emails obtained by Voice of San Diego show.

The unique history of Chicano Park has left it with a unique relationship with the city. Unlike other public parks, the city has handed most decisions about what events can be held at Chicano Park to the Steering Committee, which does not operate like other city park committees and advisory groups.

Now, the city is considering formalizing an agreement with the group.

It’s not uncommon for city parks to have boards or committees that serve in an advisory role on issues related to maintenance, facilities and policy. These groups provide a space for community feedback and representation.

Balboa Park, for example, has a Balboa Park Committee. It hears from groups that want to have special events at the park. They have at times raised questions about restrooms and handwashing stations’ availability for a proposed event and provide feedback about sponsors. Its votes are recommendations, not official rulings.

Mission Bay Park has a similar committee.

How these groups operate is determined by the city’s municipal code. The people on the committees are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Their meetings are public, and agendas and minutes are posted on the city’s website.

The Chicano Park Steering Committee, though, is the only grassroots organization that holds as much power but does not have an agreement with the city that formalizes its role in issuing permits.

It holds monthly meeting open to the public on the fourth Sunday of the month at the park. Agendas or minutes are not posted online.

“The Parks and Recreation Department has historically given the Chicano Park Steering Committee the opportunity to review requests to permit the park or its amenities such as the kiosko (a gazebo), prior to the City issuing permits,” wrote spokesman Benjamin Cartwright in an email. “The City has relied on the Committee’s guidance in making permitting decisions.”

The city is considering formalizing the role they play in issuing permits. Cartwright said the city has a variety of agreements it can enter into, but the city is still defining roles and responsibilities with the Steering Committee. Those conversations recently paused because the Steering Committee has been busy with planning the April 22, 2023, Chicano Park Day celebration.

Over the last three years, staff with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department have already increasingly deferred to the Steering Committee before issuing event permits.

That’s what happened with the San Diego Loyal event, and many others before and since.

In 2021, a representative with Family Health Centers of San Diego emailed the city’s parks department to obtain an event permit for Chicano Park. The clinic planned to host a healthcare resource fair and provide free health screenings and vaccines.

The event organizer reserved the park, submitted proof of insurance and other materials required by the city. But two months before the event’s date, the organizers were told to check with the Steering Committee if the park was available.

“We recently had a change in our permit process regarding Chicano Park,” wrote German Fimbres, a recreation center director with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, on Aug. 23, 2021. “Chicano Park Steering Committee now handles the permitting of events at Chicano Park.”

The Steering Committee would decide if the park was available, and it wasn’t.

So, on Oct. 16, 2021, Family Health Centers of San Diego hosted the healthcare resource fair a mile away at Memorial Park. The parks department handled the permits and reservation.

In 2022, a group of social workers with the county wanted to host an event at the park. It conflicted with an event the Steering Committee had already approved, but the city’s park staff referred the request to the committee to see if something could be worked out.

The Chicano Park Steering Committee did not respond to interview requests.

Other decisions by the Steering Committee have not gone as smoothly, emails show.

In 2018, the city’s Parks and Recreation department issued a permit for an event at the park. The permit was for a church group to do homeless outreach and sermons. The park staff were aware that the permitted event might conflict with the steering committee’s events, which were not permitted by the city.

Members of the Steering Committee were upset that the church group was using the park and complained to the city.

“It is not my intention to cause any problems for the park or the community but I cannot deny permits to the public who wish to obtain them,” wrote Mark Rosplock with the parks department on Aug. 16, 2018.

The issue was between a permitted and unpermitted event. And the permitted group would get priority, he wrote.

That same year, the department issued a $174 refund to an event it permitted, but that did not happen because the organizer was forced to move across the street. The city parks department staff apologized for the issue the individual had with the Steering Committee and promised to speak to them so it would not happen again.

In 2019, on behalf of the committee, member Lucas Cruz wrote an email to Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, a mayor’s representative and city staff, arguing that city park staff were showing a “continued disrespect” toward the committee.

“Parks and Rec staff has continued to show neglect towards our community calendar and schedules events that conflict with events already marked on the calendar,” he wrote. He called on Moreno to assist with the conflict and added, “This is a continued complaint and we have not seen any disciplinary action nor advancements towards an effective partnership. Chicano Park would not be here if it was not for the Steering Committee and that needs to be understood and respected.”

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