One year, I'm told by Jenkins, San Marino used an unspecified portion of the federal grant for the serious challenge of building an apron around the Lacy Park playground. I guess this was so "the most vulnerable" children of San Marino didn't fall and rip their knickers.
As with state money, the federal block grant program allows a city to charge nonresident fees as long as they're reasonable and not excessive, according to Jenkins. But at both the state and federal levels, no legal definition of "reasonable" is provided.
I would therefore like to argue, here in the court of public opinion, that there is nothing demonstrably "reasonable" about the $4 weekend fee at Lacy Park.
Does South Pasadena charge San Marinans and other nonresidents $4 to use the perfectly lovely Garfield Park? No.
Does Los Angeles stick it to nonresidents who use the spectacular Griffith Park? Of course not.
I'm told by Ballantyne that the weekend fee generates $60,000 a year. But the extra part-time staff needed on Saturdays and Sundays costs San Marino only $33,000.
With an annual budget of $540,000, it's not as if Lacy is strapped. So how else are we to view the weekend fee but as an attempt to make a public park a private club?
Peggy Ebright wrote to say that as a resident of San Marino for more than 40 years, she's never seen "snobbishness and exclusiveness" in her town. She argued that the park was trashed by visitors before the fees discouraged large crowds, and I can respect her desire to maintain Lacy as the fine little gem that it is, especially given the limited parking.
But another San Marino resident, Gregory Evans, made the very point I've been hammering away at.
"It is wrong to take federal or state money for park improvements and then to deny access to the public by imposition of an entry fee," wrote Evans, who said he was ashamed by the unfriendly policy.
While in San Marino, I noticed that a library was under construction and nearly completed. Will nonresidents be charged an entry fee there, too?
Not at all, said the city manager.
And how did the city pay for the library, given its claim that the cupboard is bare?
The $16-million project got $9 million in private donations, including $4 million from a single San Marino resident. The remainder, or about $7 million, came out of the city budget.
With all that money floating around, I'm having trouble understanding why Lacy Park needs a nonresident fee -- as well as our state and federal tax dollars -- to stay afloat.
But I'm in a generous mood this holiday season. I think I'll give San Marino city officials a little more time to rethink the policy before I start organizing the bus caravans.
Is overnight camping allowed, I wonder?
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steve.lopez@latimes.com
