We asked candidates running for City Council seats in Downtown, West and North Long Beach how the city should make park space more equitable as part of our 2022 Election Compare Your Candidates tool. City officials have known for some time that East Long Beach has about 16 times the park space as West Long Beach, but solutions remain elusive.
All 11 candidates who participated in CYC agreed that West and North Long Beach needs more open space dedicated to recreation, though they varied widely on how they’d achieve that.
Lee Charley (1st District) said a dedicated dog park at Drake Park is most needed, but didn’t say how he’d bring this about.
Steven Estrada (1st District) would call for a Land Value Tax, “levied against wealthy corporations operating in the city,” to pay for more park space in his district, while Zachary Deere (1st District) feels the city needs to start by “better utilizing the open space that we have.”
Incumbent Mary Zendejas (1st District) said she’s already played a part in changing the 710 entry points at Third Street “to help realign the freeway to give residents access to the large parcel of open space that sits in the middle of the freeway ramps,” but agreed that more needs to be done to identify more potential open space.
Mariela Salgado (1st District) wants the parks department to dedicate a staffer to grant-writing to help fund new open space opportunities.
Carlos Ovalle (7th District) had a variety of ideas, including reviving the city’s plans to convert the northern segment of the 103 Freeway into a park. Ovalle would also like to see parkland at the RV storage lot at 3701 Pacific Ave., on Baker Street and sees potential in converting a mile-long stretch of a Southern California Edison right-of-way into a park.
Alex Cortez (7th District) said he wants more resources committed to existing recreational spaces in the district, and more effort in finding additional land that could become dedicated park space.
Incumbent Roberto Uranga (7th District) pointed out that he’s already helped improve Admiral Kidd, Willow Springs, Silverado and Hudson Parks, as well as helped secure funds for Tanaka Park. He said he would continue to “cultivate relationships” with organizations like Partners of Parks, the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy and other donors.
Joni Ricks-Oddie (9th District) noted that there are less than 50 acres of “programmable park space” in the district, then said that she would “build on the work I have already done developing the North Long Beach Open Space Master Plan.”
Raul Nario (9th District) would instead look to the private sector and offer incentives to entrepreneurs to “open up shop in North Long Beach” and provide new recreational opportunities.
Ginny Gonzalez (9th District) would like to see the city focus more on providing recreational space to “old stoners who drink coffee and who do not drink liquor or smoke cigarettes.”
Read the candidates’ full answers here.