Kudos to the people behind Save Del Paso Park, the movement that's concerned about the neglected park and nature area along Auburn Blvd between Watt and the freeway ramp (Highway 244) that connects Auburn Blvd with Highway 80 just east of Winding Way. The City of Sacramento owns the property, which is surrounded by unincorporated community neighborhoods that have been around for decades. At the western end of the park, the City of Sacramento operates a respite center for homeless people who, it seems, are bused there from encampments in the City of Sacramento. The respite center has begun to function as something of a magnet for encampments that have sprung up in the nature area of the park - where such activity is not permitted. Meanwhile, the City of Sacramento has been awarded a parks grant to convert the ruins of Renfree Field to a small parking lot and two softball-ish sized ball fields along with a small soccer field. The grant must not have been based on need because 1) the City of Sacramento did not consult with potential users - who, being unincorporated area residents,  inhabit the adjacent neighborhoods as to their recreation preferences, a critical component for that kind of grant and 2) the park is remote from City of Sacramento residents and hard for them to access.

The bottom line is that our unincorporated community is being harmed by the lack of proper stewardship by the City of Sacramento. The Save Del Paso Park folks have been successful at attracting media attention to the problem. Today they appeared before the Board of Supervisors to urge the county to pay attention to the issue. The Supervisors asked the group to meet with county staff, adding that a similar appearance before the City of Sacramento city Council was in order. The group took that advice and appeared  before the Sacramento City Council at its meeting later in the day. Where this is all going to end up could be very interesting, so stay tuned.