San Diego is launching a long-awaited, year-long analysis of how the city can fix stark disparities between recreation centers in southern and northern neighborhoods.
The analysis is prompted by a 2021 audit that found recreation centers in northern neighborhoods, which tend to be wealthier and better funded, host more activities and attract more participants than rec centers in southern neighborhoods.
Those disparities still exist today based on proposed rec center budgets for the new fiscal year, with the rec center in Carmel Valley planning to spend $930,000 while the one at Chollas Lake plans to spend $36,000.
The city somewhat softened the disparities in 2022 when officials created an “opportunity fund,” which funnels a small percentage of citywide park permit fees to 11 rec centers with low funding but high potential.
The new analysis, called a “community recreation needs assessment,” will evaluate the existing programming and activities at all 52 city rec centers, gauge participant satisfaction and record the demographics of s.
The assessment, which is being handled by outside consultant Keen Independent Research at a cost of $149,870, aims to set specific goals for reducing disparities, outline steps the city can take and create ways to measure future progress.
The amount of programming and activities at city rec centers will always vary widely based on the different population sizes of individual neighborhoods and the amount of square footage available for activities.
But those differences don’t fully explain the funding disparities, which are partly fueled by northern rec centers scheduling more activities led by outside contractors instead of on-site staff.
The 2021 audit found that there were roughly an equal number of staff-run and contracted activities at northern centers, but that staff-run activities made up 98% of the programming at southern centers.
While that could be because contracted activities typically come with higher fees per , it may also be partly because community leaders in southern neighborhoods aren’t aware of all the possible activities they could schedule.
“People down here don’t know what the possibilities are because they’ve never seen it,” said Sally Smull, a member of the Encanto Community Recreation Group.
Smull praised the city’s plan to handle the needs assessment geographically, with low-income southern neighborhoods in Council Districts 4, 8 and 9 going first.
“I appreciate that 4, 8 and 9 are going first since we are the communities of concern and have been left out and left behind,” Smull told the City Council’s Community and Neighborhood Services Committee last week.
The consultant plans to spend four months in those communities, then spend four months in central Districts 3,6,7 and then the final four months in northern districts 1, 2 and 5.
The consultant’s efforts are slated to include online forums, surveys, focus groups and in-person forums.
Councilmember Jennifer Campbell agreed that low-income areas should be made aware of the programming possibilities during the consultant’s effort.
“It might be helpful, as you ask the public for their input, to give them some ideas of what’s going on at rec centers around the country, state and our city so they can get a better idea what kind of menu they could have if they had all their choices,” Campbell said.
David Moty, a member of the Kensington-Talmadge Community Planning Group, said he’s concerned the needs assessment is only focused on programming and not also on the disparities between facilities.
“This looks like a glaring hole,” he said.
The needs assessment comes with Mayor Todd Gloria proposing to slash weekly hours at city rec centers from 60 or 65 — depending on the center — to 40. Each center would have 30 core hours and 10 flexible hours that would be scheduled based on neighborhood demand.
To participate in the needs assessment, send an email to [email protected].
This article has been updated to include the cost of the needs assessment.
