The Parks & Recreation Commission's recommendation will now go to LB's elected City Council for discussion, public input and a decision.

The proposal, unveiled publicly at the Commission meeting, was the subject of a city management memo to the Mayor and City Council nearly a week in advance. The June 12 memo from Phil Hester, Dir. of Parks, Recreation & Marine to City Manager Pat West for the Mayor and City Council stated:

In this time of economic uncertainty, the City is looking for ways to enhance revenues in order to pay for basic services to residents. The Department of Parks, recreation and Marine (PRM) permits events including weddings, family reunions, corporate picnics, and large festival events, through our Office of Special Events and Filming. There is an opportunity to grow this business by reaching into a large untapped market for facility rentals and festival venues in our parks. To capture a greater share of this rental market, we need to provide event operators with the ability to serve beer and wine at their events.

PRM has successfully managed venues and events for many years with the service and consumption of alcohol without issue. Examples of such include Blair Field, golf courses, Rainbow Lagoon, Marina Green, Jazz Festival, Lobster Fest, Pride Festival, and the Grand Prix.

LBReport.com has put the memo online so LB residents can see it. [Editor's note: To LBReport.com's knowledge, the memo wasn't on City Hall's publicly accessible webpages prior to the Commission meeting or in the days that have followed to date.] To view the memo in detail, click here.

Presently, revenue collected by Parks, Recreation & Marine, including entrance fees to El Dorado Regional Park, goes to the city's General Fund; the Commission has recommended that all Special Events revenue go to the Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Marine (PRM).

Basically city management recommends adding alcohol venues at the Main Halls and in some cases patio areas at Bixby, Cesar Chavez, Houghton, Recreation, Wardlow, El Dorado West, and Whaley Parks, plus the beach concession "Alfredo's at First Place," the Alamitos Beach Volleyball Court/Ramp Area...plus five El Dorado Regional Park picnic areas -- Golden Grove, Sycamore Grove, Lake View Grove, Garden Grove, Arbor Day Grove and its Archery Range.

The plan might work in a community center or even in downtown parks which have little wildlife, but I have many concerns about this in the open spaces of El Dorado Park...where I believe it could be recipe for disaster.

I do not believe it is possible to attain city management's stated goals of "Protecting the Asset" or "Managing the Liability" for its alcohol program in the picnic areas of El Dorado Park.

• "Protecting the Asset" One of the stated goals of this pilot program is to Protect the Asset. Although every special event will require a parking plan, there are currently not enough parking places in El Dorado for large crowds except on the grass. Parking on the grass is not a solution to the parking problem.

  Yes, I want the public to enjoy El Dorado Park and it is already being enjoyed to capacity every weekend. Adding the hundreds or even thousands of people expected at these events will destroy the vegetation and habitat for the wildlife that so many enjoy and which can be found in few other places in the city.

  Planning events so that they are not during nesting season is a good start, however, the Park has many fall and winter resident birds which can also be disturbed by large crowds and thoughtless people.

• "Managing the Liability" I find it hard to believe that there are enough police and rangers to be able to provide security at a large event serving alcohol. The plan requiring food to be available is a good thing, but some people have a limited amount of money and won't buy expensive food. I also question the theory that requiring music can prevent overdrinking. Having limited hours for alcohol sales sounds good, but many people can get drunk in just a couple of hours of drinking.

Mr. Ashman declined to discuss the current alcohol problems in Belmont Shore when I previously brought them up. I believe these are relevant to this proposal. Supposedly, the ABC also has jurisdiction over Shore liquor licenses and police are patrolling this area, but this has not prevented fights, unruly behavior and perhaps worse related to alcohol abuse.

I also believe that a drunk driver leaving one of these events and causing a fatal accident could be a liability for the city. (The Management Program states: "Vendor must have alcohol liability insurance and name the city as additional insured." I would like this clarified.)

As for the goal to "Create New Revenue Streams for PRM," even with the exorbitant prices charged for alcohol (I understand $10 for a beer is standard at this type of event), it appears that the event organizers are the ones making the money, not the city and certainly not the PRM. I agree with the suggestion that there be a cost analysis done before any changes are made.

I totally agree with the guidelines of no alcohol being sold at youth events. However, I do not understand why "The event must be a family oriented program with at least 25% of the total entertainment venue dedicated to programming for children." If alcohol is going to be served, I would think you would want to discourage the presence of children, not encourage them. I know I would not bring my family to this type of event.

A surcharge on entrance fees to the Park, as mentioned by Parks, Rec & Marine Manager Phil Hester, which would be used for El Dorado maintenance, makes more sense than this pie in the sky idea which changes the alcohol policy for many parks. While you're at it, why not fence off all the city parks and charge the public to use them? It could be a "new revenue stream."

Although Mr. Ashman presented this plan as an opportunity to hold weddings with alcohol in the parks, upon questioning, he admitted that an Octoberfest would be one of the special events which would be serving alcohol. Next I suppose will be St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo -- other opportunities to drink and party.

I am sure it is no surprise that I oppose this ordinance change. Alcohol sales and the loss of public open space in the park were two of the big objections to having the Sports Complex in Area III of El Dorado Park. If you will remember, over 20,000 registered voters from all over Long Beach agreed that commercializing public parks was a bad idea and I believe there will be just as much opposition to this proposal.