The Alameda Recreation and Park Commission convened on May 19, 2026, at 9:30 AM. The meeting included a farewell statement from outgoing Commissioner Eric Robbins, public testimony regarding Little John Park and a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alameda Little League, staff updates on events and programs, and a detailed presentation on capital improvement projects. No binding votes were taken on the main agenda items, but the minutes from April 9, 2026, were approved.
Well, good evening and welcome to the May 14th, 2026 Alameda Recreation and Park Commission meeting. Uh could we start this evening with a roll call, please? Commissioner Alexander. Commissioner Bernie. Present. Vice Chair Schwartz. Present. Chair Radies. Thanks very much. Uh this evening, Commissioner Robbins isn't able to be here on what would be his uh the his final commission meeting. Uh in his absence, he asked that uh his farewell statement be uh be read, which I'm happy to do at this point. Uh Commissioner Robbins writes, it has been my pleasure to serve on the Alameda Recreation and Park Commission for the past six years. During this time, we've accomplished a lot and have seen the need for our parks grow. As I commonly state, the residents of Alameda must keep in mind, in order to provide the services that you want for our community, we must be responsible and acknowledge that we all must pay for these services. So I ask to always support any initiatives Wreck and Park are asking for with due diligence, and to approve any funding initiatives that are put forth to make this happen. To the commissioners, I thank you for your work and friendship over the years. And to any upcoming commissioners, please remember that we are asked to serve on this commission not because we have a specific initiative or agenda we want to foster, but to represent the community and what they're asking for. So whether it be soccer, boating, pickleball, or swimming, we are not on the board for our own agenda, but for what the citizens of Alameda have told us they want. Lastly, to Justin, Donna, and the rest of the park and recreation team, thank you for all of your time, energy, and service. What you do goes almost entirely unnoticed by the community at large, and yet you are an essential part of what makes Alameda such an amazing community to live in. Signed Eric Robbins. The first item on our agenda is non-agenda public comment. Members of the public may speak for three minutes regarding any matter not on the agenda. Commissioners will not respond to comments or answer questions. Speakers must stay on topic if speaking to a particular agenda item, and if speaking during non-agenda public comment, they must address matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city. If speakers fail to follow these rules, they'll be warned, and if they continue to disregard the rules, their opportunity to speak will be ended. Do we have any non-agenda public speakers this evening? Yes, we have three speakers. The first speaker is Adam Garfinkel. Thank you. Welcome, Speaker Garfinkel. Hi. Thanks for being here and thanks for doing what you guys do. It's critical to our city. Um the words that you read for Mr. Robinson or Commissioner Robinson hits home. I agree with that 100%. I've been a volunteer with Alameda Parks and multiple organizations within Alameda for several years. I've grown up playing at the parks as a kid, and now that I'm an adult, I kind of feel I'm playing at the parks again in a different way. I've been the director of fields with Alameda Little League for the last year and had the pleasure of working with the Little John project. And just wanted to say thank you for all the effort that went into that. It was an incredible effort. The way that city resources came together to support the organization. Helping to rebuild the outfield to maintain the infield to build the mound, try to make things safe to help with parking management, to help with everything required in order to try to make that as viable and safe as it could be for Alameda Little League majors division. Ultimately, I kind of want to say that it's really not great. It's a beautiful field. That the the fencing is not necessarily high enough to be safe for protecting the parks, both on the street side and and uh the park side. A few things that I wanted to share from observations and my time there. Um, it would really help if there was a loading zone that uh we were provided signs to put up as a loading zone. We were provided uh signs to try to keep parking available for residents, and it became very difficult on our volunteers and oftentimes parking the spots that we wanted for the loading zone were already occupied, which then created cascading problems with the neighbors.