A former mayor told the City Council that he and others are watching the city when it comes to the funds held by George Harding Park, home to Santa Paula Little League.
Jim McCoy addressed the council at the February 7 meeting, noting, “There’s been a lot of discussion” regarding the park’s now defunct advisory committee.
The committee was formed when George Harding and the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) gifted the property to Santa Paula and, McCoy said, “I was a major player in that whole scenario.” Fundraising started in 1939, and what followed was years of annual rancheras, which drew thousands of visitors.
By 1951 the Junior Chamber gave the city the land where the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara River Valley clubhouse currently stands. That same year a regulation baseball field was built with the efforts of Santa Paula Police Chief Thomas Moore. Five years later volunteers constructed the Santa Paula Little League Field, and in the 1970s more dedicated citizens constructed the Santa Paula ASA Softball grounds for both girls and boys.
Almost 40 years after the initial rodeo, in 1978, Harding and other Junior Chamber members formally presented the city with the land that came to be called George L. Harding Park, a fitting honor for the community booster and visionary.
McCoy said, at first “George had decided to give the property to the county” because he and the Jaycees “didn’t trust the council” with the potential income from the property, which crosses Highway 16 and is leased for industrial purposes. The income generated is put into trust fund to benefit the park. “They were finally able to come up with an agreement with the city” that included formation of the advisory committee that McCoy said was charged with park and fund oversight.
The late Mel Howery, the city’s longtime recreation director, “was really instrumental in making this thing work.” George’s late daughter Beverly Harding was the longtime chair of the advisory committee, and other members passed over the years. McCoy, Joe Jauregui and Len Soprano are now the only remaining members of the committee.
McCoy said in recent years he attempted and failed to get financial information about the park trust fund from the city. When fund expenditures were being considered, “The way it worked they’d get a hold of us,” and McCoy said the committee would convene to study the request. “We never turned a project down, but it got to a point” where committee members felt they were being excluded from park business.
McCoy said that perception led to the members gradually letting the committee become dormant, but he told the council there are citizens that would like to serve and ensure the revenue is “used for kids... we want an oversight committee” to take an active part in deciding park expenditures. In the interim, McCoy added, “We’ll be watching you, whether there’ll be a committee or not.”
The council last appointed a member to represent the body on the park advisory board in 2009. The committee has not met since about 2004.
At a November 2010 meeting to update the Harding Park Master Plan, Community Services Director Brian Yanez said the park fund has about $820,000 in the bank. The fund’s income from property leases is about $68,000 a year.
