Access to parks should be free

If you wanted to drive to a park to enjoy it, you could do this for free, unless of course it’s one of several San Mateo County parks.

While other city or county services are free, because we pay for them through taxes, parking at certain county parks is not. It costs $6. The county’s Parks Department is considering easing access to its parks in a variety of ways, which is great, but a simple way to do it is to simply eliminate the parking fee.

Open space access is so critical for our community, particularly those making low incomes. Adding a barrier to that does little to increase the access. I will use Coyote Point as an example. Say there is a low-income family in North Central San Mateo that lives in a small apartment. The parents work all week, sometimes multiple jobs, and want to take the kids to the park for some rest and relaxation. They pack up the car and have to pay $6 to park, perhaps dissuading them from taking another trip in the future. Instead, they stay home.

And who benefits? No one. The parks should be free.

One could argue that the county has to pay for upkeep of Coyote Point but the person collecting the entrance fee also has to be paid. Besides, to be frank, Coyote Point has never been particularly well maintained. I know there has been a long effort to improve it, and some work is being done right now, but it’s been a below average park for quite some time with a few interesting characteristics. To stay with being frank, I don’t necessarily mind the condition of Coyote Point, but to charge money for access makes very little sense. It should be free. And even if it were to be nice, it still should be free. It is used by many types of people but its proximity to a low-income neighborhood filled with people who would likely use it more if it were to be free, means it should be free.

The county charges to enter Coyote Point, Huddart Park, Junipero Serra Park, Memorial Park, Sam McDonald Park, San Bruno Mountain State and County Park and San Pedro Valley Park. Access is free to veterans every day and seniors over 62 Monday through Friday (holidays excluded). There is an annual pass for $60 which would pay for itself in more than 10 visits, but getting a pass, or even getting a pass that has a reduced cost based on income levels, is still a barrier to access. Instead, parks should be free. I also understand that state and national parks charge for access, but those should be free too.

So I suggest strongly the county’s Parks and Recreation Department remove all park access fees. We in the county have passed tax measures for essential county services. Money from Measure K, a half-cent sales tax passed in 2016, is doled out for any number of reasons all over the county. When we think of essential county services, we think of housing, of mental health, of health care, of parks. And what better way to address health — both physical and mental — than allowing for more access to our county’s open spaces? Access to our parks should be free. And the county should make them free for all. Just like other local government services are free.

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A few weeks back I wrote of some emerging ideas to address health care costs and asked if someone could name an efficient government agency. I probably should have specified national or state governmental agency since it could have been interpreted as a knock on our local government services. I was thinking more along the lines of the Employment Development Department, Department of Motor Vehicles or the Department of Veterans Affairs. I wasn’t thinking of our local services like police, fire or public works. Some of the best-run government agencies are local.

And even though our County Health just resolved a claim that it improperly billed for patients, some could argue that Medicare should pay for more, especially when local health officials were trying to ensure people in need don’t end up on the street. The need for a health system revamp would be lessened if County Health had more state and federal financial assistance. Government should ensure everyone has equitable access to health services, and that would be best done at the local level through additional resources.

Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.