City Hall: Board eliminates park ranger positions

Jul. 19—ALMOST LOST IN coverage of a recent vote by aldermen to ban camping on Manchester streets and in local parks was a vote to transfer $500,000 to the Manchester Police Department and eliminate the city's three park ranger positions.

Mayor Jay Ruais asked the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to approve the transfer to fund regular police details at city parks and adjacent areas to provide "a consistent law enforcement presence to deter and penalize illegal activity."

"There is no doubt that this action will benefit our residents, visitors, and the business community who wish to enjoy our public spaces," Ruais said in a statement. "I thank the BMA for taking this immediate action to support these measures which will help secure our parks and our city."

The city employs three park rangers, one of whom plans to retire July 31, Ruais said in a memo to aldermen.

One of the other two rangers previously was employed in the public works department, and both will be offered opportunities there and in other departments, Ruais wrote. If they decide to leave the city's employ, they will stay on the job four weeks.

In 2022, city officials allocated some $1.3 million of the $43.2 million in relief funding from the American Rescue Plan to fund the three rangers' positions over five years. Each makes in the range of $50,000 to $60,000 a year, with the remainder of the budget going to two Ford F-250 pickups, uniforms and miscellaneous equipment and materials.

Rangers work seven days a week on two shifts — 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 1 to 10 p.m. Aside from a brief two-hour overlap, each is literally a lone ranger, charged with overseeing the city's 2,000 acres of public parkland.

Their responsibilities include:

—Meeting contractors and responding to emergencies after hours.

—Maintaining a presence on pool decks and at Crystal Lake Beach during swim season.

—Checking on and enforcing park permits.

—Providing community event support.

—Responding to and investigating reports of problems in parks, cemeteries and trails.

—Removing litter, debris and syringes from parks between crew visits.

—Refreshing wood chips at playgrounds and cordoning off broken playground equipment.

—Patrolling trails and doing minor maintenance.

—Supporting winter maintenance operations.

—General community ambassadorship.

"Unfortunately, their responsibilities have been largely taken up by challenges presented by the homelessness issue in our city," Ruais wrote in a memo to aldermen. "Two park rangers cannot realistically cover the vast expanse of our park system, and it is not an effective use of these dollars to try."

The city's park system consists of: 47 parks totaling 900-plus acres; nine cemeteries of 300-plus acres; portions of school grounds totaling more than 100 acres; 20 miles of trails; an 18-hole golf course; Gill Stadium; two disc golf courses; two swimming pools; two splash pads; two ice arenas; 51 irrigation systems; 55 playground structures; 50,000 trees in streets, parks and cemeteries.

According to Ruais, since Jan. 1, park rangers have written 20 tickets, including 10 by the retiring ranger.

"Despite increased patrols by our police, and park rangers, it is clear that there are problem elements regularly occupying our parks," Ruais wrote. "This is entirely unacceptable. Our laws and ordinances must be enforced, and park rangers are ill equipped to address this challenge. They are not law enforcement officers."

Ruais said the parks division will be able to handle the tasks previously assigned to the rangers as well as respond to specific issues as needed.

"We cannot arrest our way out of this problem, but enforcement is a critical component to this effort," Ruais wrote. "The safety of our city is non negotiable."

Homeless services update

On July 17, Ruais provided an update on efforts at the city's engagement center to connect homeless people with services.

Earlier this year, the city announced weekly resource fairs would be held at the engagement center. The fairs gather community partners in one place, where homeless people can access services like health care, job counseling and treatment.

According to the mayor, the engagement center helped 11 homeless people secure housing and helped 17 others to obtain identification cards and important documents like birth certificates.

Four people entered detox and recovery services, and four found employment.

In a statement, Ruais said he's "excited about the progress" officials are seeing at the engagement center.

"I want to thank our community partners who are working diligently with those experiencing homelessness to assist them in building a sustainable life, as well as the staff at the engagement center, led by East Coast Evolution Leadership (ECEL), who work incredibly hard to make a difference every day," Ruais said.

"There are no quick fixes to this challenge, and work remains, but we are making progress and continue to take additional steps to implement a comprehensive response that meets the needs of the unhoused, our residents, our visitors and businesses."

Jake King, director of the engagement center and COO at East Coast Evolution Leadership, said he shares the mayor's enthusiasm about the progress being made.

"Working in this field can be very heavy sometimes," King said in a statement. "Walking alongside people who are struggling is not easy, but because of our guests' perseverance and the ECEL staff's passion and dedication, these successes make it all worthwhile."

CelebratED Sept. 21

School officials are asking folks to save the date of Saturday, Sept. 21, when the third annual CelebratED event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Veteran's Memorial Park.

CelebratED, a joint production of the Manchester School District and Manchester Proud, features free entertainment, food and activities recognizing successes of local students and public schools.

Organizers say this year's event will feature more Manchester School District musical performances, the expansion of the Art Gallery in the Park, the addition of a Manchester School District resource pavilion and more.

Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.