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City draws heat from barbecue

By Justin Berton

The annual Sunnyvale city employee recognition barbecue stirred the ire of some neighbors who live near the quaint Las Palmas Park two weeks ago, causing a few to reach the boiling point with the city officials.

The neighbors are upset that their once sedate park is fast becoming the city's go-to spot when booking its large events.

"There is quite a bit of discontent going around," said neighbor Pamela Kittler.

Kittler also said when city workers removed barbecue pits from the redesigned Washington Park last month, barbecue partiers moved toward Las Palmas.

"It's been building up for some time now," Kittler said of the large parties at Las Palmas. Residents complain that noise and crowds leave their neighborhood in a frenzy each weekend.

But there is little the city can do to taper the popularity of the cozy park, according to Leisure Services director Glenn Hannon.

"The park is booked up every weekend throughout the summer--just like all of the city's parks," he said.

Hannon said Las Palmas has always been a popular destination, and the Washington Park downsizing--in which the city removed two picnic areas with a capacity of 200 people--has little to do with the park's popularity.

Las Palmas has three picnic areas. Hannon said the city gives residents permits to the parks they request; it doesn't direct residents to specific parks.

But two weeks ago, neighbors had had enough of the large parties and were incensed to see that city employees were flipping the burgers--on a Thursday afternoon. Kittler and neighbor Linda Feeny are considering organizing a letter-writing campaign to get the city to defer large parties to other sites.

According to witnesses, city workers also removed 'No Parking' signs from the area to accommodate nearly 700 city employees who attended the event.

Several city officials said removing parking signs is not a violation of any city laws, and according to assistant traffic engineer Dennis Ng, citizens can request the same action for their own block parties or other events.

But officials failed to relay this to neighbors, who thought the city was unfairly taking advantage of perks not made available to the general public.

City workers removed 'No Parking' signs around the Sunnyvale Community Center for the Hands On the Arts festival, which drew large numbers of vehicles to the area, said Sue Russell of the public works department.

Russell said the work order for the Las Palmas barbecue required one person to remove nine signs and replace them after the barbecue ended in the mid-afternoon.

City councilmembers approved $16,000 for the gathering, which included recognition of employees celebrating anniversaries.

David Nieto, who heads the city's human resources department and oversaw the gathering, said Las Palmas Park was selected because employees could easily get to and from the park within their lunch hour.

Previous city gatherings that were held at larger parks on weekends were poorly attended, Nieto said.

Hannon said the city processed an internal permit for the event, which allowed the city to forego the $111 cost of renting the barbecue area. School districts and city departments are able to have the fee waived.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 3, 1998.
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