With San Jose battling its fourth consecutive year of budget cuts, park maintenance in neighborhood parks was reduced from seven to five days a week.

Three Willow Glen parks--Frank Bramhall, River Glen and Wallenberg--still have their restrooms open daily, but maintenance of the facilities has been cut to five days a week.

Willow Glen resident Samuel Valli, who takes his children to the Frank Bramhall park every week, said he finds the park as clean as before.

"There's no garbage on the ground," he said. "My son says the toilets are clean."

Leni Moberg, who frequents both River Glen and Frank Bramhall, thinks the parks are in still good condition.

San Jose parks manager Steve Roemer said the public has not noticed the full impact of the budget cuts because it is too soon and the department is still in the process of reshuffling its resources. He added that residents can expect to see the more heavily used parks not as well maintained.

The frequency of mowing will go from weekly to bi-weekly. Irrigation will also be reduced to cut utility costs.

"People may find that the grass is getting longer and looking drier than it has the past year," Roemer said. "There will be times when park users will find overflowing garbage cans because there will be no staff going out to the parks some days of the week."

However, he added that safety and health issues are priorities for the city's park, recreation and neighborhood services department. The department will focus its resources on safety and health threats such as broken branches, glass and clearing litter, Roemer said. The heavily-used parks, such as Frank Bramhall park, will also get more attention.

Roemer expects the full impact of the maintenance services to become apparent in the next few months and hopes the public can temper its expectations in light of this year's severe budget cuts.

He added that the department has an adopt-a-park program where individuals, families, neighborhood, school and business groups can help keep the parks clean by clearing litter, removing graffiti, pulling weeds, raking leaves, caring for trees and reporting park hazards.

Interested volunteers can visit www. sjadoptapark.org or call 408.793.4190.