Wits, resources and perseverance is what it took for neighbors to reclaim Leland Park from its reputation as a haven for homeless, drug abuse and all around decay. Long-time residents recall the park being lively, with families enjoying family outings and little league teams using the green space for softball games before city budget cuts began to take its toll.
When budget cuts forced the Recreation and Parks department to stop sending maintenance workers to keep the park cleaned and well kept, the grass died throughout and the park equipment was covered in graffiti. The park resembled a dumping ground and eventually, locals who had long called the park home stopped coming.
So fed up with the park’s deterioration, Debbie Rouser, who lives in front of the park, launched a one-woman, letter-writing campaign to force Councilman Joe Buscaino’s office and the Recreation and Parks department to clean up and begin maintaining the park.
“It got to a point where it was so bad,” Rouser said. “There was no other way.”
Rouser’s barrage of letters and phone calls resulted in few results. One day, a friend told her about a Leland Park Facebook page created by another local resident to raise awareness about the park’s state of disrepair and hopefully spark community action on the issue. In a word, Rouser found “allies.”
“It was like a spontaneous eruption,” Rouser said. “Certain people just started volunteering to do different things.”
Afterward, things began moving swiftly. Neighbors organized the Leland Park Advisory Board and began documenting the park’s problem areas with pictures and notes and emailed them to every city department with jurisdiction.
The tenacity of the organized residents caught the attention of Michael Shull-- the Superintendent for the Recreation and Park’s Planning and Development Division--and led him to partner with the park advisory board to transform Leland Park into a fully functioning park.
“The City of [Los Angeles] should never try to do things alone,” Shull said. “Everything should be born out of what the community needs.”
Since combining forces, Shull and the advisory board have created plan that includes installing an irrigation system, building pathways that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replace the dead grass with new landscaping, and redo the ball fields.
Outdoor exercise equipment will also be installed, adding to the variety of activities at the park. Recs and Parks are also planning to install new security lights and cameras and additional parking spaces on Capitol Drive.
Shull and the advisory board are also discussing ways to increased security at the park, which includes installing lights, cameras and putting up a fence around the park with two entrance gates.
Rouser is pleased with the attention law enforcement is paying to the park, a significant change from the days when even complaints of drug transactions was acted upon slowly.
“[It’s] Night and day compared to what it used to be,” Rouser said. “I think a lot of it is because the public has stood up and said we’re not going to stand for this anymore. “People would come at 11 o’clock at night and open their car doors and they’d have the huge, loud, supersonic stereo systems,” Rouser said.
“I would call the LAPD and I would get that fax sound… and you would never get through. And when you did it was like, really, I guess we’ll send somebody. And they wouldn’t come. Then they’d call at five in the morning... and ask me if they still needed [for us] to come.”
Rouser said that at the neighborhood council meeting residents attended to raise the issue of the park’s status, Captain of the Harbor Division, Nancy Lauer, swore to begin patrolling the area and respond in a timely manner.
“[Captain] Lauer stood up and said we got your back,” Rouser said. “And we saw that. I’d see undercovers out here. I saw a lot of black and whites.[Police Patrol Cars]”
Eastview Little League baseball teams have inquired about using the baseball field for practice after the completion of the redevelopment. The Dodgers have promised to provide the field a new scoreboard.
Shull acknowledge the importance of community involvement in addressing quality of life issues.
“Every park thats successful in this city has a community group around it that’s conserved and keeps a watchful eye,” Shull said. “It just takes organization; It takes people that care.”
The city is planning to begin construction within the following two months. If everything goes according to schedule, they are expected to be completed by the fall season.
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