Plan ousts caretakers from Pinellas County parks

Several Pinellas County parks could get stripped of their resident caretakers as a way to cut spending and meet voters' demands for tax relief.

That possibility shocks some park lovers and many of those who live discreetly in the parks and provide around-the-clock monitoring. They fear a spike in vandalism and a deterioration in park appearance and safety.

"It's almost like we'll have to put a sign, 'Enter at your own risk,' on our front gate," said Dave Hollingsworth, a 34-year department employee who lives at the 128-acre War Veterans Memorial Park near Bay Pines.

Parks that could lose their caretakers are Fred H. Howard, A.L. Anderson, John Chesnut Sr., Philippe, Sand Key, John S. Taylor, Boca Ciega Millennium, War Veterans Memorial, Sawgrass Lake, Walsingham, Wall Springs and Lake Seminole. Fort De Soto Park is not affected.

Roving personnel would replace the caretakers and maintenance staffers being targeted for possible staff cuts, said county parks director Paul Cozzie.

The homes now occupied by caretakers could be leased to law enforcement officers, whose presence should deter mischief, Cozzie said.

"I'm fairly confident with the caliber of employees we have that the average citizen is not going to see a difference in the way our parks are maintained and the visitor is protected," Cozzie said.

Paul Stellrecht, vice president of the Friends of Boca Ciega Millennium Park and a city of St. Petersburg employee, doesn't buy it.

Stellrecht said that even with a caretaker at the 185-acre park, which features a public art exhibit and an archeological site, vandals have struck.

"Nothing substitutes for somebody living there and monitoring the investment that the taxpayers have made," Stellrecht said.

Hollingsworth, 58, who earns $64,000 a year to live in and look after War Veterans Memorial Park, said he has broken up disputes between visitors and aided officials in searches for missing people.

"We have isolated wooded areas," said Hollingsworth. "We have lots of patrons in here that could run into problems. They come to us, and we're here."

The possible cutbacks come in response to the January passage of Amendment 1, the statewide property tax relief measure. Parks officials propose axing $4.1-million from next year's spending plan, about 20 percent of the department's current budget.

The parks department has 260 positions, 26 now vacant. The proposal calls for cutting 58 positions, including some vacant ones. Seven of the park system's caretakers are included in the proposed cutback, but officials have not settled on which parks should lose their watchdogs.

Mark Woodard, the chief assistant county administrator, cautioned that the park cutbacks are proposals at this point. Final decisions are months off.

Across the county, government departments are cutting spending. Essential services, such as law enforcement, are less vulnerable compared with government functions deemed nonessential, such as human services and parks.

Is it smarter to trim spending on homelessness and health care for the poor, or from parks?

"It's just a tough decision," said County Commissioner Ken Welch said. "This is the price for tax relief."

Comments on this article

by What did U Expect	Mar 27, 2008 2:53 PM
What did people expect when they voted to lower taxes? There have to be cuts somewhere, just happens to be this poor guy instead of the local fire dept. etc. Rest assured we'll hear more stories like this. Tax Relief, you got it!

by rc	Mar 27, 2008 2:52 PM
scare tactics, plain and simple. There are other ways to cut fat from the budget.

by Typical	Mar 27, 2008 2:52 PM
Typical way to solve a problem. They need to look at the top and middle to save money not at the bottom. there is so much fat that could be cut, but rather than take a real hard look, it is easier to make this kind of cut. Get real!

by Diane	Mar 27, 2008 2:51 PM
Same ole bull. To me, the only ones suffering are the "working" "little people". How about starting at the top and letting some of the big shots take pay cuts. That is where most of the money goes anyway! Wake up guys!!

by Glen	Mar 27, 2008 2:50 PM
Parks, who cares about parks when we're set to blow $500 million on a new stadium. We'll all be working too hard to cover the increased property taxes to bother with park visits anyway.

by concerned	Mar 27, 2008 2:49 PM
They need to start cutting at the top, not at the bottom. leave the indians we need to cut the cheifs!

by Rob	Mar 27, 2008 2:49 PM
People lose there jobs everyday in the corporate world. What makes government employees so special. The real cuts need to happen to the most overpaid government empoyees- Police and firefighters. Here's another idea, how about a few less sp

by JB	Mar 27, 2008 2:48 PM
Some of our Government officials are double and triple dipping, and as a result, honest hard workers are losing their positions. I can't wait to move out of this messed up backwards state.

by Buzzard	Mar 27, 2008 2:46 PM
Will I get a pension, too? Government folks all get pensions, right? Then I can retire, re-apply for my old and get ANOTHER paycheck. Cool! (By the way, do Times people all get pensions?)

by Buzzard	Mar 27, 2008 2:45 PM
Hey, Fed Up: I'll do it for $40K and the house. Let the bidding begin!

by Holly	Mar 27, 2008 2:44 PM
We'd better figure up a way to keep the funding; start with taking away the State's "triple dipper" monies!

by Ryan	Mar 27, 2008 2:43 PM
I guess it's a good thing homeowners are saving $120 a year while others are out of a job and our public property suffers

by ridiculous	Mar 27, 2008 2:43 PM
64k is a heck of a lot, with housing that would have to be near 80k. Perhaps Mr Hollingsworth has a PhD in parkmaintenanceology. Not his fault that he is overpaid, but that is an appropriate cut if ever there was one.

by Pete	Mar 27, 2008 2:15 PM
Why not hire the homeless They also enjoy living in these parks, so why not hire them to care about the parks pay them little or no money and cut back on the rangers They can work shufts, but after a beer party all fall asleep

by vrb	Mar 27, 2008 1:59 PM
Pinellas County is probably the only county in the US with resident caretakers. It's about time we let go of our excesses and old way of doing things. I don't believe that this loss will change anything about the quality or safety of our pa

by kass	Mar 27, 2008 1:57 PM
This is the most demeaning so called "TAX CUT" I have ever read about .Pinellas County should be Ashamed of them selves let them take a small cut in their TAX paid wages and keep our parks safe from vandalisem especilly our Veterans Park ..

by kat	Mar 27, 2008 1:55 PM
yeah, why is it that they never start the cuts at the top where we can more than afford to lose some fat and dead weight, why is always the "grunts" who get cut first?

by Bob	Mar 27, 2008 1:50 PM
How about leasing out the administration's glass offices that face the Gulf once those non-core jobs are cut. County would have a surplus.

by JK	Mar 27, 2008 9:42 AM
Seems like it would be less expensive to have them live in than hire roving people. Paying somebody anyway at probably a higher rate.

by Carol	Mar 27, 2008 9:30 AM
Crist, the idiot. Thanks.

by Clairee	Mar 27, 2008 9:28 AM
Our Pinellas county parks are treasures and caretakers, their guardian. If you haven't visited a park recently...do it this weekend. Meet a caretaker...see the pride they have in these parks....their home, your treasure.

by Simon	Mar 27, 2008 9:26 AM
So instead of the supervisor taking a small pay cut, the people doing the actual work get fired? Typical local politics.

by Firtz	Mar 27, 2008 9:23 AM
As long as they aren't reducing essential services, who cares how they cut spending? Enough with the "guilt trip" stories already!!! However, it's great to watch these local politicians squirm. Welcome to the real world!!!

by RE	Mar 27, 2008 9:22 AM
The homes "could be leased to law enforcement officers, whose presence should deter mischief"...When they are not on duty elsewhere, maybe. Why don't we cut the cream off the top first? Like excessive benefits for officials?

by Fed Up	Mar 27, 2008 9:20 AM
The county needs to stop acting like the sky is falling and get their act together. It's about time they cut some positions. $64,000 a year AND a house? Are you kidding me!!! Where can I sign up?

by Tom	Mar 27, 2008 9:17 AM
The county doubled their budget in 6 years so their solution is to cut back on park maintenance? Smells like red herring to me. Government has no problem finding new ways to spend OUR money yet they struggle to find ways to save OUR money.

by ADP	Mar 27, 2008 9:16 AM
They should get rid of some of their over paid County Commissioners. Ken Welch being one that should go,he wastes more money then anyone.That would save the county.

by sandi	Mar 27, 2008 9:16 AM
This is just horrible. Did our govenor think twice before going gung ho on this tax cut. What did the average person gain, what have we lost. I would much rather pay my original taxes and not have so many cuts that will hurt in the long run.

by George Arthur	Mar 27, 2008 9:13 AM
The average Florida taxpayer can no longer afford the fund cushy jobs for government workers. No one in the private sector gets a free house in which to live. By the way, this caretaker doesn't pay property taxes, does he?

by overtaxed	Mar 27, 2008 9:12 AM
This is a state that depends on tourism, parks are important, camps for children to learn about caring for our parks is important. I think county administration is not part of core government services and could be cut by 50%; we'd get

by Lynn	Mar 27, 2008 9:11 AM
Those who voted to lower their taxes are responsible for this problem. If we don't pay our fair share in taxes, the governments cannot continue the high level of service they provided. The legislators who proposed this amendment need to be vot

by Fed Up Mom	Mar 27, 2008 9:09 AM
I'm tired of the budget dept deciding all of the cuts need to come from parks dept. If there were an across the board cut of 4% then none of this would be necessary. Yes, even the sheriff's dept could afford a 4% cut. I wouldn&#

by John	Mar 27, 2008 9:06 AM
Do I like it? No. Do I think these types of cuts are necessary? Yes. These are exactly the types of expenditures that need to be cut when times are tough. Stop and think about what "non-essential services" means. Nobody likes cuts but.

by al	Mar 27, 2008 9:03 AM
Roughly 7 years ago home values began to go haywire and unseen new tax revenue was collected. Where have all these extra dollars gone? There should be no need to cut back this much as we should have a substantial surplus of monies.

by Ken	Mar 27, 2008 8:59 AM
Typical Power Play,One Supervisor and his "staff" keep their jobs for every 5 "grunts" who do the work and then get let go. This creates havoc among the users, which the Power Elite use to call for higher taxes or user fees to j