KIDS THESE DAYS:

What started out as a rant against Costa Mesa’s Parks and Recreation Commission has turned into a lesson in government.

Over the years, a recurring theme in this space has been that local elections are more important than national ones. Last week, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission proved that.

By a 5-0 vote, the commission has recommended to the City Council that 28 city parks be designated “passive,” that is, certain team sports arrangements will no longer be allowed. Just two parks, Balearic and the Farm, will remain “active,” allowing team sports without restrictions.

In parks and recreation parlance, a team sport is a group of 10 or more wearing cleats and playing an organized sport, such as lacrosse. Polo is not allowed as horses are still banned from the city’s parks.

The first reaction by many was that this was a draconian measure that threw the baby out with the bath water.

The second reaction was wonder at how a city could even think about limiting places where kids can play when the nation has a childhood obesity problem that is so severe it is being called an epidemic.

And the third reaction by more than a few was, “It’s about time.”

I asked Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kurt Galitski about the obesity issue.

“I’ve received quite a few e-mails that take the same stance,” he said. “But the intention of the changes was not to stop a father or a mother from playing catch with their child, or even a Sunday picnic and the family having a pick-up volleyball game. That’s never going to change, and that’s not the intention of the change from active to passive.”

So, everyone who was concerned about six kids in sneakers not being able to play three-on-three touch football can breathe a sigh of relief.

“This [discussion] has been going on for six or seven months,” Galitski said. “It’s not something that just happened overnight. The decision is not something that we were considering one way or the other.”

As part of their due diligence, all the commissioners toured all 31 parks.

“Prior to going to every park we solicited public comments and invited people to meet us at the park,” Galitski said.

Those meetings were dominated by the group that wanted the conversions.

When I challenged Galitski and offered that the perception of the intent was to eliminate male soccer teams from playing where kids should be playing, he said, “I guess you could look at it this way. But if it’s a group of eight people, and they’re all wearing tennis shoes and playing soccer, the code doesn’t affect them.”

I then asked Galitski why the commission is recommending the changes in 28 parks.

“If you read the definition of active versus passive, they are vague by design,” he said. “They’re vague by design because we only want to be concerned with the parks that are having problems, and we want to give the park ranger the authority to determine whether an activity is team play or an abuse of the program.

“I have two kids and I want to be able to kick a soccer ball around with my kids, or even ride a skateboard through the park with my kids. There was no way I was going to let that change, because that’s what all of us grew up doing. The only people this affects are 10 or more wearing cleats.”

Galitski told me the commission considered a third classification called “mixed use” but declined to recommend it.

My analogy to Galitski was surfers and swimmers at the beach. For years now, surfers have been limited to certain hours each day. Why couldn’t the commission recommend a similar program, possibly designating a few hours a day? Again, Galitski said the local reaction was absent.

“We in the commission can only react to the input that we get. If you have a concern about our parks, take three minutes and come and speak. Raise issues. Raise your concerns so we can act on it.”

Galitski has confidence in the commission’s recommendation.

“I feel as though we have enough in place so the adults are not going to be ignored. There’s still Balearic Park, there’s still the Farm for off-season play. And there are still high schools and elementary schools where they can play.”

For those who are upset with the decision, here are the civics lessons you can learn:

1. Get involved. Had more of you shown up at meetings, this decision could have easily gone the other way;

2. Nothing is set in stone. If the City Council approves this recommendation, it can be changed based on new information.

Now it’s time for many residents to change from “passive” to “active.”

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to [email protected].