Since no evidence of a history or pattern of such behavior was introduced, “the subject did not belong in our discussions,” Mr. Rose said.
The threat of pedophiles hanging around skateboard parks apparently was ignited by a Letter to the Editor and, from there, the topic caught fire.
At last Monday night’s City Council meeting, before the vote on park location was taken, Mayor Albert Vera waved a sheaf of documents from the dais. He said the papers contained proof that forty child molesters reside within the confines of Culver City, and fifty-five more nearby.
The implication was unmistakable.
Choosing a Different Way
Mr. Rose said that if predators were a dominant, day-to-day threat, “it should have been discussed months ago or years ago. I am not aware of it being a problem throughout our public park system.
“I think that this issue, like the entire skateboard subject, is a matter of almost hysteria.”
If he had had his way, Mr. Rose said, the Skateboard Park and all ancillary issues should have been aired in a calmer setting. “They should have been written down and discussed as plain, factual matters,” he said.
If he had had his way, Mr. Rose said, the Skateboard Park and all ancillary issues should have been aired in a calmer setting. “They should have been written down and discussed as plain, factual matters,” he said.
“Child molestation is a serious problem, one we all need to be concerned with.
“But I don’t think it is a predominant problem with the placement of a skateboard park.”
He was surprised when it was brought up.
“The subject of child predators came from nowhere,” said the man who was being congratulated this week for leading the way to a settlement over placement of the new park.
“One day it wasn’t there. The next day it had jumped to the top of the list as a reason for insisting that the Skateboard Park had to be built in a very visible area.”
As the months-long community debate turned out, the New Skateboard Park will be built on the site of the Interim Park, fronting on busy Jefferson Boulevard, at the west end of Culver City Park.
The City Council’s earlier solution was a to position it on a patch of grass that also fronted on Jefferson, but at the eastern extremity.
Restating an emphatic assertion he made at this week’s Council meeting, Mr. Rose said the reason he was insistent on a front- of-the-park area had nothing to do with scaring off child predators.
“It was about marketing, marketing, marketing,” said the chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce.
“I can’t say it better than I did at the meeting. We are a safe city. There are bad people around. But we are safe because the police and fire departments, the parents and the kids themselves, all of them, are aware.”
