PARK RANGER STAFF INCREASE PUT ON HOLD COUNCIL PLEDGES TO REVISIT ISSUE IN BUDGET TALKS.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - Councilman Steve Hofbauer's proposal to hire more park rangers A park ranger is a person charged with protecting and preserving protected parklands, forests (then called a forest ranger), wilderness areas, as well as other natural resources and protected cultural resources. has been turned back, but the council majority said the issue will be re-examined during a midyear mid·year n. 1. The middle of the calendar or academic year. 2. a. An examination given in the middle of a school year. b. midyears A series of such examinations. budget review. Hofbauer's called for more rangers Rapidly deployable airborne light infantry organized and trained to conduct highly complex joint direct action operations in coordination with or in support of other special operations units of all Services. in the wake of recent park crimes, including an assault last month on a city parks worker at Domenic Massari Park. The council directed administrators to monitor crime at city parks, but held off on budget adjustments. ``We just did the budget last month,'' said Mayor Jim Ledford. ``If we need more resources, we can come back it at the midyear budget review.'' Last month, a Domenic Massari Park staff member was assaulted by a 13-year-old boy. At the same park, an 18-year-old was robbed this month of his bicycle at gunpoint. Deputies arrested the 13-year-old boy who they said grabbed a staff worker by the head and kicked her in the stomach when she was trying to get the boy to leave. Hofbauer said his proposal was not a knee-jerk reaction to one incident, but rather an attempt to be proactive about crime at city parks. ``It's the broken-window syndrome,'' Hofbauer said. ``If you take care of the smaller stuff, the bigger stuff won't happen.'' The city budgeted $97,970 this year for its park rangers. That provides for 7,942 hours of patrol time. One senior park ranger oversees 10 park rangers, all working part-time. Uniformed but unarmed, rangers are assigned to nightly night·ly adj. 1. Of or occurring during the night; nocturnal: the cat's nightly prowl. 2. Happening or done every night: the physician's nightly rounds. patrols, from 5 to 11 p.m., covering 29 city sites. One ranger Ranger Any of a series of unmanned probes launched from 1961 to 1965 by NASA. The project was NASA's earliest attempt to explore the Moon's surface. Ranger 4 (1962) became the first U.S. spacecraft to hit the Moon, crash-landing on its surface as planned. is assigned to the Air Force Plant 42 Heritage Airpark air·park n. A small airport typically located near a business area or industrial park. on Friday through Sunday. The cost of providing a park ranger at one site for a year is $30,000, counting salary, benefits, uniform, radio, cell phone and training. The city's policy is to provide two rangers for a park-site patrol, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a city staff report. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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