Thailand RPCV Ralph White, manager of Richmond's award-winning James River Park, faces a disciplinary hearing today for opening locked gates in the park against a supervisor's orders.
Ban on night park use violated
Manager's in trouble for letting people in after gates are locked
BY REX SPRINGSTON AND JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Mar 24, 2005
Ralph White, manager of Richmond's award-winning James River Park, faces a disciplinary hearing today for opening locked gates in the park against a supervisor's orders.
Under a new city anti-crime policy, gates are being locked at sunset and opened in the morning at several park areas, including the popular Pony Pasture Rapids and Huguenot Flatwater in South Richmond.
White said he twice unlocked gates at those areas to accommodate evening and early morning paddlers, bird-watchers and dog walkers. Locking those gates "is an unfair imposition on the very users we want," White said yesterday.
He added, "I was insubordinate because I simply could not have this radical change in park management take place. . . . With 20-20 hindsight, this wasn't very smart on my part. It was pretty bone-headed."
The case raises two questions: How should the city deal with White, 61, widely known as a tireless leader and promoter of the riverside park for 25 years? And how are the needs of legitimate park users balanced with security concerns?
With the exception of a special event, it is illegal to be in a city park after dark and before sunrise, police said yesterday. Until recently, however, the city had been reluctant to block access to the parks.
While officials acknowledged that some park entrances are more troublesome than others, all have been the target of residents' complaints and criminal activity, said Second Precinct Police Capt. Michael Shamus.
"You're looking at alcohol, disorderly conduct, drug usage, [sex] cruising," said Shamus.
Christy Everson, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, said it is city policy to not comment on personnel matters.
Everson said no one was available yesterday afternoon to provide specifics on the park-locking policy. But she said it is under review.
According to White, city police began about three weeks ago locking gates at night at three parking lots where people reported crimes. The lots serve the 42nd Street and Reedy Creek entrances to James River Park, as well as Forest Hill Park, all in South Richmond. White said those are problem areas, and he agreed with the new policy.
Almost immediately, White said, the policy "morphed" into the locking of other city park lots, including those at Pony Pasture and Huguenot Flatwater, miles northwest of the problem spots.
In mid-March, White said, he locked open the gates of the Pony Pasture and Huguenot Flatwater just upriver. The gates stayed open two or three days until a city worker cut those locks off, White said. On another occasion, White said, he simply opened the city locks.
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Some canoeists and kayakers like to paddle under a full moon, said Ralph Hambrick, chairman of the Falls of the James Scenic River Advisory Committee and a White supporter.
If the city requires the closing of parks at sunset, "the ordinance may need to be adjusted," Hambrick said.
The lot closings began with a request by 4th District Councilwoman Kathy C. Graziano for money to install electronic gates at Forest Hill Park and the 42nd Street and Reedy Creek entrances -- places about which she has heard the most complaints.
While waiting for those gates to arrive, police began locking existing gates, she said.
Graziano said electronic gates, which can be programmed to open and close at specific times, should solve the access problem.
Graziano said she couldn't comment on White's disciplinary case. But generally, Graziano said, "Ralph held that James River Park together. If we didn't have Ralph, we wouldn't have the park in the shape it's in."
Shamus said the lockouts will curtail crime. "We're trying to make the parks safe and family friendly."
He said locking some parks while leaving others open would not be an effective strategy.
"You have the possibility that with one park closed and the other open, you'll just shift the criminal activity to the open place," he said. "It wouldn't be fair to the residents to enforce the law in one neighborhood and not the other."
White said he was placed on administrative leave with pay March 16, accused of insubordination. He said he faces a hearing today at 2 p.m. at City Hall.
He said potential penalties range from a written reprimand to firing.
James River Park is a series of wild riverside lands and islands covering more than 500 acres. White, who started with the park in 1980, oversees it with a staff of two.
Richmond's Web site notes that Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine in December named James River the "Best Urban Park," calling it "a treasure chest of natural beauty." White was named "Best Trail Guardian."
Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or rspringston@timesdispatch.com
Contact Jim Nolan (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com
