Hermosa Beach is going back to the drawing board in crafting its policy on donations to city projects.
Although the policy will ultimately apply to all future donations, the issue came before the City Council Tuesday night as backers of an improved South Park sought to continue gathering donations to help finance the second phase of construction. City staff had prepared a draft policy, but the council asked them to come back at a subsequent meeting with revisions reflecting council members’ concerns about the presence of corporate insignia on city resources.
The portion of the draft policy that drew the most concern was a section allowing for up to 25 percent of a park sign to be used for recognizing a donor. Such a presence, council members unanimously agreed, would give the wrong impression about city facilities.
“If we ponied up $900,000 as a city, and somebody gives $20,000 as a corporation, it doesn’t make sense to give them the same level of recognition,” said Mayor Carolyn Petty.
South Park is drawing to the close of a significant redesign that would make the park among the first “universally accessible” playgrounds in the country, with features designed to serve children of varying ages and those with disabilities. Phase I of the project is scheduled for completion in January, while Phase II remains partially funded.
Backers of the project have so far collected about $20,000 in donations, said Beth Rohr, a member of the South Park Advisory Council, which is overseeing the redesign process. Most of the donors behind these dollars sought to have their names placed on bricks in a section of the new park.
The council had no objections to such recognition of the donations already received.
