Youth baseball requests use of Barney Schwartz Park
Paso Robles Youth Baseball Executive Board Chair Tom Seidel speaks to the Paso Robles City Council on Tuesday. Photo by Heather Young
Council directs request to Parks and Recreation Commission
Paso Robles Youth Baseball Executive Board President Tom Seidel asked the Paso Robles City Council to place on a future agenda a discussion on the use of Barney Schwartz Park. Seidel said he was compelled to address the city council because of an issue that arose from the league’s current facility for the 11- and 12-year-old Bronco Division.
“These children play the majority of their games at Pioneer Park near the fairgrounds,” Seidel said. “The homeless people who congregate at this park have become an increasing problem for the obvious reasons. These are our kids we are talking about. We have families who are not allowing their kids to play baseball after 10 years old because they do not want to bring their families — specifically younger siblings — and subject them to this.”
Tom Seidel
The 4- through 10-year-olds play at Sherwood Park on four permanent and temporary baseball fields that the league maintains. The league as more than 520 children registered for the 2015 season.
Seidel told the council that he has to clean up many items that shouldn’t be littered in a park where children play, but he has had to more than once. He said that the teams are willing to practice at Pioneer Park, but would like to play their games at Barney Schwartz Park.
Paso Robles Youth Baseball has requested that the city to allow them to move the majority of their games to Barney Schwartz Park to provide a cleaner, safer environment for our families, Seidel said, adding that he was directed to talk to the Paso Adult Softball Organization, which has the first right-of-refusal for use of Barney Schwartz Park. “Once Adult Softball determines their field needs, the kids — both PRYB and Paso Robles Girls Softball League — can have whatever is left over.” Historically, the league is granted very little field usage at Barney Schwartz Park, he said. “This year, I met with Girls Softball and Adult Softball months in advance, trying to negotiate a reasonable and equitable share of field usage.”
He attempted to get five slots for fields, but said he was only able to get three, up from the limited usage they have been granted in the past. His goal was have two games on Tuesday, one game on Wednesday and use two fields on Friday. The league was granted one game on Tuesday, two fields on Friday and five Saturdays during the season.
The end of the meeting, Councilman Steve Gregory addressed Seidel’s request. “I don’t know what mechanism to offer to help,” he said.”I ‘d like to see if there’s any way for our staff to review this and see if there’s more spots available.”
Councilman John Hamon Jr. agreed and they both suggested that the issue be submitted to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Hamon also suggested that they should meet with staff first to see where it can go from there.
Great job Tom……
Same old story. Good job Tom for bringing up this long time issue. Maybe eventually the parks &Rec and the city council will see the errors of their ways and do the right thing
Hard to believe this could even be an issue. Seems like a no brainer decision.
Nice job Tom.
John Doss was present at this meeting as well. There is no mention of his statements. Knowing Mr. Doss and the PASO Softball Organization there is always room for compromise. But compromise takes time and is not well received when demanded in an expedited timeframe. A number of leagues have played on the same night for years so readjusting 60 or more teams takes more than just a desire to do so. Many people have set work or availability schedules and a change on one night can effect almost 300 people. And to shift that many people onto another night is still another adjustment. I personally like to hear the story from all sides whether I agree or not. I also believe that a newspaper article should express the views of all of the parties mentioned rather than only one.
Parks and rec make money off the adult leagues so why would they want to compromise on a money making deal… Good luck Tom
I think it's so ridiculous that ADULT softball gets first dibs on the fields. And I don't have a baseball player.
This has been an ongoing battle. I do not think the city Council realizes what is happening at Barney Schwartz. There are days we show up and cannot use the field because there are moms and small children in the outfield playing soccer
Good job Tom and good luck with parks and recreation
Adults should go play at pioneer. I think it goes to show priority are misplaced. We need more youth activities. Lots of stuff for adults to do.
I've been playing Paso Adult Softball since I was 16. It's not just adults that play as kids 16 and up are allowed to play. People on here saying there shouldn't be a debate are just ignorant to the fact that many 16 and 17 year olds play too. If they can find a way to share without making it to where Paso Adult Softball Organization has to cut down on how many leagues/teams they can have, then I'm fine with it. If they can't come to a reasonable agreement, then they should look to improve Pioneer Park. I mean it had to have been a suitable place to play at some point because I played there as a kid (which wasn't that long ago considering I'm only 23). I mean we have Pioneer Park, Sherwood, Robins field, and there are fields at Lewis Middle School and Kermit King. How many more fields do we need? Are there more kids playing these days? Are the conditions of the fields unsatisfactory? I mean the story should be about the condition of Pioneer Park and how are they going to improve it. I mean are they just going to abandon it?
Sounds like no one want to address the issue of the homeless making a mess around the Pioneer Fields which really seems to be the bigger problem.
These requests have been getting LIP service from the sports council for years, literally. At least eight years that I was involved with PRYB. How many years does it take? .Paso Robles Youth Baseball has listened to all of the promises. I'm sure that Tom felt that someone else needed to hear of the same old BS being slung again this year. It is time that the children of Paso Robles get to use the fields built for them. Or at least for the city to invest some money in SAFE venues.
Thanks Tom for voicing this. Are the nights your are requesting transitional youth baseball game nights? Let's get this rolling… if the seniors give up 2 fields on Wednesday night, I don't mind moving to another night as long as we don't have to play the late games… and we want a heater in the dugout…and the drinking fountains working 🙂
To whom it may concern:
First of all, let's look at the facts in the article in paso robles daily news. Yes, the PRYB president spoke at the city council meeting. He was awfully agitated and spoke very poorly about a great organization P.A.S.O.( Paso Robles Adult Softball Organization). The board at P.A.S.O has thee utmost care for the youth and our city. They have donated to Girls fastpitch softball, the Greater Toy Bank of Paso Robles, Loaves and Fishes and the Cancer Support Community. So, all this talk of the adults not caring needs to go away. P.A.S.O. does not own Barney Schwartz Park. Second, let's talk about who Barney Schwartz Park was meant for. The City used to have the adult softball league play at Pioneer Park, Robbins Field and Sherwood Park. The adults were bounced around the city parks until Barney Schwartz was opened. The adults took on raised league fees for 2 full years to help pay for the
fields out at Barney Schwartz Park. Last year, the PRYB used BSP one night during the week using one softball field. This year, PRYB are using the fields at BSP two nights during the week using 4 fields. This is a 400% increase in field usage in just one year. The P.A.S.O. has bent over backwards to accommodate and attempt to reach a compromise with PRYB and there president Tom Seidel to no avail.
The Paso Robles Daily News also failed to mention that the softball coordinator for P.A.S.O spoke to the city council last night. Why leave this information out of the article? This was either a ploy by PRYB to generate slanted media coverage in their favor or the reporter forgot how to do her job and report both sides of the issue. If the adults have to play fair, then so should the adults who represent the kids.
Wow. I love how one sided everyone is. Hey Tom. Since your such a stud. Answer this for me. Why do I pay $180 for each one of my 3 kids to play in the "run down bum infested parks", but I pay only $40-50 when I play softball. Softball which I play in rather nice parks. Did I mention in addition to the $180 you guys make us find sponsors and perform fundraiser as well. Why does it take you over 3 times as much to raise money for less fields and less quality. Where is all of our money going. Maybe someone who knows what they're doing can take the money and build more fields managed by people who know what they're doing. Because having lived in 3 states in the last 10 years with 3 kids I think it's embarrassing what you guys charge and what we get for it. Thank god we have caring great coaches around here or it would be a complete flop.
I've got news for families afraid to expose their kids to homeless. Time to leave California. I recommend somewhere like Canada or Alaska. What's next. Trying not to expose them to wine, Fruits, Nuts, slow traffic in the left lane, rough roads and illegal imigrants. Welcome to life. It comes at you one way or another.
By the way, I'll play in the streets if the youth league is under new management capable of running a reasonably priced association.
Did I mention 1/4 of the youth games don't have umps. The coaches get stuck doing it. 100% of the softball games have umps. It seems we have a management problem here. They're just as obvious in the workplace as they are at the diamonds. Again, thank god for some really committed dads and moms to help out.
Those against the issue call it agitation those who understand the importance of this issue call it PASSION!! Since the 2008 inception of Paso Robles Youth Baseball (PRYB), has been requesting field usage at Barney Schwartz Park. PRYB follows the “procedure” to get fields but is always denied because Adult Softball has first right of refusal. PRYB has even offered to prep the adult fields, if PRYB could use the fields before them. Last season was the first season in 6 years PRYB was granted one (1) fixed allotted time. The season before that (2013) we were given a random mixture of maybe 5 nights for the entire season.…it was whatever was left over and not wanted by the adult leagues. How is that bending over backwards for our youth?
PRYB has over 500 players in their league, PRGSL has over 200…..we, youth sports, is looking to accommodate over 700 players on many different fields around Paso Robles. PRYB IS NOT asking to accommodate all 500 of its players at Barney Schwartz Park. PRYB IS asking to accommodate one division of 7 teams. It’s not about “controlling” one park it’s about evenly sharing facilities.
Currently the 2015 percentage breakdown in BSP field usage is as follow:
P.A.S.O – 62%
PRGSL-20%
PRYB-13%
KLS (kids love soccer)-5%
What is being proposed:
P.A.S.O – 45%
PRGSL-25%
PRYB-25%
KLS (kids love soccer)-5
I look forward to seeing all organizations involved, working together and coming to a reasonable agreement on all sides. Again…Thank you Tom Seidel for being passionate about our youth!
I don't see a better and more accurate comment. Well said, Jennifer Miller Chavez, who happens to play for both leagues.
Well if it makes you feel better I play for P.A.S.O. have children who play for PRYB and PRGSL. The whole thing is you guys working with P.A.S.O. and coming to a compromise but sounds as though you are being pretty demanding. It’s Doss’ 2nd year running P.A.S.O. so seems to me he is trying to get you field time.
Adults…,put your politics aside, the children are our future. Share & share alike, or take your marbles somewhere else. Why PASO has 'right of refusal' is beyond logical
Those are some interesting stats Jennifer. Now we're getting to the heart of things rather than what paso Robles daily news wanted us all to read. Couple thoughts. Why does one division of only 7 teams gets special privelages then all the other age groups. Are the younger and more impressionable kids any less important than your kids over the age of 10. On a side note, it would be nice if we focused on getting more fields together collectively instead of working against one another. At $180+ per kid, we could probably take the 6 digit numbers and buy some of the dust bowl next door or up above, and expand the fields. Maybe 1 field every couple years and eventually address the problem. Where the heck does all that money go anyways. I'm sure it's legit, but it wouldn't be the last time an organization was found spending $100 on staplers and $300 on a permanent marker.
Since we have many who make decisions based on emotions, and very little fact finding, I decided to do my own hunting around for answer to some very basic questions I had about where our money goes for just PRYB alone. It seems there was approximately $118,500 paid by parents for their kids to play ball. Of which, some $7k went into professional fees last year, then $17k went into rent utilities and maintenance. $500 into postage and then $87k went into miscellaneous. I find it odd there was so much detail in postage, but then the largest expense in the P/L was miscellaneous. How does the government not throw out all kinds of red flags for this NPO based on the 2013. So again, while it seems everyone on this thread is focused on 1 pie and only 1 pie and how we divide it up, I'll ask again, how is the money being spent, and could we begin focusing on having a bigger pie so everyone's a winner. Because what's obvious is this city and other cities like San Luis Obispo need more fields. Maybe it's because we have foolish conversation and get emotional about our kids, or homeless, our limitations and constraints rather than making things better for everyone. It's always easy to say my life isn't as good as yours so share the wealth. How about we focus on making things better for ourselves. I now a group of people who did just that to expand the fields at Sherwood. Lots of great people came together to make sports better for our kids. Let's keep the momentum and not be a bunch of children when we think about how we make it better. How do we all make the pain go away as a team. 1 division!!! Get real. It's one division today, 3 tomorrow and all in. A week. It doesn't help anyone. There aren't enough fields. Quit playing games.
Why not expand the fields in same site, dump all funds into a single pool led by a single group and recognize savings by not having all the staggered resources. Plus then you can take advantage of the best of scenarios. Like the best of management. Maybe we all pay more now "for softball because baseball couldn't get higher could it" and then eventually we drop prices across the board when adequate fields are in place.
Drinking fountains? You have drinking fountains too?
I am all for supporting the youth and the programs. However I and I know others enjoy their softball as well. I'm sure John Doss and whoever else is helping with this has been willing to increase usage to what would not interfere with adult softball.
Secondly, seems like the real issue is the homeless people around the fields. Why not address that or have that solved and not make this seem like "adults don't care about the kids future" type of article.
Lastly, I am hearing parents are paying $180 per kid??? So if my math is correct and the numbers above are correct $180 x 520 kids = $93,600…….yet they can't start saving or putting that money aside to maybe build a new complex for the kids??? Or use that renovate the fields and it's surroundings. All in all it seems like someone needs to look at all finances and see how those are spent before they go pointing fingers.
Seems like the people have spoken. Facts start flying, emotions dwindle, and nobody has answers to what should be some real basic questions. Such answers could help us really make a difference. Of course it's always so much funner to push the easy button. I take it back, the people are done speaking which is unfortunate for our kids and future generations.
Great job Tom……
Same old story. Good job Tom for bringing up this long time issue. Maybe eventually the parks &Rec and the city council will see the errors of their ways and do the right thing
Hard to believe this could even be an issue. Seems like a no brainer decision.
Nice job Tom.
John Doss was present at this meeting as well. There is no mention of his statements. Knowing Mr. Doss and the PASO Softball Organization there is always room for compromise. But compromise takes time and is not well received when demanded in an expedited timeframe. A number of leagues have played on the same night for years so readjusting 60 or more teams takes more than just a desire to do so. Many people have set work or availability schedules and a change on one night can effect almost 300 people. And to shift that many people onto another night is still another adjustment. I personally like to hear the story from all sides whether I agree or not. I also believe that a newspaper article should express the views of all of the parties mentioned rather than only one.
Parks and rec make money off the adult leagues so why would they want to compromise on a money making deal… Good luck Tom
I think it's so ridiculous that ADULT softball gets first dibs on the fields. And I don't have a baseball player.
This has been an ongoing battle. I do not think the city Council realizes what is happening at Barney Schwartz. There are days we show up and cannot use the field because there are moms and small children in the outfield playing soccer
Good job Tom and good luck with parks and recreation
Adults should go play at pioneer. I think it goes to show priority are misplaced. We need more youth activities. Lots of stuff for adults to do.
I've been playing Paso Adult Softball since I was 16. It's not just adults that play as kids 16 and up are allowed to play. People on here saying there shouldn't be a debate are just ignorant to the fact that many 16 and 17 year olds play too. If they can find a way to share without making it to where Paso Adult Softball Organization has to cut down on how many leagues/teams they can have, then I'm fine with it. If they can't come to a reasonable agreement, then they should look to improve Pioneer Park. I mean it had to have been a suitable place to play at some point because I played there as a kid (which wasn't that long ago considering I'm only 23). I mean we have Pioneer Park, Sherwood, Robins field, and there are fields at Lewis Middle School and Kermit King. How many more fields do we need? Are there more kids playing these days? Are the conditions of the fields unsatisfactory? I mean the story should be about the condition of Pioneer Park and how are they going to improve it. I mean are they just going to abandon it?
Sounds like no one want to address the issue of the homeless making a mess around the Pioneer Fields which really seems to be the bigger problem.
These requests have been getting LIP service from the sports council for years, literally. At least eight years that I was involved with PRYB. How many years does it take? .Paso Robles Youth Baseball has listened to all of the promises. I'm sure that Tom felt that someone else needed to hear of the same old BS being slung again this year. It is time that the children of Paso Robles get to use the fields built for them. Or at least for the city to invest some money in SAFE venues.
Thanks Tom for voicing this. Are the nights your are requesting transitional youth baseball game nights? Let's get this rolling… if the seniors give up 2 fields on Wednesday night, I don't mind moving to another night as long as we don't have to play the late games… and we want a heater in the dugout…and the drinking fountains working 🙂
To whom it may concern:
First of all, let's look at the facts in the article in paso robles daily news. Yes, the PRYB president spoke at the city council meeting. He was awfully agitated and spoke very poorly about a great organization P.A.S.O.( Paso Robles Adult Softball Organization). The board at P.A.S.O has thee utmost care for the youth and our city. They have donated to Girls fastpitch softball, the Greater Toy Bank of Paso Robles, Loaves and Fishes and the Cancer Support Community. So, all this talk of the adults not caring needs to go away. P.A.S.O. does not own Barney Schwartz Park. Second, let's talk about who Barney Schwartz Park was meant for. The City used to have the adult softball league play at Pioneer Park, Robbins Field and Sherwood Park. The adults were bounced around the city parks until Barney Schwartz was opened. The adults took on raised league fees for 2 full years to help pay for the
fields out at Barney Schwartz Park. Last year, the PRYB used BSP one night during the week using one softball field. This year, PRYB are using the fields at BSP two nights during the week using 4 fields. This is a 400% increase in field usage in just one year. The P.A.S.O. has bent over backwards to accommodate and attempt to reach a compromise with PRYB and there president Tom Seidel to no avail.
The Paso Robles Daily News also failed to mention that the softball coordinator for P.A.S.O spoke to the city council last night. Why leave this information out of the article? This was either a ploy by PRYB to generate slanted media coverage in their favor or the reporter forgot how to do her job and report both sides of the issue. If the adults have to play fair, then so should the adults who represent the kids.
Wow. I love how one sided everyone is. Hey Tom. Since your such a stud. Answer this for me. Why do I pay $180 for each one of my 3 kids to play in the "run down bum infested parks", but I pay only $40-50 when I play softball. Softball which I play in rather nice parks. Did I mention in addition to the $180 you guys make us find sponsors and perform fundraiser as well. Why does it take you over 3 times as much to raise money for less fields and less quality. Where is all of our money going. Maybe someone who knows what they're doing can take the money and build more fields managed by people who know what they're doing. Because having lived in 3 states in the last 10 years with 3 kids I think it's embarrassing what you guys charge and what we get for it. Thank god we have caring great coaches around here or it would be a complete flop.
I've got news for families afraid to expose their kids to homeless. Time to leave California. I recommend somewhere like Canada or Alaska. What's next. Trying not to expose them to wine, Fruits, Nuts, slow traffic in the left lane, rough roads and illegal imigrants. Welcome to life. It comes at you one way or another.
By the way, I'll play in the streets if the youth league is under new management capable of running a reasonably priced association.
Did I mention 1/4 of the youth games don't have umps. The coaches get stuck doing it. 100% of the softball games have umps. It seems we have a management problem here. They're just as obvious in the workplace as they are at the diamonds. Again, thank god for some really committed dads and moms to help out.
Those against the issue call it agitation those who understand the importance of this issue call it PASSION!! Since the 2008 inception of Paso Robles Youth Baseball (PRYB), has been requesting field usage at Barney Schwartz Park. PRYB follows the “procedure” to get fields but is always denied because Adult Softball has first right of refusal. PRYB has even offered to prep the adult fields, if PRYB could use the fields before them. Last season was the first season in 6 years PRYB was granted one (1) fixed allotted time. The season before that (2013) we were given a random mixture of maybe 5 nights for the entire season.…it was whatever was left over and not wanted by the adult leagues. How is that bending over backwards for our youth?
PRYB has over 500 players in their league, PRGSL has over 200…..we, youth sports, is looking to accommodate over 700 players on many different fields around Paso Robles. PRYB IS NOT asking to accommodate all 500 of its players at Barney Schwartz Park. PRYB IS asking to accommodate one division of 7 teams. It’s not about “controlling” one park it’s about evenly sharing facilities.
Currently the 2015 percentage breakdown in BSP field usage is as follow:
P.A.S.O – 62%
PRGSL-20%
PRYB-13%
KLS (kids love soccer)-5%
What is being proposed:
P.A.S.O – 45%
PRGSL-25%
PRYB-25%
KLS (kids love soccer)-5
I look forward to seeing all organizations involved, working together and coming to a reasonable agreement on all sides. Again…Thank you Tom Seidel for being passionate about our youth!
I don't see a better and more accurate comment. Well said, Jennifer Miller Chavez, who happens to play for both leagues.
Well if it makes you feel better I play for P.A.S.O. have children who play for PRYB and PRGSL. The whole thing is you guys working with P.A.S.O. and coming to a compromise but sounds as though you are being pretty demanding. It’s Doss’ 2nd year running P.A.S.O. so seems to me he is trying to get you field time.
Adults…,put your politics aside, the children are our future. Share & share alike, or take your marbles somewhere else. Why PASO has 'right of refusal' is beyond logical
Those are some interesting stats Jennifer. Now we're getting to the heart of things rather than what paso Robles daily news wanted us all to read. Couple thoughts. Why does one division of only 7 teams gets special privelages then all the other age groups. Are the younger and more impressionable kids any less important than your kids over the age of 10. On a side note, it would be nice if we focused on getting more fields together collectively instead of working against one another. At $180+ per kid, we could probably take the 6 digit numbers and buy some of the dust bowl next door or up above, and expand the fields. Maybe 1 field every couple years and eventually address the problem. Where the heck does all that money go anyways. I'm sure it's legit, but it wouldn't be the last time an organization was found spending $100 on staplers and $300 on a permanent marker.
Since we have many who make decisions based on emotions, and very little fact finding, I decided to do my own hunting around for answer to some very basic questions I had about where our money goes for just PRYB alone. It seems there was approximately $118,500 paid by parents for their kids to play ball. Of which, some $7k went into professional fees last year, then $17k went into rent utilities and maintenance. $500 into postage and then $87k went into miscellaneous. I find it odd there was so much detail in postage, but then the largest expense in the P/L was miscellaneous. How does the government not throw out all kinds of red flags for this NPO based on the 2013. So again, while it seems everyone on this thread is focused on 1 pie and only 1 pie and how we divide it up, I'll ask again, how is the money being spent, and could we begin focusing on having a bigger pie so everyone's a winner. Because what's obvious is this city and other cities like San Luis Obispo need more fields. Maybe it's because we have foolish conversation and get emotional about our kids, or homeless, our limitations and constraints rather than making things better for everyone. It's always easy to say my life isn't as good as yours so share the wealth. How about we focus on making things better for ourselves. I now a group of people who did just that to expand the fields at Sherwood. Lots of great people came together to make sports better for our kids. Let's keep the momentum and not be a bunch of children when we think about how we make it better. How do we all make the pain go away as a team. 1 division!!! Get real. It's one division today, 3 tomorrow and all in. A week. It doesn't help anyone. There aren't enough fields. Quit playing games.
Why not expand the fields in same site, dump all funds into a single pool led by a single group and recognize savings by not having all the staggered resources. Plus then you can take advantage of the best of scenarios. Like the best of management. Maybe we all pay more now "for softball because baseball couldn't get higher could it" and then eventually we drop prices across the board when adequate fields are in place.
Drinking fountains? You have drinking fountains too?
I am all for supporting the youth and the programs. However I and I know others enjoy their softball as well. I'm sure John Doss and whoever else is helping with this has been willing to increase usage to what would not interfere with adult softball.
Secondly, seems like the real issue is the homeless people around the fields. Why not address that or have that solved and not make this seem like "adults don't care about the kids future" type of article.
Lastly, I am hearing parents are paying $180 per kid??? So if my math is correct and the numbers above are correct $180 x 520 kids = $93,600…….yet they can't start saving or putting that money aside to maybe build a new complex for the kids??? Or use that renovate the fields and it's surroundings. All in all it seems like someone needs to look at all finances and see how those are spent before they go pointing fingers.
Seems like the people have spoken. Facts start flying, emotions dwindle, and nobody has answers to what should be some real basic questions. Such answers could help us really make a difference. Of course it's always so much funner to push the easy button. I take it back, the people are done speaking which is unfortunate for our kids and future generations.