BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield Park Rangers are coming.
Last month, the Bakersfield City Council approved the Recreation and Parks Department’s request for funding for a new park ranger program. But it reserved the right to make changes to the plan before the first hires come on board.
On Monday the Safe Neighborhoods Committee took another look at the program and – to the delight of Rec and Parks Chief Rick Anthony – it gave its full approval, passing the plan as proposed. Anthony had argued that Rangers are needed for a number of reasons including getting a handle on the tens of thousands of dollars of damage each year from vandalism, theft and graffiti in the city’s 62 parks.
Funding for the Rangers program – about $1 million in up-front costs and $2.4 million per year – will come out of Measure N sales tax revenue.
