Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
If you’ve noticed an increased presence of law-enforcement at the recreation park on Mamie Scott Drive for certain activities, and a greater overall enforcement of the park rules, it stems from a rowdy incident there in April.
The incident was brought to the attention of the Jefferson County Commission by Monticello resident Stephanie Styles on Thursday evening, April 18. Commissioners, however, had already been aware of the incident and had taken steps to deal with it to ensure it didn’t repeat.
As Styles related it, she and her family arrived at the park about 4 p.m. Saturday, April 6, for a baseball practice to find a chaotic scene of snarled traffic, vendors selling food, a golf cart pulling a barrel train and offering rides to kids for a fee, plus blaring music.
“We parked and went to practice and were forced to listen to foul language from not one, but three different music sources all at the same time from several hundred feet away,” Styles said, adding that the activities were in clear violation of the county’s ordinance and the posted signage.
She underscored her point by citing sections of the county ordinance. One of these, she noted, prohibited the operation of audio devices that could be heard at a distance of 100 feet or more from the source by a person with normal hearing faculties and without the aid of any hearing enhancements. Another section, she said, stated that activities that were specifically posted as not being allowed in the park were prohibited.
“Yet,” she said, “during the practice, children up to teens were running between the baseball fields, cursing, fighting and hanging around the restrooms. Some were banging on the doors, threatening to beat up whoever was inside when they came out. Every time we walked back and forth between the fields, the park and the parking lot, the obvious aroma of marijuana was in the air.”
“I was there for nearly three hours,” Styles added. “That means that in that time, there were plenty of opportunities for the sheriff's department, which was there patrolling, to have intervened and stopped any of this illegal activity.”
That same night, Styles said, their homeschool frisbee group had met at the park and the group had witnessed fights breaking out. Too, she said, her friend's mother had been aggressively harassed. And these were only a few of many similar incidents related to the park, she said.
“There are no excuses to be had about drug use in public, especially at a facility meant for children and families,” Styles said. “Smoking medical marijuana in public is also illegal. So truly, there is no excuse for all of the illegal activity. If people are to use the park, there need to be clearly defined rules, deposits paid for potential damages and cleanup, and fees for use.”
Although new to the area and the rec park, Styles said that she did not accept the behavior that she had witnessed and she expected the laws to be enforced, citizens’ rights to be upheld, and the parks and the community made safe for children.
She proceeded to read a letter from the woman who allegedly had been harassed at the park on Sunday, April 7.
According to the letter, the writer said she had accompanied her grandson to the park for a soccer game and had come upon a large gathering of about 200 adults and teenagers dancing, yelling and playing extremely loud music.
“It seemed to me to be inappropriate for a small group like ours to be there during this event,” the woman said in her letter.
Feeling uneasy about being in the park, she had decided to call her grandson’s mother to inform the latter of her decision to leave, she said. Only to have her action misinterpreted by one of the teenage girls in a nearby group, who approached her when she was on the phone, she said.
“She put her face six to eight inches in front of my face and shouted, ‘who are you calling, the Popo? Are you calling the Popo?’” the woman wrote in her letter. “My daughter was still on the phone, and she heard the whole conversation. Absolutely, I was scared for me, but mostly I was scared for our young soccer kids and the few parents with them.”
The writer said that about the time that her group began making their way out of the park, deputies arrived on the scene, making her doubly fearful that it would be perceived that she had called law enforcement.
“I was afraid to go up to any of the officers who were present to discuss the incident, because I was afraid of retaliation,” the woman wrote.
Commission Chairman J. T. Surles apologized for both incidents, expressing embarrassment that they had occurred and offering assurance that it wouldn’t happen again.
“We’re going to nip this on the bud,” he said.
Commissioner Chris Tuten, a member of the recreation park governing committee, expanded on Surles’ comments, offering that the problem had already been addressed.
Tuten said that upon hearing about the incident, he, County Manager Shannon Metty, Park Director Mike Hohm, Sheriff Mac McNeill and others had met and discussed how to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. What they had decided, he said, was to come up with a list of park rules, which had been conveyed to the deputies.
Among those rules, Tuten said, vendors would be barred from the park going forward. Also, amplified music that could be heard within 100 feet of the source would not be permitted, and the rules would be enforced.
“There will be deputies present at our ball games on Mondays or whatever days they are being held,” he said.
Metty added that the discussion also included requiring a fee for the use of the pavilion, as well as requiring reservations for large gatherings. Additionally, she said, organizers of large gatherings would have to hire officers for a minimum of four or five hours to monitor the events. Too, she said, an upfront deposit would be required, which money would not be refunded if county crews had to clean up after the event.
The park, according to the officials, is becoming increasingly popular, and they want to ensure that it makes for a pleasant experience
for all.