The fickle finger of blame goes round and round … Who will
take responsibility for the debacle that was Live Oak High
’s Richert Field, wreaking havoc with Acorn sports schedules,
practice sessions for teams, for the Emerald Regime Marching Band
and costing a non-profit sports organization more than $15,000?
The fickle finger of blame goes round and round … Who will take responsibility for the debacle that was Live Oak High’s Richert Field, wreaking havoc with Acorn sports schedules, practice sessions for teams, for the Emerald Regime Marching Band and costing a non-profit sports organization more than $15,000?
Although the approximately $400,000 field will be used for tonight’s homecoming game – for the junior varsity and varsity teams, freshmen will play in Hollister – is the field truly ready? Have the smaller divots and larger holes been filled? Are the patches of brown gone? The field was earlier deemed “too slippery” for safety. Is it now safe for ankles and knees, those vulnerable joints that can easily be injured?
And what about the rest of the season: if the field could not stand up to the one week of play with three school teams, the Morgan Hill Pop Warner teams and band practice, will it endure through weeks of games by all the above?
This is yet another example of a big district project gone wrong or greatly exceeding cost estimates. From the very beginning, it seems, it has gone wrong.
The contractor in charge of the entire stadium renovations, Jay Beals of Beals Sports, said he originally recommended artificial turf for the field. Although approximately double the cost in initial outlay, he said, the amount is made up by reduced maintenance costs. With even more budget slashing on the horizon, perhaps district officials could have recognized that greenskeepers and extensive watering, not to mention re-seeding or re-sodding would be difficult in the future.
Beals said the second recommendation was a high-quality turf that would have required extensive maintenance and the purchase of a special mower.
The district settled for the third option, a less expensive option, but one that still required a considerable outlay in maintenance costs to keep the field in playing condition.
The timeline on the field was bumped forward so the Live Oak Class of 2003 could graduate on Richert Field; alas, the field wasn’t ready by Friday, June 13, as planned. But at least it would be ready for football in the fall; after all, it had all summer to root, grow and flourish.
Fast forward to September, and the teams are preparing for their seasons. Unaccountably, someone allegedly turns off the field sprinklers for two days during a time when the field is very thirsty.
Jensen Corp., the subcontractor that actually sodded the field, released the field for use, but without checking with Beals, who said he would have recommended aeration of the field and other maintenance procedures before it could be used.
But the field was released, games were played and the damage was done. Who, representing the district, authorized the release? Was Jensen pressed into releasing it before it was ready? Now that the damage has been done, will the field be restored to good condition, out of Jensen’s pocketbook, or will the district have to dig deep? Now that we have seen the importance of proper maintenance, will the district insure that Richert Field receives what it needs? Or will the athletic boosters be asked to fund a greenskeeper?
Is the one-year warranty on the field still in effect? Beals said it should be.
Taxpayers need answers to these questions. Board members need to make it their business. Where is their outrage? Or, at least for the majority of the trustees, is this just “business as usual?”
The board has a responsibility to the voters, parents, children and taxpayers. That responsibility has not been carried out. If board members are not willing or able to carry out their duties, they need to think about stepping down and making way for those willing to.
The money questions need to be answered, and quickly, and then someone needs to step up and take responsibility. This incident is a result of a miscarriage of responsibility, and a little personnel knuckle-rapping appears in order.
Then the board needs to take steps to see oversight of projects is not assumed, but actually happens. If nothing else, they need to consider what is becoming a part of their legacy: numerous projects not on time and not on budget.
We’ll be watching with interest the update scheduled to be given to trustees Monday night.
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