On the Issues

Our City Parks serve as essential spaces for our community to gather and recreate. We need to make sure our parks are fun and relaxing spaces for people of all ages, now and in the future. Newark has terrific park resources that have served our community well for decades and the City Council needs to take leadership in ensuring that we strengthen these assets for the present and future.

To do this, in 2024, the City put together an update to our Parks Master Plan. The previous Parks Master Plan had identified three priority projects: building a dog park, building a skate park, and installing artificial turf fields at Mel Nunes Sportsfield Park. With all of those projects completed by the time I joined the City Council, I advocated for an update so our community could continue to identify opportunities to improve our parks so they can meet the needs of our community as it is today. The result was the Parks Master Plan Update, which includes a vision for every park in Newark and sets up a process for identifying our community’s priorities.

As a first principle, parks can not be enjoyable if we do not maintain them. This has been a priority for the Council over the past four years, and if re-elected I will ensure it remains a priority. As an example of this, the City installed Kasco Aeration at Lakeshore Park to improve oxygen levels in the lake. This is not a perfect solution, but it has made improvements, and I will continue to work toward better health for the Lake.

The City must also be able to adapt to urgent park needs as they arise. In 2024, the Newark Girls Softball League informed the City that they would no longer be able to use the fields they had used for decades, putting the softball season of Newark girls at risk. It became a priority for myself and the whole City Council to find a location to build a softball field and we were able to bring softball field upgrades to Sportsfield Park ahead of NGSL’s opening day.

We were also able to build new playgrounds that were urgently needed at three Newark Parks. Some of these playgrounds dated back to when I was a kid, and I am glad that the next generation of Newark residents will have upgraded equipment to play on. We need new, safe playgrounds at every Newark park, and, if re-elected, I will continue to advocate for our Parks Master Plan’s vision to bring this forward.

As a part of our Broadband Master Plan, the City will be able to bring Wi-Fi to Newark Parks. What the “park of the future” looks like is something our community will need to decide together, but the City Council needs to continue to advocate for upgrades that can create new opportunities we have not yet imagined.

I would also like to see bathrooms at all Newark Parks. This is not currently the case because the City historically has distinguished between community parks (larger parks that had amenities that would cause everyone in Newark to drive to) and neighborhood parks (smaller parks). I do not think this distinction makes sense anymore. Parks are social spaces, and we need to build parks that allow friends to meet and spend time together, even if they do not live in the same neighborhood. During my time on the Council, I advocated for bringing restrooms to Lakeshore Park, which are set to be constructed in Fiscal Year 2027.

When building park restrooms, we also need to make sure they meet a high standard of cleanliness. We recently upgraded the restrooms at Community Center Park, and I would like to see similar improvements at Sportsfield Park and Birch Grove Park. I believe the example of the new bathroom at the Community Center Park is serving as a proof of concept we can bring to every other park in Newark.

As a City, we should look for opportunities to build new parks wherever we can. Our boundaries constrain Newark, but it is not impossible to find new park space. One opportunity is building the Cedar Linear Park along Cedar Blvd. between Bridgepointe Dr. and Haley St. Building a full park will more than deplete our City’s parks budget, but I believe there are ways we can enhance this space. To start, we can get rid of the concrete in the middle of the “street”, fix the sidewalks, and add better lighting to open this space up to our community. If this “pilot” of a linear park proves to be something that our community supports, we can continue to upgrade the space over time with new amenities.

One way to ensure that our priorities are in line with our community’s needs is by creating a Parks Commission. 10 out of Alameda County’s 13 suburban cities have Parks Commissions (or an equivalent advisory body), and Newark should join them. A Commission will bring more voices into our prioritization-making decisions, which can only improve our results. When we launched our Public Art Commission in 2026, there was enormous interest from Newark community members to have their voices heard, and I believe there will be similar interest from our community regarding our parks policies. But I think we can improve on the concept employed by other communities by including oversight of our city’s facilities. I believe having a Parks (and Public Spaces) Commission will lead to decisions that are community-focused and forward-looking.

Our parks are the parts of Newark most frequently visited by our residents and guests. If re-elected, I will diligently advocate to ensure these spaces remain fun, well-maintained, and safe.