Vandals were at it again destroying public property at Redbud Park. The latest destruction occurred sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
“This is similar to what we dealt with last week with the graffiti,” Doug Herren, Public Works supervisor, said. “Our park funds are minimal and when we have to keep using those funds for repairs it limits what we can provide for the public.”
This time the vandals took a hammer or some other type object and smashed holes and dents in a bathroom door, broke the handles off two other doors, tore out a bathroom fixture and lit a pile of toilet paper on fire in the middle of a bathroom floor.
“People do a lot of damage to these bathrooms,” Miguel Mosqueda, Public Works employee of 15 years said. “These bathrooms get vandalized worse than the ones down at Austin Park.”
Mosqueda said that two of the six bathrooms at Redbud Park have been closed and locked to the public due to past acts of vandalism. He said there was a useable sink in one of the vacant bathrooms that he was able to use to replace the one that was found destroyed Tuesday morning. “These sinks cost over $300,” he said. “I changed the sink from one bathroom to the other but we still have to replace the door handles. They also took all the toilet paper and set it on fire in the middle of the floor.”
On the other side of the facility more damage was suffered. “They used something to put all these holes and dents in this door,” Mosqueda said. The doors, Herren said, probably cost around $300 to $400 to replace.
“Fixing these problems on a continuous basis as we have been doing over the past several months, takes our crews off of street maintenance, drainage cleanouts and other miscellenous duties that are needed in our community,” Herren said.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact Herren at 994-8201, ext. 180, or the Clearlake Police Department at 994-8251.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
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