EVERETT — With the removal of park rangers next year, the city’s parks department presented plans for maintaining park safety at a City Council committee meeting Nov. 20. The committee also discussed plans to update the rules for noise ordinance violations.
The 2025 budget, set for a final vote at City Council Dec. 4, would eliminate the park ranger program, which consists of five positions: one ranger supervisor and four park rangers.
Kimberly Moore, assistant parks director, explained the reasoning behind the cuts: “The city was faced with a familiar challenge dealing with the 2025 budget deficit of approximately $12 million,” Moore said. “Last summer, for the first time, we asked our community for sustainable revenue to protect public services. Voters decided against a levy lid lift, and our options for reductions were extremely limited due to the number of cuts that have already been made over the years,”
Moore’s presentation was to show that the parks department has a plan in place to ensure continued safety. In the short term, the city will temporarily close some park restrooms and install portable restrooms that will be available 24/7 at the city’s nine most-used parks.
“We have 45 parks in Everett and only five park rangers covering seven days a week of operations,” Moore said. “Most of the time, there is not a ranger in a park, so the perception that parks are safer because we have park rangers may not be entirely accurate. I don’t want to discount their work, as they have been an excellent resource for various issues that come up. However, keeping parks safe is not the sole responsibility of the rangers. We’ve always relied on the Everett Police Department for public safety.”
Some parks have gates. The proposal is to leave all gates open, as only nine of Everett’s 45 parks have gates. While they said it is not an ideal solution, it is considered a necessary service reduction due to budget constraints.
In the long term, the city is working on specifications and pricing for technology solutions for these restrooms.
Additionally, early discussions are underway about involving volunteers in park maintenance, although further talks with the city’s union and human resources are needed before moving forward, parks administrators said.
City Council member Ben Zarlingo, a member of the committee, said “the city looks forward to hearing more about negotiations that could support community-minded residents in helping address some of these issues. There have been past cleanups with neighborhood groups, and there is a strong reservoir of goodwill in the community. The city will do whatever it can to leverage that support.”
Noise Ordinance Changes
The committee meeting’s second agenda item focused on a briefing from the city’s legal department about a draft update to the city’s noise ordinance.
One of the key changes shifts enforcement responsibility from police officers to code enforcement. The revised ordinance also distinguishes between episodic and ongoing noise violations.
Another significant change involves a sanctions system for repeat offenders, which could eventually lead to criminal charges for frequent violators.
“We developed a sanctioned system that begins with a minor infraction but escalates for repeat offenders, eventually imposing criminal sanctions,” Hil Kaman, one of the city’s lead prosecutors, told the committee. “This structure ensures that for individuals who disregard the initial, less severe penalties, we have stronger enforcement measures in place to compel compliance.”
The city anticipates bringing it forward for City Council approval in early January, said city spokeswoman Simone Tarver.
