Ranger opposes Brand Park move

The ranger manager for the Glendale park ranger program told the City Council last week he opposes a suggestion to move the ranger headquarters from Deukmejian Park.

Russ Hauck said the proposed new location for the ranger in Brand Park would be inadequate in size and would mean the loss of programs conducted by the rangers at Deukmejian Park in La Crescenta.

Hauck said a report presented to the council incorrectly stated that there are nine part-time rangers. There are, in fact, four part-time rangers and two full-time, he said. “Essentially, on any day we have one ranger serving the entire city,” he told the council members.

“If you want to move the office, you need to build a headquarters big enough for nine rangers and then hire them,” he said.

The proposal to move the rangers to Brand was one of several ideas for dealing with security issues at the park, which Hauck said have decreased in the past year.

The council finally decided to have staff come back with recommendations for increasing the ranger presence in Brand Park beyond moving the headquarters.