Meet the Guy Who Maintains City's Playgrounds, Pools

His name is Gene Fallis, and he's in charge of maintaining the city's 10 playgrounds at each large park, the pools and smaller neighborhood parks.

Fallis remembers when he started with the city — it was 1994 and there were 13 other staffers who did what he did. Now it's just him.

"It's extremely time consuming," Fallis said. "But sometimes I have help."

Fallis was out Wednesday unloading and spreading dumptruck after dumptruck — 100 yards total — of wood chips onto the dust-covered ground at Civic Center mini-park, the small park on Country Club Drive adjacent to Kirsten Court.

Department of Pubic Works supervisor Tom Kelley joined him.

"There's only one person dedicated to playground maintenance, but becasue of budget cuts, I get out and help sometimes," Kelley said. "This is important because it prevents injuries in case someone falls and it makes the park ADA accessible."

Kelley said overall, the city gets one or two calls a month about a probelm at a playground, such as a broken swing or a crack in a slide.

But Public Works is mandated by the state to do monthly inspections — that's how crews noticed Civic Center mini-park needed work. In addition to laying wood chips Wednesday, Fallis and Kelley painted benches, removed graffiti from the playground and cleaned up trash from the area.

During monthly inspections, crews check for other safety hazards such as loose parts, Kelley said.

The work is part of an effort that started two years ago two years ago to keep better care of the city's network of playgrounds, which were the subject of an internal audit in 2000.

The audit found significant safety concerns with the city's playgrounds, but since, the problems have been fixed, Public Works officials said Wednesday.

"We have certified staff to maintain our playgrounds," said John McArthur, the director of Public Works. "It's essential to do this upkeep, otherwise someone is going to get hurt out there."

According to the department, the following parks and playgrounds have had significant repairs, including playground remodels or rebuilds:

• Colegio Vista Park
• Caterpillar Park
• Sunrise Park
• Ladybug Park
• Honeybee Park
• Civic Center Mini Park
• Carlita Mini Park
• Burton Mini Park
• Meadow Pines Mini Park
• Alicia Park
• Benicia Park
• The Boys and Girls Club
• Magnolia Park

Kelley said Rainbow Park and Eagle Park still need woodchips to be replaced, a project that's underway.