Where is a skateboarder to go?

I had a skateboard when I was a kid. Didn't you? First came the steel-wheeled roller skates with the red leather straps. Then, the little red board with the steel wheels. Wow, was that a hit! Bigger than hula-hoops. Finally, I graduated to a real board with Chicago wheels that my dad bought for me at the local Sears Roebuck. Of course, a stone the size of a baby aspirin would send me flying but what fun it was? Those were the days my friends...

It would have been hard to imagine that someday (today) skateboarding would become a problem. Even more difficult to imagine would have been giving the issue any thought, especially at 12:30am. Nevertheless, here I am, some 40 years later, doing just that.

One just has to look at some of the graffiti to see that it has a "skateboarder" slant. "Skate or Die" is pretty clear to me. And 85 skateboard citations by the Benicia Police Department in the span of one month seems like more than an occasional boarder. I disagree with Chief Spagnoli's contention that "there is not necessarily a connection between skateboarding and criminal activity, specifically graffiti". There is not necessarily a connection between Benicia and graffiti, but we still have it, don't we?

Let's face it; Benicia isn't exactly a place that will set one's hair on fire, nor would we wish it to be. But when you take away one of the few really well-utilized distractions for kids (aka the Willow Glen skateboard park), what should we expect? [Answer: lots of bored kids on skateboards all over town looking for something to do.]

I don't know about you, but I thought the park was a pretty cool idea. Too bad its now just a pile of rubble.

..Ross Sagun



"After the Willow Glen Skate Park was closed for safety reasons, it seemed that there was more skateboarding in town. The city began getting more complaints about this and I have heard a number of people remark about the activity. Without a facility downtown, it is not surprising that there is more activity, especially while school is out. I have not had a bad encounter with skaters, in fact, just the opposite. I talk to the younger ones and remind them to wear a helmet and ask them about "safe places" to skate and steer them toward more acceptable places other than the street." - Mayor Patterson


"We received an email last week regarding skateboard and bicycle violations. DC Bidou discussed the enforcement procedure on bikes and skateboards along with some stats on skateboard enforcement (See below). On skateboarders, we have issued 85 skateboard cites between 7-1-07 and 7-1-08. This is a pretty high number considering the other duties and responsibilities officers tend to."" - Chief Spagnoli