There have been 35 incidents of vandalism in district parks so far in 2025鈥攃ompared to one in 2024.
鈥淭hat is sort of glaringly huge,鈥� Councillor Todd McKenzie noted at council鈥檚 Aug. 19 meeting.
The information was included in a second quarter statistics report from staff.
鈥淚t鈥檚 mostly at Swalwell in terms of inappropriate graffiti on the buildings and within the bathrooms,鈥� said Matt Vader, director of parks, recreation, and culture.
He reminded council that last year the bathrooms in Swalwell were closed earlier in the season due to fires being set.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate鈥攊t affects other members of the community鈥hose facilities won鈥檛 be open because of the cost and time it takes to mitigate that.鈥�
Vader added that parks staff address vandalism as soon as possible.
Coun. Heather Irvine thanked the parks department for its work.
鈥淎ttendance is up鈥ots of people are talking about all the activities that are now in the new activity book, so that is really good.鈥�
