It was only a matter of time before a child would die at Bakersfield's Riverwalk Park - By N.L. Belardes
I hate to say "I told you so" to Bakersfield city... I mean, who couldn't see this coming? Sure, the city may be immune from lawsuits because of the recent drowning at Riverwalk Park, but hey, this is "Bakersfield: Life as it should be" Right?
Is this the kind of connection that people want with Bakersfield? Build a park that is a death trap? But come here to the land of the perfect life...
Didn't I mention in a previous blog that it was just a matter of time before a kid was seriously hurt or worse at Bakersfield's new Riverwalk Park?
A child dies, and whose fault is it? Patrons for jumping in decorative lakes that don't have "no swimming" signs? or the city itself for building a death trap with sharp rocks?
I blame the city for poor planning and poor follow through. I blame the city for not having common sense enough to realize that if they didn't intend to build swimming holes, then those decorative holes should have been considered to be a bad place to swim, and so they should have prevented people from entering the waters of Riverwalk Park. How many lives were traumatized by the drowning, not to mention a life was lost...
How many people not have a tainted view of Bakersfield since the gem of Bakersfield is now a death trap?
Are the waters of Riverwalk Park tranquil?
Photo by Techwiz
Yet Bakersfield city is immune. Read on from Bakersfield.com:
"There has been discussion between the staff and myself and likely other council members about posting a sign," Councilman David Couch said. "It was my understanding that one was supposed to be up before the Fourth of July, but staff was being very careful of the wording in order to not impact the immunity provided in case law for bodies of water."
City Attorney Ginny Gennaro has said that because the man-made lakes are filled with water from the Kern River, they are natural waterways, making the city immune from lawsuits for any accidental death there. Read more...
She has said putting up signs could remove some or all of that immunity.
Who suffers? Children because of a loophole. Do yourself a favor, protest Riverwalk Park.
Who do you blame?
Is this the kind of connection that people want with Bakersfield? Build a park that is a death trap? But come here to the land of the perfect life...
Didn't I mention in a previous blog that it was just a matter of time before a kid was seriously hurt or worse at Bakersfield's new Riverwalk Park?
A child dies, and whose fault is it? Patrons for jumping in decorative lakes that don't have "no swimming" signs? or the city itself for building a death trap with sharp rocks?
I blame the city for poor planning and poor follow through. I blame the city for not having common sense enough to realize that if they didn't intend to build swimming holes, then those decorative holes should have been considered to be a bad place to swim, and so they should have prevented people from entering the waters of Riverwalk Park. How many lives were traumatized by the drowning, not to mention a life was lost...
How many people not have a tainted view of Bakersfield since the gem of Bakersfield is now a death trap?
Are the waters of Riverwalk Park tranquil?
Photo by Techwiz
Yet Bakersfield city is immune. Read on from Bakersfield.com:
"There has been discussion between the staff and myself and likely other council members about posting a sign," Councilman David Couch said. "It was my understanding that one was supposed to be up before the Fourth of July, but staff was being very careful of the wording in order to not impact the immunity provided in case law for bodies of water."
City Attorney Ginny Gennaro has said that because the man-made lakes are filled with water from the Kern River, they are natural waterways, making the city immune from lawsuits for any accidental death there. Read more...
She has said putting up signs could remove some or all of that immunity.
Who suffers? Children because of a loophole. Do yourself a favor, protest Riverwalk Park.
Who do you blame?
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Tuesday, July 04, 2006.
You can leave your response.
Yes, the city leaders are in fact morons. I drove by the park (still havn't gone into it yet) and siad to myself "Wow, they did something right, they built a lake". Thinking also "they've obviously got signs up or something to that effect" with a final "There's no way everything is right on with this one." BAM! Confirmed. I've already got a headache.
Do you think a little sign will prevent people from Swiming ? I honestly doubt it . But i wont hurt to have one anyhow .
Maybe a fence and a moat around the lake too... and fire the planners who built a death trap.
......lets see who lawyers-up and sues the crap out of our negligent town.
I do agree about the lack of signs, HOWEVER, isn't it the PARENT'S responsibility to be their children's guardians? Or has today's society become too dependent on someone ELSE taking care of thier chilldren?
You know I respect you but I just had to vent. I"m not one of those parents that let's others be responsible for my children. And if the kids are old enough to be out on their own WITHOUT their parents nearby, they should know better than to go into trecherous waters to begin with, no????
-Annie Black
Okay, NOW I see...I guess I should READ ALL bulletins FIRST.
But still, what the hell is wrong with parents???? If it's NOT a poll, if it DOESN'T say, swim at your own risk (key word being SWIM) then why are people getting in the water to BEGIN with????
UGH!
Yeah, the city buggered up on that one, I gotta admit, but C'mon, people!!!!
-Annie Black
Yes, many parents aren't very responsible with themselves, let alone their kids. Yet I can't help but think signs might prevent a responsible parent from allowing their kids into such a death trap. A life could be saved with signs. Kept me out of canals as a kid. "Stay out, stay alive" rung with fear to me...
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? IT'S HORRIBLE.....
I HAVE TAKEN MY KIDS TO THE PARK A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT HAVE NOT RETURNED...
1) THERE IS NO WHERE TO GET RELIEF FROM THE HOT HOT SUN.. NO WHERE...
2) THE ONE PLAYGROUND CAN GET PACKED WITH KIDS WHOSE PARENT'S ARE LIKE ME... AND NOT LETTING THEM SWIM IN THOSE FECES INVESTED DROWNING POOLS...
IT'S A COOL CONCEPT, THE PARK IS... BUT A LITTLE SHORT OF SOME BRAINS IN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT!
-Jacque
I agree with Annie Black.
It's the responsibility of the parent to watch their child at all times when they are visiting a place where there is even the faintest possibility of a dangerous situation arising. A park with man-made swimming holes surrounded by jagged rocks is such a place.
I'm sorry that a child drowned there, but I blame the parents or guardians that should have been watching.
The city could post a warning sign every 3 feet if it wanted to, but even a million signs wouldn't protect a child from irresponsible, negligent parents.
With parents like that, if Riverwalk park doesn't kill them, something else will.
i'm not surprised that this happened so quickly after the park was opened. you know it was bound to happen. i blame both sides... parents should be smart in protecting their children and the city should have considered posting signs regardless how tacky it would make the park look. then again, would signs really matter? there are signs all along the kern river and on all these reservoirs and that still hasn't stopped ignorant people from going in. i do like that park, but geez... i'm waiting until the trees are actually thicker than me before i go out there again.
well, lets see, we have red lights that mean stop,but people run them anyway. I guess a sign next to a red light that said" please stop at red light,or you might get hit" would help? I remember as a kid in the 70's(early!), summer fun was getting inner tubes and traveling the canal from old Stine and Wilson to lands far and wide! Crazy fun was laying back in the water, under the train tracks over the canal( the wood braces would jump and sway!) as a train crossed over. So part of me will always understand that summer in Bakersfield means if there's water, it must be embraced. Remember when Centennial Gardens opened, and the accident with the little boy in that pond of water. Why are there deaths in the river every year. I just don't see where signs statistically save lives. Just don't build a body of water in Bakersfield, period. I would be interested to know if our old water-slide park ever had a fatality? Lots of lifeguards...hmmm, maybe thats the answer...
And while all this money has been put into this beautiful and lovely recreation park in west Bakersfield, my tires are wearing down on cracked, bumpy, rocky, pothole-infested streets in south central Bakersfield.
Where were the parents? This reminds me of the little girl that came through our funeral home. She floated out on a tube at Isabella on a choppy windy day. The dad sent the family dog out to rescue her because he couldn't swim that well and he was drunk. The dog sat on the beach licking it's sack because it doesn't understand english. The rest of the family just stood on the shore and watched her float out on the tube and then fall off and disapppear into the white caps. Dead. She was 3. Three fucking years old! Is it the city's fault? The County? Are WE responsible for her death because there was no disclaimer along the water stating that "it's dangerous for a three year old to not be supervised while climbing on a tube and floating out into the large body of water?" Although this is very tragic, the only people to blame are the parents and elders around the children not taking responsibilty for their young. The city doesn't parent for you. Shame on the family. They killed their little girl and shame on them for not watching her and protecting her. Shame on them for not keeping her out of that pond. They kept her from running onto stockdale hwy and kept her from getting abducted by a stranger. They kept her from choking on her lunch, but they failed as parents and they failed they're daughter and let her drown...THEY did it! Not the city and not you or I. Shame on them.
Yeah, Rob, what did the Prez say to the mayor? "Fix the potholes." See, our city doesn't even listen to the good ol' Prez...
Kenny is right on.
Yet the city plainly has an "I don't care" attitude...
I said it the day I went to the Riverwalk park-- The engineers who designed that park never intended those water holes for swimming. There were no swim at your own risk signs or lifeguards on duty... but Bakersfield public was swimming in them.
I blame the city for not putting up proper warning signs, but ultimately it is the parents fault! Why was this child unsupervised in a water hole filled with rocks??? You shouldn't leave a child unsupervised in the bathtub, why on earth would they in a much larger body of water?? Bad parenting and no supervision for the child is who is to blame for this child's tragic death.
I knew it would only be a matter of time before something like this happened at that park.
I do blame the parent's for this horrific tragedy. The city, however should consider filling the River Walk lake to only two to three feet deep...that way it still looks nice, but people can't actually swim in it. If you're hot, get in the shade and get a cool drink of water. It's all about using your brain here...you're going to a park in the summertime- in BAKERSFIELD!!! It's hot people!! Why anyone would want to swim in water that has feces in it to cool off is beyond me. D.D.
This is the PARENTS' responsibility, not the government's.
They should post signs around the lake no swimming, but I don't think that it is the county's fault for Parents not watching their kids. I mean I have two kids of my own and I would not let them leave my site for a second. As far as the signs go.... They post signs and commercials about not swimming in the Kern river and that still doesn't stop anyone. The bottom line is if your kids are in the water WATCH THEM!! And stop blaming other people. Sometimes we have to take responsibilty for our own actions.
A child dies,........the tongue wagging and the finger pointing has begun.
When was blame ever sufficient?
If the death is as tragic as all claim it to be, the we should pool (sorry, poor choice of words) our resources in an attempt to prevent these horrific events. I think its safe to assume the parents of any child who dies in this manner are changed forever. But what of all the other children destined to die in this manner? (http://www.usa.safekids.org/NSKW.cfm) “Despite this considerable exposure to water, parents do not feel that their children are especially vulnerable to water hazards. Though it is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14, more than half of parents (55 percent) reported that they do not worry very much or at all about their child drowning.”
This is where we start; this is where we can make a difference. It is the obligation of those who know, to teach. This is OUR obligation.
And still, the best and most effective way to prevent childhood drowning is barriers: self-closing fences to backward pools; pool and hot-tub covers; fences and railings around dangerous open water parks, piers, ocean fronts, lakes and the like. Signs always (or should) accompany these barriers.
That isn’t to say warnings and education have no impact or benefit. It does.
Here is where our civic leaders need to step up and, at the very least, acknowledge the danger of the Park. They do so about the River, and their stance should apply to the Park as well. The Media is all over it. The irony is the Media isn’t elected to serve us in this manner. Our elected officials are. They are the ones in the position to: not only make it physically difficult (barriers) for these drownings to occur; but also to warn and educate our citizens (parents) about the dangers of this (or any) body of water.
I encourage everyone to go to the link I’ve provided in this comment. I doubt ANYONE knows all the facts about childhood drowning in this country.
No effort will be 100% effective, to be sure. The call is to provide the best effort and concern for our community,
.......or is this the best we can do?
I'd like to see the potholes fixed, too ... and I think we need more trees. More shade! More trees! Spend the money on TREES that give us shade and do their part to clean the air ... What good is a park in this town, without TREES?
Thanks for the blog, Nic. This subject obviously needs more attention. A city where negligent parents let their children drown in ponds, and fountains, and in a river that is nicknamed "killer" for a reason ... that ain't Life As It Should Be.
Blame? Learn.
Is it true that a local radio-controlled-boat club put the heat on the city to build this body of water at the park,so they'd have a nice location to get their racing thing on?
The city should've just built this park, with the nice outdoor theater, spent the dime on some big trees here and there, and built a public pool, like the other parks(lifeguards included!). Green dung water bathers can just cross the bike path and have their party in the river. " ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK" signs posted on that side of the bike path. But then that would be a "Life as it should be" moment. And...well...back to reality...prayers to the grieving family.
How is this for a warning sign!
"Attention all stupid people. There is no life guard on duty because these pools are filled with poo and are not meant to swim in. If you must get into some water, please use the river that borders the park. This way, you'll float to another city and we won't have to deal with your dumb ass" Thanks, The City of Bakersfield.
They wouldn't have been able to read the sign anyways.
poo-poo waters? how about any local bar, on any given night. Walk into a restroom and splash through the soupy floor of patron waste, then it's back to polishing belt buckles with the ones we love!Maybe swimmin' in poo-poo park water ain't so bad...
just stick some barbed wire around the perimeter of the water areas... that'll keep people out... owwwwwiiiieeeee....
Don't worry about them, they'll get their big payday soon.
That's the way people are brought up now days. Looking for a big lawsuit to score. You think the same way, nick, looking at the spray park for some reason to sue. It's the victim mentality that everyone loves to roll in. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions. What in the hell would a sign have done for these people? They wouldn't have been able to read it, much less obey it.
Well for one, you're stereotyping people for not being you. You think everyone can't read or won't? Wrong.
Pointing out safety issues does not mean I want to sue. Where did I say that I wanted to sue anyone? If I wanted to sue the city I would take little kids to the spray park, and pray they get hurt...
You miss the point of the article. I am taking a stand against poor safety.
And if I'm so wrong, why did the city just post signs at Riverwalk?
The truth is, some people ignore signs while others are law abiding citizens who heed warnings.
I heed warnings. Obviously you don't.
Kinda funny, I disallowed a comment from one of the local haters. My advice: go read someone else's blog. You know who you are.
All I know is this person is a hater and won't leave their name...
"What in the hell would a sign have done for these people? They wouldn't have been able to read it, much less obey it."
What a sick racist statement.
Over the last 15 to 20 years our society has been spoon fed that the government knows best and they will guide your day to day lives and everything will be ok! Then, when something happens, all the people turn to the government and say “well they didn’t have enough signs up telling me that water is dangerous for small children and that I shouldn’t have let them play in a lake unattended. How could I have known if the government didn’t tell me?!” This attitude is becoming more and more prevalent in our society.
Here is something to ponder: What if the person drowning had been 30 years old? Would we still be saying the same thing about signs and the city’s responsibility or would we be saying it’s just an accident and if he couldn’t swim he shouldn’t have been in the lake? Because if the reaction is more heated because it was a child, then the problem isn’t with the city at all, it is absolutely and solely the responsibility of the parents. I don’t care if there were no signs up. The parents are responsible for those kids, period. The city has absolutely no responsibility for this tragic accident. In fact, if a child dies at home due to an unsupervised/neglect accident there is always some sort of investigation into the parents ability to properly care for their children. As I remember, the father was quoted as to saying something like “We have 6 kids and I had 2 and my wife was watching 2, what else could we have done?” If this is truly what he said, CPS needs to be over there taking at least one of their remaining 5 children away RIGHT NOW!
JA, those are valuable points. I don't completely agree, but do agree that parents need to be diligent when it comes to child safety.
I don't understand how the Riverwalk Park is different than any other area in or around Bakersfield that has water. There is the Kern River, Hart Park and Buena Vista Lake. These places have people swimming in water without signs. It is the responsiblity of the parents to watch children when they are in water. Also, I think the people that lost the little girl at Riverwalk Park are my neighbors. I have seen their little children running around my neighborhood many times unsupervised. Obviously, this little girl wasn't being suprvised by her parents. I feel sad for the families loss. Hopefully, they and other irresponsible parents have learned their lesson and they will begin to watch their children.
Why another water hole? We had the river right there. They could have made a small rerouted area, to get your feet wet and put all that money inot other ideas to enjoy our river...like horse drawn carriage trails. Families, older people, younger people, children...etc...all can benefit from this. and it is reletively safe. Anything can happen with anything you do...but another large body of water not fit to swim in,right next to the river? What a waste. Our river is beautiful, we need to be smart and enjoy it in lots of ways, other than swimming in it, especially little kids! I have asked the city about puting in trails that my Percheron horses can pull carriages on(I won't expect them to do it in the soft dirt designated for the riding horses). They said it wold cost too much. Umm..excuse me...how much was this pond project? All I'm asking is a little dirt path be mapped out along the river. No balcktop or cement..just a dirt path....and it's too expensive? Am I missing something here? www.ridingdownmemorylane.com
Great comments all around...
I for one think that bakersfield made a great park.putting up a sign isnt gonna do anything to stop people.these signs that say stay out stay alive for the kern river,but how many people still go in.to say it was only a matter of time is stupid cause you can say that for anything."it was only a matter of time before some kid was gonna climb to the top of the park toys and jump off and break his legs" "it was only a matter of time before some little girl fell off her bike and broke her neck" It is the parents responsibilty to watch there children not the parks.my kid will never drown in that place nor any other place i can say for sure until hes 13 (i cant be by his side all the time) cause i will never let him in a pool or pond/lake/hottub/bathtub without me there with him. a word to parents,watch your kids its that simple!
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