WSSNews Vol. 39 No. 28

WESTSIDESTORY NEWSPAPER

The Muscoy Community Deserves the Truth

The people of Muscoy and greater San Bernardino deserve to hear the truth about a good deed that should be celebrated not dragged into costly legal battles.

For nearly two decades, a local baseball field once a proud sym- bol of youth sports and community spirit sat in disrepair. Overgrown grass, crumbling infrastructure, and unusable restrooms turned it into an eyesore and a safety hazard. No one stepped up to fix it. No one-except the PAL Center.

The Forgotten Field This baseball field has been part of the Muscoy community for over 50 years, serving generations of young athletes. It is owned by a nonprofit originally known as Muscoy Little League, which later changed its name to Blake Little League, and now operates as Westend Little League. One might reasonably ask: why so many name changes in such a short span?

Regardless of the name, the truth re- mains: the field belongs to the com- munity and most importantly, to the children.

A Binding Agreement and a Commitment to Community Rather than continue to watch the field deteriorate, I took action. As CEO of the PAL Center, I entered into a legally binding 20-year Main- tenance and Operations Agreement with then-league president Angel Garcia and several board mem- bers of Westend Little League. This agreement gave the PAL Center au- thority to restore and manage both the upper and lower fields, ensuring shared access for both the league and the broader community.

With that agreement in place, I worked with 5th District County Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. to secure a $2.1 million cost-reimbursement contract from the County to reno- vate the field.

It's worth noting: Westend Little

League had previously received pub- lic funds for this same purpose-and failed to deliver. That track record is part of the reason the County chose to fund the PAL Center instead.

PAL Took the Risk-For the Kids Under the County contract, the PAL Center was required to front 100% of the construction costs and would only be reimbursed after each phase was completed and documented. In most cases, reimbursements took 60 to 90 days. The entire project was managed by the County, which maintained full control over all funding and permitting.

This created a significant financial burden-but we did it anyway. We managed the entire two-year reno- vation project without being paid a single dime for our time, labor, or oversight.

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