A third-party consultant has recommended changes to improve field access in Oceanside but found no evidence of preferential treatment or harm to any other clubs.
The firm’s recommendations came after Oceanside resident Arleen Hammerschmidt filed an official complaint last December claiming employees of the Oceanside Parks and Recreation department showed favoritism toward the public charter school Coastal Academy when approving permits for access to municipal fields and facilities.
Hammerschmidt’s complaint stems from a nearly yearlong discussion between city officials and several local sports groups over fairness related to a lack of field access. Previously, city staff noted a shortage of city-operated fields compared to the growing number of year-round sports groups and clubs.
In February, the city hired RML HR Consulting to assess the complaint and review how the parks department allocates access to sports fields and facilities to various groups.
Consultants interviewed Oceanside Parks and Recreation staff, representatives of various sports groups, Hammerschmidt and Wayne Godinet, leader of the Save Our Streets group and longtime community volunteer. The firm also reviewed city policies, procedures, the facility rental packet, the Parks and Recreation website, public meeting recordings and permits granted to Coastal Academy between 2019 and 2022.
Consultants also reviewed how other nearby cities, including Carlsbad, Encinitas, Poway, San Marcos and Vista, handle their field and facility permitting processes.
The consulting firm recommended updating the facility rental packet by removing user groups from fields when they aren’t using them, clarifying when grass fields need to rest, outlining residency requirements and establishing criteria for group categories, which determines who gets priority over a field or facility.
The final report suggested revisiting its current agreement with the SoCal Sports Complex to see if there are additional opportunities for field usage.
Consultants also found Coastal Academy was improperly classified under user group priority “B,” giving them higher priority for the use of city fields and facilities at their chosen times as opposed to other groups outside the city.
Despite the error, the report did not find any evidence the misclassification harmed other groups’ ability to obtain permits. Hammerschmidt questioned this finding.
“It’s likely that Coastal Academy was unfairly given ‘cuts’ in line by Parks and Recreation admins,” she said via email. “Everyone sees the unfairness except them.”
In addition to the charter school, the review found that several other user groups, including Vista Soccer Club, AUSA Santos Soccer Club, Vista American Little League and Oceanside Monarch Association, may also be misclassified.
Parks and Recreation Division Manager Mark Olson previously said Coastal Academy was grouped in with the Oceanside Unified School District user groups through the city’s joint use agreement with the district. Representatives from the district previously clarified that Coastal Academy is not included in the agreement.
The current joint use agreement between the city and the school district has expired for several years. Olson has previously said the city is working to renew that agreement with the hopes of expanding city access to fields and facilities on school grounds. The report also recommended prioritizing the agreement renewal.
According to Hammerschmidt, the review did not answer the question of when Olson knew Coastal Academy was not supposed to be included in the joint use agreement.
The complaint also alleged there was a conflict of interest regarding CJ Palmer, the Parks and Recreation specialist who decides who gets a permit, and his close family ties to Coastal Academy.
According to the consultant’s findings, there was “definitely the appearance to a reasonable person of a conflict of interest” regarding Palmer in his role, which is inconsistent with the city’s conflict of interest policy. The report recommended omitting Palmer from Coastal Academy’s permitting process.
The complaint also alleged the city was giving Coastal Academy special treatment after the school donated five bleachers valued at $14,000 to the Junior Seau Beach Community Center. However, the report found no evidence of special treatment toward the charter school related to this donation.
Other allegations addressed in the report include Hammerschmidt’s assertion that Palmer organized opposition to a City Council meeting in October last year when then-Councilmembers Chris Rodriguez and Kori Jensen requested an investigation into whether or not user groups were being treated equitably.
While the review did find that Palmer texted 18 recipients, both he and Olson reported that they did so because the decision could impact other user groups. According to the review, neither Hammerschmidt nor Godinet provided a reason as to why some user groups should have been there and others shouldn’t, and noted there did not appear to be a concerted effort to oppose the meeting.
Both Hammerscmidt and Godinet believe the third-party consultant’s review is incomplete because it did not interview all Parks and Recreation staff. Hammerschmidt said the review also has “some evidence of bias” as well.
“The consultant did not follow all the leads that I provided,” she said. “As I understand, he did not follow all leads provided by Mr. Wayne Godinet.”
The Coast News has reached out to the city and will update the story with any comments.
