Commission reviews off‑leash dog enforcement and asks staff to verify public‑comment minutes

A public commenter’s repeated complaints about off‑leash dogs at Los Alamos Hills Sports Park led the Parks and Recreation Commission on Jan. 16 to review enforcement practices, park‑ranger recordkeeping and how the city documents public comments in meeting minutes.

A commissioner asked that minutes from the Nov. 7 meeting be amended to better reflect a resident’s concern that park rangers had issued warnings rather than citations to repeat offenders. The commissioner said the minutes’ current summary—“dogs in the park”—did not capture the speaker’s specific point about the absence of citations.

Staff told the commission that rangers maintain logs, that logs are shared among rangers, and that staff is keeping a separate log for off‑leash incidents at Los Alamos Hills Sports Park. Staff described extra patrols, signage, a social‑media outreach campaign in coordination with the police department and distribution of informational cards by park monitors. Staff also said park rangers photograph animals and incidents for the log so rangers can recognize repeat animals or owner patterns.

The department reported that its enforcement progression is: an initial warning on first contact and a citation on a second documented encounter. Staff said they are working to concentrate additional patrols during reported problem hours and to bring park rangers to a future commission meeting to discuss procedures in person; the off‑leash discussion is tentatively scheduled for the March meeting.

Commissioners instructed staff to review the prior meeting’s public‑comment transcript and consult the city clerk to confirm whether the minutes should be amended to better reflect the speaker’s concerns. Staff acknowledged specific constraints: rangers cannot remain at a single park all day because they cover 52 parks, and the department tries to position staff during peak problem windows.

Staff recommended, and commissioners accepted, continued outreach, extra patrols in targeted hours, updated signage, and a planned social‑media campaign. Staff said Victor Patino (recreation supervisor and ranger supervisor) was excused from the meeting because of a family emergency and will present further detail at a future meeting.