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East Riverside group seeks funding for community center; presents local gap analysis
Summary
Representatives of the East Riverside Oltorf Combined Contact Team told the task force that demographic analysis shows a high need for recreation facilities and a community center in the East Riverside area and asked the task force to support funding in the 2026 bond.
Leaders of the East Riverside/Old Nabe (EROC) neighborhood coalition told the task force on May 27 that their own gap analysis using the Parks Department's equity criteria shows East Riverside ranks high for need and deserves a community center.
Malcolm Yates, chair of the East Riverside contact team, said the group used the same criteria and weights shown in the Parks gap analysis—racially concentrated areas of poverty, neighborhood population density, youth population and neighborhood crime statistics—and that their local data show East Riverside ranks at the top on those measures.
Ed Miller, who has worked in East Riverside for three decades and ran a reentry program at ACC Riverside, told the task force the neighborhood has concentrated poverty, high turnover and limited services: "50,000 people in that one area," he said, with most residents in low‑rent apartments and a high rate of turnover among students and renters. Miller argued a community center would provide a location for mental and physical health services, recreation and counseling.
The request: the East Riverside group asked the task force to review their report and support funding for a community center in the 2026 bond. They said the full EROC gap analysis had been sent to task force members and that the three‑minute public comment could only summarize key points.
Task force members confirmed receipt of the report and said they would review the submission as staff compiles projects and criteria.
