Dear Friends, Neighbors, Park Users, and Community Members,

Escondido Indivisible supports the activities of the Save Kit Carson Park community organization. In addition to their demands, we support holding a city-wide vote on this project.

Here is information from Save Kit Carson Park

We are at a critical crossroads for the future of Kit Carson Park.

We have learned unofficially that the City may move very quickly toward signing, authorizing, negotiating, or approving a long-term lease related to the proposed Escondido Ice facility at Kit Carson Park, possibly before the City Council’s July recess.

We do not yet have official confirmation, but if this information is accurate, it is deeply concerning.

A long-term lease of public parkland should not move forward before full public review, full CEQA environmental analysis, public records disclosure, financial risk review, and meaningful community input. Kit Carson Park belongs to the public, and the community deserves to know exactly what is being considered before any lease, site-control agreement, or binding commitment is signed.

This is not about opposing ice sports.
This is about protecting public land, respecting public process, and ensuring that Kit Carson Park is not committed to a long-term private or nonprofit development agreement before the community has had a meaningful voice.

We need everyone who cares about Kit Carson Park to act now.

Why This Matters

The City is considering a major regional ice facility at Kit Carson Park that could involve approximately 14 acres of public parkland and a long-term land commitment that may last decades.

This is a good project in the wrong location.

Our concerns include:

Public parkland: Kit Carson Park is public land. A long-term lease should not be rushed, negotiated behind closed doors, or approved before residents understand the full impacts, risks, and alternatives.

Public process: The public has had very little time to review or respond, while project discussions appear to have been ongoing for years.

Environmental impacts: Kit Carson Park includes sensitive habitat and biological resources, including areas associated with protected species such as the California gnatcatcher and Least Bell’s vireo.

Public safety: The proposed facility may involve hazardous materials, traffic, parking, emergency access, school proximity, flood risk, and public safety impacts that must be fully studied before any commitment is made.

Equity and access: The project could replace free, open-access public park space and active recreation fields with a high-cost, pay-to-play model that may not be accessible to many Escondido families.

Voter intent and community trust: Kit Carson Park has long been understood by the community as a natural public park. Major changes to public parkland deserve full transparency, accountability, and public participation.

The Political Reality

This is not a partisan issue. It is a community issue.

However, it is also a political issue because elected leaders are making decisions right now that could affect Kit Carson Park for generations.

On November 3, 2026, Escondido will hold a General Municipal Election. The following seats are up for re-election:

Mayor Dane White
Councilmember Consuelo Martinez, District 1
Councilmember Joe Garcia, District 2

Now is the time to demand transparency. City leaders need to know that any rushed lease, MOU, site-control agreement, or long-term commitment involving Kit Carson Park will be a major concern for voters.

Please Take Action Today

Please email City leadership immediately. The next Escondido City Council meeting is on 6/17 at 5 pm in the Council Chambers. Please attend and speak, if you are able. The City is fast-tracking this project, and voting on the ground lease is expected to happen soon. It's crucial that you have your say and get your voice into the official record with your thoughts and feelings on this issue. Wear green, if possible, to show solidarity for keeping Kit Carson Park green for now and future generations!!

Do not rely only on social media comments, online discussion, or general contact buttons. To make sure your concerns are part of the official public record, directly email the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, Deputy City Manager, and City Clerk. These are the only "Official Public Comment Records"

Please Copy City Clerk Zack Beck, because the City Clerk is the holder of official public communications.

City Leadership Contacts

Mayor Dane White: dwhite@escondido.gov
Councilmember Consuelo Martinez, District 1: cmartinez@escondido.gov
Councilmember Joe Garcia, District 2: jgarcia@escondido.gov
Councilmember Christian Garcia, District 3: cgarcia@escondido.gov
Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald, District 4: jfitzgerald@escondido.gov
City Manager Sean McGlynn: smcglynn@escondido.gov
Deputy City Manager Joanna Axelrod: jaxelrod@escondido.gov
City Clerk Zack Beck: zbeck@escondido.gov

Official Public Comment Link: Submit your formal opposition for the record through the   Escondido Public Comment Form.

If you need some help in what to say, we have some questions you could ask as well as a "copy paste" email that you can send, but please personalize it as you see fit.

Questions to Ask the City

Please consider asking some or all of the following questions in your public comment:

Is the City planning to sign, authorize, negotiate, or approve any lease related to Kit Carson Park before the July recess?

If a lease is being considered, why has the draft lease not been released to the public?

When will the draft lease, MOU, site-control agreement, or related documents be released?

Will the City publicly commit that no lease or site-control agreement will be signed before CEQA environmental review is complete?

Will the City commit that the no-project alternative remains fully available?

Will the City release all communications, draft agreements, financial documents, staff analysis, and project-related records before any lease decision?

Why was the public not engaged before the City sought state review related to exempt surplus land at Kit Carson Park?

Has the City studied alternative locations outside Kit Carson Park?

What happens if the operator fails, the project is abandoned, or the facility closes?

What is the decommissioning plan?

Who pays for infrastructure, traffic control, emergency access improvements, public safety impacts, utilities, maintenance, and future site restoration?

Will alcohol service be part of the proposed facility, restaurant, suite, event, or hospitality model?

Has the City fully evaluated impacts to schools, playgrounds, youth facilities, traffic, parking, emergency access, flooding, biological resources, and public safety?

Why should a major regional event facility be placed inside public parkland instead of a commercial, redevelopment, or alternative site?

Will the City pause all lease activity until the community has had meaningful input?

Copy-and-Paste Public Comment

Subject: Pause the MOU and Oppose Any Land Lease for the Kit Carson Park Ice Facility

Dear Mayor White and Members of the City Council,

I am writing to pause the MOU and oppose any proposed land lease related to the Kit Carson Park ice facility unless and until the City completes full public review, full CEQA environmental analysis, public records disclosure, financial risk review, and meaningful community engagement.

Kit Carson Park is public parkland. It belongs to the people of Escondido. A long-term lease of public land should not be rushed, negotiated behind closed doors, or approved before residents understand the full impacts, risks, costs, and alternatives.

I support expanding recreational opportunities in Escondido, but this is the wrong location for this project.

I am especially concerned about the possibility that the City may move toward signing, authorizing, negotiating, or approving a lease before the July recess. If that is being considered, the public deserves immediate disclosure.

Before any lease, site-control agreement, or binding commitment is signed, the City should answer the following questions:

Has the draft lease been released to the public?
What public costs or financial risks would the City assume, if the developer fails?
Will the no-project alternative remain available?
Have alternative locations outside Kit Carson Park been studied?
What is the actual cost to the taxpayers to move the softball fields?
What are the traffic, parking, school, youth facility, flood, biological, emergency access, alcohol licensing, hazardous materials, and public safety impacts?

What happens if the operator fails, the project is abandoned, or the facility closes?
What is the decommissioning and site restoration plan?
Who pays for infrastructure, utilities, maintenance, public safety impacts, and future restoration?

Public land decisions should not be made before the public has full information. A project of this size deserves transparency, caution, environmental review, and community trust.

I respectfully ask the City Council to:

Pause all lease consideration.
Release all project-related documents, communications, draft agreements, financial information, and staff analysis, including communications involving TRG, the Gulls, the Ducks, The Rinks Foundation, and all associated parties.
Identify where funding will come from for relocating the softball fields and ensure the City does not lose active recreation space, including soccer and softball field capacity.
Complete full CEQA review before any binding commitment (Lease) is made.
Study alternative locations outside Kit Carson Park.
Preserve the no-project alternative.
Hold additional public meetings before any lease decision.
Publicly confirm that no lease, site-control agreement, or binding commitment will be signed or authorized without full public review.

This is not about opposing ice sports. This is about protecting public land, respecting public process, and ensuring that Kit Carson Park is not committed to a long-term private or nonprofit development agreement before the community has had a meaningful voice.

Please pause the MOU and any land lease until the public has full transparency, all public records requests have been completed, full environmental review has occurred, and residents have had a real opportunity to participate.

Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or City]
[Optional: Park User / Resident / Parent / Taxpayer / Voter]

Ballot Measure Update

We are also looking into the legality of a ballot measure to protect Kit Carson Park and ensure the voting public has a direct voice in major decisions involving public parkland.

Important: We cannot solicit signatures until the ballot measure process is properly registered and legally ready.

However, we will need help very soon.

Once the process is ready, we will need volunteers to gather signatures, talk to neighbors, share accurate information, and protect the community’s right to vote on the future of public parkland.

If you are willing to help with a future signature-gathering effort, please reply and let us know.

Kit Carson Park belongs to the public.
Public land deserves public process.
Please submit your comments today and share this message widely.

In service and community,

Save Kit Carson Park