The city of Santa Ana is taking applications from individuals or couples interested in living free-of-charge in a city-provided, 2-3 bedroom travel trailer at Carl Thornton Park, in exchange for serving as a park “host”: a sort of park ambassador with park operations responsibilities such as locking and unlocking restrooms, assisting with events and emptying trash cans, and reporting illegal activity and “unusual occurrences” to city authorities.
“We’re trying to keep our parks active, safe, clean and green,” said Lisa Rudloff, the city’s executive director of parks and community services told the OC Register. “Having the presence of someone who is caring for the park, it makes a difference. It’s like having their own personal attendant at the park.”
The position is unpaid, but the host will live rent-free in the trailer on site, with the city paying for utilities.
Thornton Park is a 33-acre multi-use park with a lake, playgrounds, tot lot, passive play areas and athletic fields.
The park host(s) is expected to generally be at the park Sunday through Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., to perform their prescribed duties – although outside employment is permitted. Hosts will be permitted overnight visitors on a limited basis: they must be registered with the city and limited to no more than 10 calendar days.
Park hosts are fairly common at public campgrounds, but relatively unique in an urban park – even larger parks such as Thornton. The City of Encinitas also has a park host program for its parks, although the park hosts are required to use their own trailer or motor home.
