Somebody has apparently broken into Tom Tenorio Park off Arenal on the Southwest Mesa.

Bernalillo County’s Tom Tenorio Park is fully (almost) surrounded by the fencing above, preventing neighbors from accessing the park adjacent to their homes and altogether (almost) defeating the purpose of a public park.

Except for the hole above.

Googling and other means of research so far indicate that the park is officially “open” in that organizations can call BernCo and request use of the park for sportsball (e.g., softball tournaments). Any “Sunday in the Park with George” stuff is strictly (almost) off limits, however.

As a BernCo resident living outside the city limits, I am outraged that my *tax dollars are paying for this prison-in-reverse and want my/our money back, especially for the fence. More broadly, I also want all the money spent on similar fencing around other community resources (e.g., public schools) and an investigation into the apparent boondoggle between public officials and fence companies to siphon off untold millions of capital outlay and other funds to prevent public access from public resources.

Kudos to the person/folks who created the park access point above. I note it’s a fairly skinny hole and my personal narrative is that a dad created it so that he and his three kids could walk and frolic through one of the very, very few green spaces amid the sand that is the Southwest Mesa.

You know, like going to the fucking park.

*$10.9 million were budgeted to turn the park into a “regional tournament complex.”