On Tuesday evening, as the sweltering summer heat dissipated, hundreds of residents flocked to Scotts Valley’s MacDorsa Park for National Night Out, gathering with local first responders and officials from a variety of public agencies for a fun-filled community event.
Scotts Valley Police Department Chief Jayson Rutherford gave the welcome speech.
“I thanked them for coming out and joining us,” said Rutherford, noting everything was free, including the face-painting. “The point of National Night Out is to draw the community and the police together.”
He anticipated, all told, upwards of 400 people would attend.
“We have 450 hot dogs, and we usually go through all of them,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing.”
There was a DJ playing classic hits. Starbucks offered free coffee. Kids tossed bean bags at targets. Attendees even had the chance to tour the police station.
“They see us when we’re having a really bad day, so we want them to see us on a good day,” Rutherford said. “We want them to enjoy being around us.”
Scotts Valley Fire Department Chief Mark Correira was thrilled with the turnout.
“It’s great to see the support from the community,” he said. “That’s what this event is about, is making connections with different groups — as well as our public safety partners.”
Correira watched as Capt. Scott Garner grilled hot dogs, Councilmember Greg Wimp served up Togo’s sandwiches, nonprofits explained their role in the community, and his own underlings passed along information about fire services.
“The community is very supportive of the public safety groups, as well as looking for things to do,” he said.
Correira noted there’s a lot going on behind the scenes at the fire department.
For one, their board is currently talking about next steps for repairing local fire department infrastructure, after a ballot measure recently failed — but not by much.
“They’re talking about a conversation with the community to get a better sense of what might work out for building the fire station,” he said. “We still have that need. We had a meeting last month — and two weeks before that — about starting that conversation with the community. So, you’ll be hearing more about that.”
He added that SVFD is partnering with Central Fire District, sharing a fire marshal.
“We just signed a three-year agreement with them,” he said. “We’re partnering with the City on the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, having that conversation, as well, which could help us with revenue, dealing with (the by-right housing plan for) 125 Bethany (Dr.) — obviously a lot of concerns from the community about that. So, our plates are full. We’re dealing with a lot of different things.”
Mike Zeller, who recently pulled papers to run for Scotts Valley City Council, watched as his daughter, 4-year-old Saphira, slid down the inflatable slide out of the bounce house — again and again.
“She loves being able to go check out all of the ambulances and the fire trucks and get to meet all the people that work here in the community,” he said. “It’s kind of one of the things that makes the community special is these kinds of things.”
Zeller is the director of programming and project delivery for the Transportation Agency for Monterey County.
“We’re looking at building train service from Silicon Valley to Salinas,” he said. “There’ll be a stop in Pajaro. And, in the future, there’ll be another stop in Castroville.”
He said he officially qualified for the ballot on July 28.
“The reason that I did it was that, with my background — working in government for the last 20 years — I have a lot of experience in how government works, how to be collaborative, how to bring people to the table,” he said. “I think it would be beneficial to the city.”
Ima Hot Mess and Marina Less, of Santa Cruz Derby Groms, spoke with a little girl named Waverly, who was wearing a replica firefighter’s helmet, about roller derby.
“We just came out to try to get more players,” she said, noting a lot of kids expressed interest in joining. She added that Try Derby Day is set for Aug. 30. “It’s going to be super fun.”
Less was in roller skates and protective gear.
“I think that roller derby is just like the best community for people,” she said. “Everybody’s included. There’s no bullying…It’s such a loving community. And everyone’s friends.”
Jared Vandiver, an SVFD engineer, was sure having a blast.
“I grew up in Scotts Valley and now I get to work for Scotts Valley Fire; so, I get to be at events like this and engage with my community, give back and answer questions,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
As he spoke with the newspaper, a call came in over his radio.
But he noted it was an out-of-area call, so he didn’t have to cut the interview short and rush off to help save the day — this time.
