Volunteers assembled at Kit Carson Park in Escondido to participate in a cleanup effort Saturday morning aimed at eliminating places where predators and thieves can hide to stalk passersby.
Almost 100 volunteers' trimmed trees and removed excess brush along trails in the southern area of the park to improve visibility and safety for visitors, said Jerry Van Leeuen, director of community services for the city of Escondido.
City officials organized the effort in response to the slayings of two area teens. Chelsea King's body was discovered in a shallow grave March 2, days after the Poway High School senior disappeared while running near Lake Hodges. Soon afterward authorities found the decomposed body of Amber Dubois, 14, who disappeared in early 2009 while walking to Escondido High School. A registered sex offender has been charged in Chelsea's death and is being investigated in connection with Amber's.
Volunteers Saturday focused on three spots considered to be potentially dangerous, Van Leeuen said, largely because of overgrown vegetation from recent rain and a lack of maintenance. Those areas included an asphalt trail alongside the Westfield mall, an area near a pedestrian footbridge, and a parking lot that once served the former Humane Society building between LR Green Elementary School and the Girl Scouts lodge.
After touring the area, Maurice Dubois, the father of Amber Dubois, said, "It's a smart thing to do. This is a perfect example of how a community in response to a tragic event can step up and make a difference."
Volunteer Megan Sicard, president of Escondido Charter Schools Key Club, said the deaths were "nerve-racking and angering."
"Those girls weren't protected at all," she said. "They were attacked in the open during the day."
Sicard recalled an incident in which a female runner from the San Pasqual High cross country team was attacked last fall. Since that occurrence she is much more cautious and never runs alone, she said.
Escondido City Councilman Dick Daniels said the cleanup effort resulted from a conversation with local businessman and philanthropist George Weir, who after walking on the trail, said that the area didn't seem safe.
"We have to think differently about public safety," Daniels said. "This is really a preventive measure and it's only because of people wanting to do something to keep this park safe."
"I think it's wonderful to watch the community come together," Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler said. "If we want something done, we're going to have to do it for ourselves."
Pfeiler added that the city can no longer afford to absorb the cost of clearing the brush the way it needs to be. She explained that with the city's skeleton crew, any future plans would have to include volunteers.
"Escondido is a city that's over 100 years old, and we've been doing this for a long time," Pfeiler said. "In the last several years, we've gotten away from it, but now I think we're getting back to our roots and that's very positive."
More cleanups and other events are being planned in the coming weeks, city officials said. A public forum on Megan's Law, which allows the public access to information on registered sex offenders in California, is set for March 23 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
