Fear about Sorenson takeover: Higher fees

Jesus Ramos wants to pay it forward, but he worries politicians have set prices too high.

After thriving in after-school programs that kept him off the streets of Los Angeles, the immigrant from Mexico credits that counseling and volunteer culture for pushing him into college and toward a budding career as a lawyer.

Now, the Salt Lake City transplant says his beloved Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center -- where he volunteers to return the favor -- is under siege by government bureaucrats who want to turn a profit at the expense of the poor.

Suddenly, Ramos has become City Hall's worst nightmare: A research-savvy, driven advocate with street cred, who argues Mayor Ralph Becker's proposal to hand Sorenson to Salt Lake County could kill the chances of other dead-end kids tasting success.

"If they can no longer pay and mix with their friends in a different setting, they might get sucked in," Ramos says about the city's west-side youths who find sanctuary at the subsidized Glendale center. "Utah does have gangs. And they start recruiting."

It's heady stuff for the law-school-bound University of Utah philosophy major, who has become the symbolic leader of a community surge intent on saving Sorenson, 855 W. California Ave. (near 1300 South) from the fee increases proposed under a county takeover.

A breakdown of the proposed prices reveals modest increases on activities, ranging from $16 more for softball to $6 more for

soccer. But city documents do not show the discounts currently offered to low-income participants. When those numbers are contrasted with the county fee schedule, costs often double and some nearly triple.

What's more, city and county officials concede the vast majority of Sorenson users qualify for, and are offered, the lower prices, modeled after the schools' "free and reduced-price lunch" rates. Patrons pay the full fees only if household income for a family of four exceeds $54,250.

The county would continue to offer two levels of discounts, albeit at higher prices.

In any case, the boosted fees would make it "nearly impossible" for residents of Glendale and Poplar Grove to afford the services, Sorenson volunteer Cindy Harling recently told the City Council.

For that reason, the city and county have agreed to each plop $10,000 into a "scholarship" fund for cash-strapped families, according to Becker spokeswoman Lisa Harrison Smith. "That definitely shows our commitment," she says.

"Our policy is to provide rec opportunities regardless of ability to pay," explains Kristin Riker, a county recreation manager. "It's not a moneymaking business. We lose money everyday."

Still, the scholarship fund covers only one year. Extra money in future years would be subject to community grant competition with a host of other requests.

Until now, rec-center regulars appear to be getting a break. Smith acknowledges there is "quite a discrepancy" in the city's formal fees, set by ordinance, and what it actually charges. If the five-year contract with the county is not inked, the higher fees will be enforced, free services will disappear and increases will be proposed, city documents reveal.

The City Council will get its first look at the proposed county deal today. If approved, the city's subsidy would decrease to roughly $880,000, a savings of $152,000 in year one, then $269,000 annually. The county also would save $205,000 a year by hiring cheaper employees, and fewer of them. Indeed, nine city employees and nine part-timers would be axed but allowed to interview for their old jobs at lower pay.

Mike Harman, chairman of the Poplar Grove Community Council, endorses the move, saying the county's expertise would be a "very good thing" for the community. "The city was going to raise its fees anyway."

Others argue an overhaul would create a dangerous vacuum for at-risk kids.

"The community is going to basically get ripped off," contends Glendale Community Council fixture Jay Ingleby, threatening to organize a Sorenson boycott. "There's too damn much dirty politics going on here. Everything is behind closed doors. "

That charge, echoed from Sorenson regulars and east-side volunteers, bristles the Becker team, which prides itself on practicing open government.

Smith says sensitive contract talks, hatched early this summer, are the reason for a delay in public disclosure. The negotiations "cut the timeline," she says, "from what we probably would have liked to be a more open process."

Residents still will get their say before the council during a public hearing, likely next month. That does little to satisfy Glendale resident Jose Garcia, who has 300 signatures on a petition to kill the contract. "As a member of the community, Mayor Becker, I would like to know when we were informed," Garcia asked the mayor during a recent public meeting. "I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but it sounds like even the pets are having a really nice time east of Third West."

Ramos, less blunt but equally passionate, shares the west-sider lament. "If the city saves $500,000," he asks, "is that worth risking a host of future doctors and lawyers?"

djensen@sltrib.com