Bloomington Little League battles to stay afloat

Bloomington Little League is down to its last out. If it doesn't come up with $2,150 by the middle of the month, the lights will go off at Kessler Park.

[Bob]

There are a lot of great kids in this league and it would be a travesty if they were without this organization and oppurtunity to keep them in something positive. The league needs any help we can get.

[concerned citizen]

This article makes me so angry. The courts need to reconize the damage these people are going around doing to our children.

We have the same thing going on in Rialto at Rialto Youth Soccer League, only Greg and Stacy Hager embezzeled over $50,000. They are finally going to have a Jury Trial on December 14 after a year of going to court. I cannot understand why they were not in jail awaiting this trial instead of going around acting like they have done nothing wrong. We have anywhere from 860 players to 1300 players a year and we almost were forced to close down last year when this took place, had it not been for an emergency fund we would have had to, we are still not out of danger and the courts ordering restitution without jail time does not do anything. They never pay back the money.
People like this take the money and then say they are for the children and think nothing about what they have done to the children by helping themselves to the money that the children and other volunteers worked so hard to earn. People like this think it was owed to them.

I hope that this story you have written will make the law enforcement and courts see that this is an important and serious crime and the only way people like this might realize the damage they have done is to serve hard time in prison.

These Youth groups keep the children off of the street and out of trouble, and people that truely are volunteering for the children do not even think of touching the league funds.

I truley hope that everything turns out ok for Bloomington Little League as it is a shame if it has to shut down and thise kids no longer have a place to play ball at.

[UnhappyCC2]

The mentality of the law enforcement and legal system seems to be that if it hurts one or two people alot, such as with rape and murder, then they will devote the majority of their resources to these crimes. If it hurts many, many kids just a little then then it isn't nearly as important. When these crimanals see this, they think that they can get away with theft and don't understand what all the fuss is about. With the soccer league, many people volunteer long hours and then begin to feel that others "owe" something to them. They are no longer volunteers at that point in my book. This seems to be how Greg and Stacy feel, and probably also Wesley Adams. I looked at the SB County court case file log for Mr. Adams, and it looks like there is a warrant out for his arrest because he didn't show for his 150 days in county jail. There should be a special prison for these types of criminals to work off their debt to the kids they stole enjoyment, education, recreation, and money from! What a bunch of low life hypocrites talking about being out there for the kids! "Oh, these kids are like my own children...blah, blah, blah", yea RIGHT!

[SLG]

I agree with you "concerned citizen" more needs to be done on the legal side, this type of thing happens because the thieves that take money from our children know that they will just get a slap on the hand. They are only ordered to pay restitution (but not enforced to pay it) and no jail time. They get to be free spending the money that they stole.
Like Bob said Bloomington Little League is made up of great kids; some of these kids spend a lot of time at the park helping out when ever possible, as well as Parent Volunteers. I would hate to see the season not go on and it would really break my heart to know that kids have no Baseball/Softball. Southern California Edison if you read this please give the Little league a break on the light bill give them some kind of discount or something.

[JASON]

I am the president of Bloomington Little League, I dislike the fact tha Mr. Adams is still on the street and still in the same community.I also hate the fact that we are one of the only leagues in the area who have to pay their own edison bill. I know we are not a city, but cant the county help out? Other leagues always complain about how crappy our fields are (southridge), but all the money that comes in to the league, pretty much goes straight to Edison,and any maintnance at the park is done by our great board of directors as volunteers and some dedicated parents. The county might cut the grass once in a while when the 2 workers they have aren't busy at the other 2 parks they maintain that are more of a priority, and the only time we see Josie Gonzales is at opening ceremonies on an election year to make more promises that never come true, we dont need a bigger skate park that no one will maintain, then you will add more security lights at the park that Bloomington Little League will have to pay for (since we pay for all the lights and edison at the park) even when we are not in season. But she is looking in to getting us help for the extra security lights and the bathroom in the parking lot that no one from little league uses and the playground lights so the local thugs have light at night, but Josie , it's been about 2 years, do you have an answer yet? Or just another broken promise.

[Mari]

This is so sad. I am not from this League but it saddens me to hear this. Especially when it concerns children. I would not like for this to happen to ours, much less anyone elses. What I don't understand is, why is the league paying for the electricity? Is it not the cities park? If it is the city who owns it. It is not the Leagues responsiblity to pay for it but the City itself. If it is so, the League should fight it with the city. These children need this Park or League. So they are not in the streets and out there in the world. For a future in our children. I hope the best for this League.

[dont cut the trees]

geese. if electricity is a problem, they should play earlier in the day.

[dont cut the trees]

Mari wrote:

This is so sad. I am not from this League but it saddens me to hear this. Especially when it concerns children. I would not like for this to happen to ours, much less anyone elses. What I don't understand is, why is the league paying for the electricity? Is it not the cities park? If it is the city who owns it. It is not the Leagues responsiblity to pay for it but the City itself. If it is so, the League should fight it with the city. These children need this Park or League. So they are not in the streets and out there in the world. For a future in our children. I hope the best for this League.

this park is owned by the county. bloomington is not a city it is a sphere of influence for the city of rialto( its in county land

[dont cut the trees]

JASON wrote:

I am the president of Bloomington Little League, I dislike the fact tha Mr. Adams is still on the street and still in the same community.I also hate the fact that we are one of the only leagues in the area who have to pay their own edison bill. I know we are not a city, but cant the county help out? Other leagues always complain about how crappy our fields are (southridge), but all the money that comes in to the league, pretty much goes straight to Edison,and any maintnance at the park is done by our great board of directors as volunteers and some dedicated parents. The county might cut the grass once in a while when the 2 workers they have aren't busy at the other 2 parks they maintain that are more of a priority, and the only time we see Josie Gonzales is at opening ceremonies on an election year to make more promises that never come true, we dont need a bigger skate park that no one will maintain, then you will add more security lights at the park that Bloomington Little League will have to pay for (since we pay for all the lights and edison at the park) even when we are not in season. But she is looking in to getting us help for the extra security lights and the bathroom in the parking lot that no one from little league uses and the playground lights so the local thugs have light at night, but Josie , it's been about 2 years, do you have an answer yet? Or just another broken promise.

you guys in bloomington should really bug lafco to become a city. mira loma/jurupa is becoming a city soon

[dont cut the trees]

dont cut the trees wrote:

jeez. if electricity is a problem, they should play earlier in the day.

fixed error

[bloomington league parent]

what happed to all the money that was donated when all this first happened 2 years ago,from what i understand the league was given $5000.00 plus.was the money miss managed again.i think you should check into replaceing the entire board not just a few members,maybe we need a fresh start.we could stat by not allowing the board members to feed there famileys and friends out the back door of the snack bar !!!!

[SLG]

bloomington league parent wrote:

what happed to all the money that was donated when all this first happened 2 years ago,from what i understand the league was given $5000.00 plus.was the money miss managed again.i think you should check into replaceing the entire board not just a few members,maybe we need a fresh start.we could stat by not allowing the board members to feed there famileys and friends out the back door of the snack bar !!!!

I don't know were you get your money from, that it must last forever, but the electricity bill every month comes out to no less than $2000- 2 years ago when all this happened the league was left with 20,000 debt.$5000 plus still did not cover the debt if you feel the board should be replaced then step up and do something for the little league, if that's how strongly you feel about that. They do have board positions open and a list is posted at the back of the snack bar door.

[JASON]

The $5000 was to help pay for all the kids in the league whose parents can't afford to pay. We get that alot, but we will never turn away any kid who wants to play even if they cant pay.We avarage about 100 to 150 kids whose parents can't pay a year, but we don't turn them away, and we never will. The Bloomington Little League parent who wrote the comment is probably someone who has never coached, chalked a field, covered up grafitti on the walls, or lifted one finger to help with anything, because if you did you would see how much this board does for all of these kids.

[Kelly Buell]

bloomington league parent wrote:

what happed to all the money that was donated when all this first happened 2 years ago,from what i understand the league was given $5000.00 plus.was the money miss managed again.i think you should check into replaceing the entire board not just a few members,maybe we need a fresh start.we could stat by not allowing the board members to feed there famileys and friends out the back door of the snack bar !!!!

i would love to sit down with you to show you the cost and expense we are talking about, the $5000 didnt even cover the bill that he left us with.

[LL MOM]

It's very sad when people dose not know what's going on and have to put a damper on the good others try to do for the children of the our community. So for the person who has to criticize the Bloomington Little League should get their information correct before they make a assumption! They should get on the board and see if they can make a difference or do better job! I would like to see you give up your weekends, weeknights staying at the park from early morning hours to late nights, when you have hot days and cold night!. BUT IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO CAN ONLY TALK..!

[UnhappyCC2]

bloomington league parent wrote:

what happed to all the money that was donated when all this first happened 2 years ago,from what i understand the league was given $5000.00 plus.was the money miss managed again.i think you should check into replaceing the entire board not just a few members,maybe we need a fresh start.we could stat by not allowing the board members to feed there famileys and friends out the back door of the snack bar !!!!

These kinds of comments bother me too as we get these people in our soccer league also. They complain like they think that the people who volunteer many, many hours at the expense of their own families are actually getting paid and are employees. They also almost never help out and if they did they would understand the problems that go in to running an organization with volunteers. Hey "bloomington league parent", put some time in so you can truely understand!
Oh yes, I can already hear the excuses coming. I am busy with this, that, my kids have ..., my mother that..., my husband works...
Yea that's right, nobody that ACTUALLY volunteers has a life, kids, a spouse, or a million other things that they should be doing. They SACRIFICE their time for the kids and the PARENTS of the league to give them a wholesome activity!