I never met Ron Kotarski, and it’s my loss. Everything I’ve heard about him is positive: good, honest family man, volunteer firefighter, always ready to help his community.
He was so well liked; when he died young, his wife decided to build a memorial park in his name that the children of Dolores would enjoy for decades. Over 500 people helped and donated.
That park was destroyed recently, its valuable parts crushed at the behest of the Dolores city council and their lawyer, who seems to give the council orders.
They said the park was unsafe, which wasn’t true. The few defective parts could have been fixed for a few thousand dollars, all of which would have been donated.
They said it was uninsurable, but no insurance company document was ever produced refusing insurance.
They said the treated wood was poison, but that wasn’t true either.
The community rallied to stop the destruction, getting as many as 50 people to the council meetings, but to no avail.
Why was the park destroyed? I think it was the great American author, Norman Mailer, who said, “beware the shoddy motive.” We will see in the near future what is built on the park location, then the truth will come out.
We surely need more people like Ron Kotarski and his family and friends, who helped build their community, and less of those who choose to destroy it.
I hope the council sleeps well, though their pillows are wet with the tears of hundreds of children who formerly enjoyed and would have enjoyed the beautiful Kotarski park.
Garry Klicker
Dolores