Civic agitator is right to look into Brighouse’s revitalization, but should stop short of making it personal

In the absence of local printed newspapers, the presence of interested civic observers is a generally positive thing – hence why this site exists. But misinformation and personal attacks don’t help anyone in the long haul. By Alex Sagert’s own writing online, Richmond’s ‘revitalized’ Brighouse Park is both unsafe because of homeless people and unfairly pushing homeless people away.

That contradiction is hard to ignore.

In one article on his Substack site, online agitator Sagert describes Brighouse as “unsafe, unwelcoming, and mismanaged,” citing needles, pipes, and a park atmosphere that endangers kids. In another, he laments that vulnerable people were told to move along for a recent youth baseball camp “not because they were doing anything wrong, but because they didn’t fit the image.” That’s trying to have it both ways. Either the park is too dangerous for families, or the problem is that families and leagues are reacting at all. It can’t be both.

The Dugout Club’s Real Role

Sagert’s critique also seems to have The Dugout Club / Richmond Baseball squarely in the crosshairs. That’s odd, because the group is not some private profiteer — it’s a not-for-profit society that runs community programs like Just Play Ball, a super low-cost skills camp at Brighouse Park. The poster for their fall sessions explicitly notes financial aid is available for families in need, and promotes inclusivity for boys and girls aged 6–12. That is hardly the profile of a cynical operator squeezing the community.

Moreover, the signage and sponsor banners around Brighouse aren’t some rogue branding exercise; they’re approved installations that help raise funds for fences, bases, screens, and potentially a scoreboard, with half of the sponsor fees (after signage expenses) going to local PAC and sports programs. That’s money reinvested directly into the park and its youth programs — not cashing in on the public dime.

Safety Checks Are Normal

Safety inspections at sporting fields aren’t novel or hysterical. Youth soccer teams at Vancouver’s Andy Livingstone Park, for example, have long conducted sweeps before games to ensure kids aren’t stepping on glass or needles. It’s just due diligence, the same way baseball coaches check baselines for divots or puddles.

And when a user group opts not to play on city-provided fields, that’s their call. Permitted associations make those decisions all the time — whether it’s bad weather, field conditions, or surrounding-area risks. It’s not scandalous, it’s responsible management.

The half million dollar ‘boondoggle’

Sagert makes clear he’s not a fan of the money put into Brighouse Park by the city.

“The City of Richmond recently spent over half a million dollars to redo just the artificial turf infield at Brighouse Park. That’s right — only the infield got an upgrade. Nothing else in the park was touched. No benches, no pathways, no lighting, no cleanup of the surrounding areas. Just the infield.“

Sagert is going to lose his mind when he hears what artificial turf actually costs, but that’s the going rate. One soccer field costs over a million dollars to lay out with modern, environmentally conscious astro-turf. Doing only the infield leaves the field usable for other sports, keeps capital costs lower, and provides a ballpark for a sport that lost facilities recently with the Steveston Community Centre redevelopment using a former diamond as a construction staging area.

It’s fair to say more should be done to ‘revitalize’ Brighouse Park, especially given how vigourously thye nearby Minoru park is used, day and night. But to do so properly would require far more funding than tossing about the ‘benches, lights, and pathways’ Sagert suggests is needed.

The problem at Brighouse is the pavillion is old, in a weird place, and poorly designed, giving far more places for nefarious activity to hide than it does inspiring healthy activities.

But one has to wonder what Sagert would say if those issues were properly addressed, with a revamp that would cost millions.

The False Choice

The contradiction in Sagert’s position is stark:

• If Brighouse is as unsafe as described, then leagues are right to run safety checks and even relocate when hazards persist.
• If unhoused people are unfairly targeted, then they aren’t the justification for calling the park unsafe.

But you can’t argue both at once. You can’t claim the park is a hazard while condemning the very measures intended to make it usable.

What Richmond Really Needs

Sagert has managed to focus attention on some initiatives that should be applauded, such as speed reduction in the streets around Steveston. That’s a genuine need fulfilled, and kudos to the city for reacting positively when presented with the suggestion.

But Richmond doesn’t need dueling narratives. It needs clear-eyed leadership: safe, maintained fields for kids, and humane, consistent policy for people without shelter. Community groups like The Dugout Club are already doing their part, offering affordable programs, maintaining facilities, and raising funds to make Brighouse better.

What doesn’t help is rhetoric that wants it both ways — stoking fear of danger in one breath and indignation at safety protocols in the next. That isn’t advocacy, it’s inconsistency. It’s personal. And in far too many ways, it’s factually incorrect.