A nonprofit that has been maintaining a popular community garden at San Jose's Emma Prusch Farm Park has been ordered to vacate the park premises by Monday, NBC Bay Area has learned.
But the volunteers are not going quietly.
The dispute involves a small part of the park called Emma’s Kitchen Garden, about a third of an acre maintained by the Prusch Farm Foundation.
Foundation crews were seen packing up and hauling away items Friday morning and are expected to start the big mov-out Saturday.
The city of San Jose, which runs the farm, says the foundation couldn’t come to an agreement on a memorandum of understanding, a document the city said was needed for both sides to continue their relationship.
During a news conference Friday morning, foundation head Sharon McCray showed posted emails indicating her group was willing to sign an MOU but that the city never followed up on the foundation's requests for tweaks to the agreement.
McCray also showed financial documents from the city that causes her to believe the eviction stems from the fact that her foundation questioned the suspected misappropriation of funds in the city’s Parks and Rec Department.
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"We agreed with everything in that proposed agreement," McCray said. "It is retaliation for us speaking out. Absolutely."
Councilman Peter Ortiz also commented on the dispute.
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"I feel like we should be repairing our relaitonships with organizations that have dedicated years to invest in our city," Ortiz said. "So that's why I oppose this decision, and I'm going to continue to do my best to make sure we're as transparent and accountable to the community as possible."
Prusch Farm Park remains open. As for Emma's Kitchen Garden, the city says in the short term, park staff will take over maintenance of the garden while a long-term plan is developed.
