Park District Renames Martinez Shoreline for Ted and Kathy Radke

The East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors voted 7-0 last week to rename Martinez Regional Shoreline in honor of former Board member Ted Rakde, who died Aug. 28, and his wife, Kathy, who died in 2011.

The picturesque, 343-acre park on the Carquinez Strait is now named the Ted and Kathy Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline, honoring the Radkes’ tireless efforts to preserve the Martinez waterfront. Ted Radke, who was the Park District’s longest-serving Board member, devoted much of his career to preserving open space, increasing funding for land acquisition and working with state and federal legislators to advocate for environmental protection. Kathy, a worked to save Mt. Wanda from development, preserve Franklin Hills as open space and, with her husband, was a co-founder of the Contra Costa Ecology Action Education Institute.   

Ted Radke, who served on the Park District Board from 1978 to 2014, was also instrumental in creating the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, Crockett Hills Regional Park, Alvarado Staging Area at Wildcat Canyon Regional Park and the permanent entrance at Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area. Under Radke’s leadership, the Park District’s acreage doubled and important funding sources such as Measures AA and WW were enacted.

The Board’s executive committee voted in favor of the renaming on Nov. 4, and the full board approved the move on Dec. 6. The renaming will affect signs, brochures and the web site, and cost approximately $7,630.

For more information about the Radkes and the Park District’s naming procedures and criteria, please see: Pages 117-126 of the Board report.

The East Bay Regional Park District is a system of beautiful public parks and trails in Alameda and Contra Costa counties east of San Francisco Bay, established in 1934. The system comprises 120,000 acres in 65 parks including over 1,250 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and nature learning.