Nah, down with anti-parks government.
I really don't know who votes for these people who keep getting into office. Although I still dispute GWB's 'victory', but I digress.
I don't know how hard your areas are being hit economically in this recession. But here in Seattle, between the dot-com failures, Boeing mostly leaving, and 9/11, the economy here is tanking.
It's pretty hard to find a job (second only to Oregon) and they are raising tuition by 17% to 100% (that's not a typo) this year at the U. Yes, this year, not gradually.
But it made me cry when I found out they are closing ALL of our parks and pools. Most of them are already shut down. All will be by the end of the year. Most of the schools here don't have playgrounds but are built in parks.
That means no more watering, no more mowing, no more weeding, no more tree trimming, no more bathrooms, no more water fountains, no more painting any vandalisms, no more cleaning up, no more maintenance of playground equipment or sports fields, no more lighting.
First off, I am just appalled they could even imagine doing this. It's county-wide, affecting millions of people. And yet the governor hired an old friend as a budget consultant for over $80 an hour. I see where their priorities are.
What are children going to do this summer? Or even during the school year? Where will they have recess? Where will they take swim lessons? Where will teams play recreational leagues?
I live in a suburban area. A good portion of the county funding comes from us. Property taxes here are very high (Bill Gates lives here, he alone pays enough to pay for at least one park, right?), and we pay those taxes to live in good neighborhoods with some of the best parks in the nation. So now we are just going to have giant weed-infested dead grass lots in the middle of our neighborhoods? I have a little park across the street that serves two schools. My property values would plummet if that continued. The new goal would be to NOT live by a park.
I think this is just about one of the saddest local government decisions ever. I didn't agree when they invited the WTO and subsequent riots. I didn't agree with a lot of things, but we all don't agree. But who would agree to closing all the parks? What kind of county would do that? Our cities are protesting, by the way.
I really don't know who votes for these people who keep getting into office. Although I still dispute GWB's 'victory', but I digress.
I don't know how hard your areas are being hit economically in this recession. But here in Seattle, between the dot-com failures, Boeing mostly leaving, and 9/11, the economy here is tanking.
It's pretty hard to find a job (second only to Oregon) and they are raising tuition by 17% to 100% (that's not a typo) this year at the U. Yes, this year, not gradually.
But it made me cry when I found out they are closing ALL of our parks and pools. Most of them are already shut down. All will be by the end of the year. Most of the schools here don't have playgrounds but are built in parks.
That means no more watering, no more mowing, no more weeding, no more tree trimming, no more bathrooms, no more water fountains, no more painting any vandalisms, no more cleaning up, no more maintenance of playground equipment or sports fields, no more lighting.
First off, I am just appalled they could even imagine doing this. It's county-wide, affecting millions of people. And yet the governor hired an old friend as a budget consultant for over $80 an hour. I see where their priorities are.
What are children going to do this summer? Or even during the school year? Where will they have recess? Where will they take swim lessons? Where will teams play recreational leagues?
I live in a suburban area. A good portion of the county funding comes from us. Property taxes here are very high (Bill Gates lives here, he alone pays enough to pay for at least one park, right?), and we pay those taxes to live in good neighborhoods with some of the best parks in the nation. So now we are just going to have giant weed-infested dead grass lots in the middle of our neighborhoods? I have a little park across the street that serves two schools. My property values would plummet if that continued. The new goal would be to NOT live by a park.
I think this is just about one of the saddest local government decisions ever. I didn't agree when they invited the WTO and subsequent riots. I didn't agree with a lot of things, but we all don't agree. But who would agree to closing all the parks? What kind of county would do that? Our cities are protesting, by the way.