As a resident of NE Minneapolis, home of the new Northeast Water Park, I can attest to how much folks can get out of a good park system.
I agree with those who say that belt-tightening is necessary at all levels and that the Minneapolis Park Board shouldn't be exempt from some of that. However, I don't consider a 66 percent cut in the Park Board's capital projects budget to be merely "belt-tightening" - it's more like wrapping a noose around their necks. I hope people will take a few minutes to actually read the attachment that Joel Brand sent with his post to see what kinds of projects would be affected by this proposal. It's also simply foolish from any point of view to cut the Park Board's budget to the extent that it would not be able to follow through on matching grant commitments. For all you fiscally-responsible folks, making use of matching grants is called leveraging our tax dollars. That's a GOOD thing! I agree with the point made by Park Board president Bob Fine that it's unfair for the Park Board to be told to reduce their levy 6.1% when the City Council is increasing their levy capacity by 14.5%. I also strongly agree with the point made by Citywide Park Board member Annie Young in her post that "Oh yes, we all love our parks - to hell with keeping and maintaining them though." Minneapolis residents want clean and safe parks for their families to enjoy. I hope our council members recognize that Minneapolis voters have gotten savvy enough to no longer fall for paying lip service to our wishes. We need to see action that backs up the rhetoric and I, for one, love my parks enough to pay for them. I strongly encourage Minneapolis City Council to reject this short-sighted proposal and look elsewhere for places to cut. Mark Snyder Windom Park [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
