Support your local parks with a shout!
Posted by herkenham on January 22, 2009
“If we have to close parks to fund new police officers, then so be it.” -Rick Westcott, Tulsa City Councilor
It is already happening in the Tulsa city budget process. It may be going on in every community, county, and state budget committee. There is going to be a very hard look at where to save money in budgets that are stretched too thin. Winter and spring is when budgets get set for fiscal years that begin July 1st. Cuts for next year are going on now.
Elected officials usually respond to what they are hearing. If they only hear “We need more police officers!” then that’s what will get priority in the budget. We tend to be complacent and assume that our representatives know what we want. We don’t want to nag.
Tulsa Parks need your help. It’s time to speak up and let your City councilor know that you value your parks. We hear that Tulsa’s mayor supports “green” initiatives and figure it’s okay. But a survey completed by all 9 City councilors on January 5, 2009 rated their FY2009-2010 budget priorities. They were instructed to identify the top 1 to 3 quality-of-life general areas of concern. Here’s what they checked: Citizen Engagement-2, Economic Vitality-7, Environment-0, Human Investment (health)-1, Neighborhood Vitality-4, Public Safety-7, Recreation & Culture-2, Transportation-3. When asked where they might reduce service levels, they indicated Citizen Engagement-0, Economic Vitality-0, Environment-1, Human Investment-0, Neighborhood Vitality-1, Public Safety-1 (potentially TFD, pursuant to comprehensive study of fire service), Recreation & Culture-1, Transportation-0.
To be fair, “environment” very likely means trash disposal, ozone standards, and curbside recycling programs to a city administrator. “Recreation & parks” may mean expensive items like swimming pools and ball park lighting systems. It’s up to us to tell our representatives what environment, recreation, and parks mean to us.
If you live in Tulsa, you can find your councilor’s contact information at www.tulsacouncil.org and the Mayor can be reached through links on www.cityoftulsa.org . If you don’t live in Tulsa, you might still drop them a line, and let them know that Tulsa’s parks bring you into Tulsa where you might buy a tank of gas or a meal at a restaurant. And be sure to let your own community leaders know about your own park system.
My new year’s resolution: I will start sending emails to city officials when I cache in other communities, thanking them for the use of their parks and mentioning how much I enjoyed my visit to their town.
Donna Horton, the Tribe of Two and ONC staff
