Vote NO now!

Six years ago when we last voted for the park levy, we had a vibrant Park District.  We had numerous summer camps, summer concerts in both Ober Park and the Village Green with weekly dancing at the Village Green.  Parents were able to register their children for sport activities and their own adult classes at the Ober Park office.  We had a Kayak Center and we had just added the Senior Center to the Park District offerings.  Burton Acres Recreation Center (BARC) was staffed, supervising our youth at this skate park. We had administration staff that included a full time program director. We did all this with levy proceeds of $1,017,297.

Then we built the VES ‘Field of Dreams’.  We have already spent over $2 million on the VES Fields and we are not finished.  This year about one-quarter of our levy proceeds, $277,000, is being dedicated to these fields to finish out the permit. This project has continually run over budget, so these projected costs may not hold true and be higher.
Our Park District looks different today than it did six years ago.  Now the Vashon Park District has neither concerts at the Village Green nor summer camps. The Kayak Center has been sold.  Today the Senior Center runs their own programs independent of the Park District.  Our children now skate at BARC without Park provided supervision. Registration for all sport activities is now done by the individual leagues.  The Ober Park office has shortened their hours so staff can work undisturbed by the public.  

Our Park District has become a maintenance department for our parks and athletic fields, not a resource for our community.

With the Park District doing less and the VES Field being completed, why do we still need the same levy amount?  For 2015 our levy money is $1,123,638.  This is 10% more than it was in 2009, when we were a Park District full of programs and activities for youth and adults.  If we are not spending $117,000 on a VES bond that is being retired this year, and not spending $160,000, or more, on the VES Field construction that is supposed to be finished this year, next year we will not need $277,000.|

Vote NO now! We can vote for a lesser amount in the November election.   

I do have a vision for our Park District.  I would like us to return to the vibrant Park District we once had, offering programs and activities throughout the year.  I believe we should be more than just a list of park properties that define our Park District.  I believe that we need to really have the conversation about what we want our park district to become and offer our residents.  And that conversation will only happen in earnest when we vote this April Park Levy down.

Vote NO on the Park Levy.   This NO vote now will tell the Park District that we expect to be part of the conversation and that we want programs and activities for all our residents to be returned to our community. If that happens, in the November election we can vote to fund these programs again.  If that doesn’t happen, we can vote for a lower levy rate.  The Vashon Park District will not be unfunded.  But we can determine how that funding should be used.