Why Park Commissioners Matter

"Why Park Commissioners Matter"
It seems like much ado about not much. Even after all the recent hubbub, the attendance at Park Board meetings is rarely over 20 people. This lack of public interest means Park Commissioners often make decisions about millions of dollars of public money with little oversight or input from the community
 
At April 24th’s Park Board meeting, Commissioner David Hackett (who ran unopposed twice) asked VES Fields foreman Mike Mattingly, "What about my lights, Mike? What’s going on with my lights?" Mr. Mattingly broke the news that it was going to cost around $80K just to get power to the lights - not including the lights themselves - fixtures, bases,or bulbs.
 
Mr. Hackett clearly wants those $100,000+ lights, and if he can convince two other members of the Board of Commissioners to vote with him, he’s going to get them - not for "him" of course - for "us" - whether "we" want them or not. It doesn’t seem to matter to him that $100K is two and a half full time maintenance workers per year. Or 10% of the annual operating budget. Or enough to fund the swimming pool for 2 summers.
 
Without overwhelming public outcry, we will surely get those $100K stadium lights. They’re’ the cherry on the sundae of the roughly $2 million dollar VES athletic fields project that Mr. Hackett has championed for almost 10 years. They’ll come at the expense of maintenance at every other park. They’ll come at the expense of every park user, through increased fees and decreased services. They’ll come, even if it means that local contractors won’t get paid in a timely manner for work done for the district. They’ll come because we’ve got the Park District we deserve - because we stopped paying attention and we didn’t think it mattered.
 
It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to be a Park Commissioner without a passion for a particular piece of the Park District’s operations. Unfortunately, if all we have are commissioners who represent one park or project, we’ll have million dollar decisions being made - not in the best interests of the larger community or the Park District as a whole - but for the sake of a particular special interest.
 
What’s needed now are at least three smart, conscientious people with a willingness to provide balance and common sense to the Vashon Park District. There will be three open positions in the November election. Three is the number of votes needed to make decisions on the VPD board. Three people can make a huge difference. It doesn’t get any more grassroots than right here, at the Park Commissioner level, on our little island.
 
For anyone with an interest in local politics, this is a great entry level position. For anyone interested in financial accountability, this is a wonderful opportunity to serve your community. For anyone who’s ever fumed about "the government" wasting taxpayer dollars, here’s your chance to actually DO something about it! You can register to run between May 13th and May 17th. Here’s the link for information: www.kingcounty.gov/elections/candidatefiling.aspx
 
There are dedicated, caring citizens who are ready to contribute time, money and talent to help good candidates get elected. Please contact former Park Commissioners Truman O’Brien (Truman.obrien46@gmail.com) or Carol Ireland-McLean (cim@centurytel.net) if you have any questions, want to discuss a possible candidacy, or have someone you’d like to nominate.
 
Carol Ireland-McLean, Truman O’Brien, Mary O’Brien, Hilary Emmer, Janet Quimby, Andrew Niss, Steve Sussman, CC Stone and Captain Joe Wubbold