PARK BOARD to CHANGE PROCESS of NAMING PARKS

PARK BOARD to CHANGE PROCESS of NAMING PARKS
Undemocratic and Flawed Process

Vision Park Board is changing the democratic process regarding park namings. Currently, the process can be initiated by community members, neighborhood or resident organizations and park users. There is a Park Committee set up for each proposed park naming. There is public consultation involved and this process has worked fine. Now it is being proposed to do away with the Park Naming committee and instead STAFF/PARK BOARD will initiate park names and the public consultation will occur only through the web. Park Board then makes the decision. This new measure is anti-democratic since elected members of the Park Board will have undue influence regarding park names. They will be able to instruct staff on the name they want for a particular park. This method will allow them to suggest names of friends or political insiders. Cronyism will creep into what was until now a fair and democratic process. This issue will be debated at Park Board on March 26 at 7 pm. No doubt this measure will pass since Vision has a majority but I will be there making my voice heard.

Jamie Lee Hamilton
tricia_foxx@yahoo.com