Parks Caucus:
How do you feel it went? Was there anything you would like to add/change? Sound off let us know.
posted by Joe at 6:50 AM
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
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5 Comments:
It's good to see the legislature focus on this issue. When funds are cut for parks the grass grows, trash collects and graffitti takes over. Then people don't feel safe and parks become dead zones. We need more people to speak up and care.
11:34 AM
I thought the biggest issue was the lack of response from dcr to the state reps. Some said they called 15 times and never got a response. No wonder they don't fund that agency.
2:06 PM
An effective caucus coupled with Gov. Patrick's initiatives is necessary to signicantly restore/increase funding and staff for the parks. It could and should demand calls back from the DCR chief. We hope a more parks-friendly Governor will appoint a responsive DCR chief. Meanwhile, individual reps. should stop whining about Romney's stone-walling DCR and caucus effectively for desperately needed increases of funding and staffing.
3:12 PM
At the excellent parks caucus meeting, I was concerned that some reps. and speakers conflated "public-private partnership" only with "privatization" of park functions and maintenance. That is an important issue, but "partnership" should mainly connote collaborations between government and volunteers, NGOs, business,park conservancies, private funders, and advocacy groups like CRC. It should not be a cover for government to excuse itself from primary responsibility for adequately funding and maintaining public parks. Enormous voluntary resources for MA parks are being lost because DCR has been too underfunded and understaffed to uphold its side of real public-private partnership.
3:45 PM
I am concerned that then "I want to be elected" Deval Patrick committed early on to fund parks an additional 10 million -- already in office 50 days and there is no appointed, real leadership at dcr -- instead the administration is filling junior level positions that should be filled by the new leader of dcr and not the poltical machine.
1:08 PM
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