Candidate for
Director; Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District; 2 Year Short Term

Establishing an Atmosphere of Mutual Consideration

Those of you who have had to sit through meetings of the Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District know that it has been anything but a model of constructive interaction. If you haven't been to the meetings and have only read the newspaper accounts--even though they are embarrassing, they are not complete: the true situation is worse. Bickering, personal attacks, and emotional furor is the rule, rather than the rare exception. This is simply intolerable.

As a mid-term appointee, I came into the situation hoping to be a moderating influence...but I have not been as successful as I had hoped. Although I personally have never indulged in a personal attack, and have listened with an open mind to the opinions of others, I can't say that my presence has motivated other members of the board to act with the same consideration.

Those who know me from parent-teacher organizations, soccer teams, or the library all know that I always treat others with respect, and that I can disagree with the ideas of others without denigrating them or their ideas. I believe all board members should treat each other with consideration. I do, and I will continue to do so if elected to finish the term I am serving.

Encouraging Community Participation

At the first meeting in which I served as a board member one of the items of business concerned approval for about $500 worth of work done to upgrade the playground facility at Garrahan Park. A volunteer managed the project, volunteers assisted, and professionals in the community provided at-cost services. One of the services provided was hauling dirt and grading. The project manager indicated the contractor in question did more than he had promised to do. The project was complete to the project manager's satisfaction and to the satisfaction of the general manager. The question before the board was a simple one: should we pay the contractor the $500 we had agreed upon. For forty-five minutes one board member argued against paying, because a community member unconnected with the project had made some site measurements and estimated that all the dirt contracted for had not been moved. All this against the assurances of the contractor, the project manager, and the district general manager. Since that time the contractor has not offered to do any work for the district and the volunteer project manager has never been back. How can we expect to get volunteer participation when this is how we welcome them!

Our district does not have the financial resources to provide all the services our community needs. We simply must have community members volunteering to help; and the only way to encourage that is to appreciate the services they provide.

I have encouraged all who come to help the district, and I will continue to do so if elected to complete the term I am serving.

Leveraging Our Resources

The Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District has a limited budget. Even with a significant bequest that was left to us, we still cannot afford to offer all the recreational opportunities appropriate for our community. In addition to using the services of community volunteers, we must leverage the resources of other groups.

For example, Garrahan Park is in need of remediation. Rather than initiate a search for the variety of experts needed to initiate the field recovery process, I asked the assistance of the County Parks and Recreation District. They sent a field expert out, he provided us a set of recommendations, and we have now begun implementing those recommendations.

This is the kind of interagency cooperation we must have to be effective. I have initiated and encouraged this kind of cooperation in the past, and I will continue to do so if elected to complete the term I am serving.