Letter to the Mayor, Council President, and Park and Rec Director

Dear Mayor Coleman, City Council President Lantry, and Parks and Rec Director Michael Hahm,

I have serious concerns about the choices that are being made about where to spend and where to cut dollars in regards to Parks and Rec.

It is a despicable choice to cut $3.8 million for the Park and Rec Department as a whole while planning to spend almost $8 million to rebuild the Como Pool. This situation is disturbingly familiar. I watched as millions were poured into the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center while other centers were closed, center budgets slashed, and staffing and programming were dramatically cut at remaining Rec Centers. The current situation with Como Pool reeks of the same inequity. Why do some neighborhoods get priority over others in the City of St. Paul budget? Some have said the Como Pool gets priority because it is a revenue stream for the city. When did Parks and Rec become about profit rather than service to the community?

I do not understand what benefit to the community is provided by Como Pool that can off-set the damage other communities will sustain as a result of closed or crippled Rec Centers. It has already been admitted that crime will increase as a result of the stress of these difficult times. What has failed to be admitted is the additional increase in crime as a result of closed Rec Centers. Block clubs are already fighting a daily battle against gangs and graffiti. They work tirelessly with police in these efforts but already find the SPPD ability to help limited due to lack of officers. When rec centers close, our youth will have nowhere to go to avoid being solicited by gangs. We might as well post gang sign-up sheets on the doors of the closed buildings! Oh yes, and now there will be even fewer officers to respond to the crimes committed by the growing gangs. Also, the proposed Park and Rec budget reductions will result in the loss of several jobs. Will those job losses be off-set by employment opportunities at the Como Pool? I'd venture to guess not. At this difficult time, why would the city lay off these people for the sake of pool construction? Please remind me how the investment in the Como Pool is benefiting me and my community.

Our community also has some recent experience with the CIB process which leads me to question the Como Pool funding process. A local block club just submitted a CIB proposal to initiate a study of the Margaret Rec Center facility so that a determination can be made about whether to resolve the long list of facility issues by renovation or rebuilding. The proposal must undergo months of review and if approved funds will not be available until 2010 or 2011. It would then take a year or two for the study process and resubmission of a proposal for the recommended renovation or construction costs. It is estimated that it will take 5+ years before any action would occur. However, when Como Pool closed at the end of last summer there hadn't even been a determination about whether to repair or rebuild the pool. Yet, they have already been granted $200,000 for conversations about what to do and another $7.2 million is already set aside for construction to be completed before summer of 2010. Why does Como Pool enjoy less scrutiny and a much more rapid process than our East Side rec center? Again, why are some neighborhoods and facilities given more priority than others? I am deeply disturbed about the inequities across the city.

As a voting constituent of the city I charge you to re-examine the proposed cuts and expenditures in the Park and Rec portion of the city budget. Council President Lantry, I challenge you not to vote to approve any budget which does not share expenditures and cuts evenly across all neighborhoods in St. Paul. Let it be said of the City of St. Paul that this is a place where leaders care equally for all citizens and truly strive to serve all citizens - even, and maybe especially, during hard times.