By HILARY EMMER
For The Beachcomber

Six years ago, when we last voted for the Vashon Park District levy, we had a vibrant park district. We had numerous summer camps, summer concerts in both Ober Park and the Village Green with weekly dancing at the Village Green. Parents were able to register their children for sport activities and their own adult classes at the Ober Park office. We had a kayak center and we had just begun helping the Vashon Senior Center with its administration. Burton Adventure Recreation Center (BARC) was staffed, supervising our youth at this skate park. We had administration staff that included a full-time program director. We did all this with levy proceeds of $1.02 million.

Then we built the VES “Field of Dreams.” We have already spent over $2 million on the VES Fields, and we are not finished. This year about one quarter of our levy proceeds, $277,000, is being dedicated to these fields to finish out work required for the permit. This project has continually run over budget, so these projected costs may not hold true and be higher.

Our park district looks different today than it did six years ago. Now the Vashon Park District has neither concerts at the Village Green nor summer camps. The kayak center has been sold and is operated by a private party. Today the senior center is totally independent of the park district. The district no longer provides paid supervision at BARC. Registration for all sport activities is now done by the individual leagues. The Ober Park office has shortened their hours so staff can work undisturbed by the public.

Our park district has become a maintenance department for our parks and athletic fields, not a resource for our community.

With the park district doing less and the VES Fields being completed, why do we still need the same levy amount? For 2015 our levy money is $1.12 million. This is 10 percent more than it was in 2009, when we were a park district full of programs and activities for youth and adults. If we are not spending

$117,000 on a VES Fields bond that is being retired this year, and not spending $160,000, or more, on the VES Fields construction that is supposed to be finished this year, next year we will not need $277,000.

Vote no now so we can vote for a lesser amount in the November election.

I do have a vision for our park district. I would like us to return to the vibrant park district we once had, offering programs and activities throughout the year. I believe it should be more than just a list of park properties that defines our park district. I believe that we need to really have the conversation about what we want our park district to become and offer our residents. And that conversation will only happen in earnest when we vote this April park levy down.

Vote no on the park levy. This no vote now will tell the park district that we expect to be part of the conversation and that we want programs and activities for all our residents to be returned to our community. In the November election, we can vote to fund these programs again.

— Hilary Emmer is a community activist who also wrote the statement against the levy in the King County voter’s guide.