Portland Mercury on Twitter Portland Mercury on Facebook Portland Mercury on Instagram

This Week in the Mercury

Not in Chicago Anymore

News

Not in Chicago Anymore

Is PBOT's New Director Ready for Portland?


He Favors His Father

Food and Drink

He Favors His Father

Faithful Family Fare at Tasty n Alder



  |  

Monday, April 19, 2010

Election 2010 / News No Parks Bond Measure

Posted by Matt Davis on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 5:09 PM

Nick Fish has postponed a planned parks bond measure scheduled for this November. Instead, Fish does still plan to move ahead with a housing levy instead, possibly next year or the year after. And it's "entirely likely," he says, that there'll be money for mental health in the mix.

I flagged this issue last December, asking whether we should really be considering our greenery when there's, you know, other priorities.

"Ok, you were right all along," the commissioner wrote me, in an email this afternoon.

Here's the letter announcing the change.

April 14, 2010

To all Portland Parks & Recreation Employees,

We are writing to report on our decision regarding moving forward with a bond measure for Parks. Unfortunately, we've determined that now is not the right time to refer a Parks Bond Measure to the voters on the November 2010 ballot.

We have worked hard to test the feasibility of putting this bond measure on the ballot in November. Over the past three months, we spoke to 90 community groups, neighborhood associations, and businesses to share information about Portland Parks & Recreation's multi-million dollar major maintenance backlog. We were pleased to hear just how many people support Portland's park system. However, the economic climate makes it too difficult to successfully move forward with a bond measure at this time.

Outreach to Portlanders confirmed that they value Portland's park system and understand that important safety updates are needed - especially for older buildings such as those at Mt. Tabor Yard. They want to ensure that parks remain solid, affordable anchors for neighborhoods and they want natural areas preserved. They also understand that some areas of Portland are still waiting for their first park, trail, or community center.

This has never been about "if," but "when" we ask voters for the necessary funding to care for the park system. With strong support from the community, we will look for the right time to ask for their vote.

Thank you for your commitment to Portland's park system.

Sincerely,

Comm. Nick Fish Zari Santner, Director

Comments (6)

Showing 1-6 of 6

 
Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS
Showing 1-6 of 6

Comments are closed.

Our Friends

Our Enemies

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy