Re: skating rinks, etc.

["John and Laurie Danahy" <JDANAHY@turbonet.com>]

Clearly, it is time for the city, and the community, to take a hard look at
the current one-dimensional outlook toward recreational facilities.  The
leaders of the community must begin the process of truly developing a
forward-looking facilities plan for the community.  Such a plan must
encompass (1)a hard factual assessment of current and future recreational
needs, (2) a method of prioritizing the identified needs, (3) cost analysis
and method of raising funds, (4) an action plan that results in the
identified needs being fulfilled.  Only this way can we begin to address
what is lacking in the community.

John

John and Laurie Danahy
jdanahy@turbonet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Lois Melina <lmelina@moscow.com>
To: vision2020@moscow.com <vision2020@moscow.com>
Date: Saturday, March 06, 1999 2:20 PM
Subject: skating rinks, etc.


>Visionaries,
>We have been skating around an important community discussion with our
>recent postings on the skateboard park and now the lack of skating rinks:
>to what extent is it the responsibility of government, i.e., the citizens
>of a community, to provide recreation opportunities for children and
>adults?  When the city of Moscow builds a pool and subsidizes its operating
>costs through its parks and rec budget, does that serve a common good or is
>it government subsidizing the activities of a few?
>
>We have parks in Moscow that are maintained by the city. If recreation
>should be self-supporting, how can we justify the expense of maintaining
>those parks? If SOME recreational activities are the responsibility of
>government, but not all, which ones? The ones we've always subsidized, like
>ball fields? or new forms, like skateboard parks? Why a swimming pool and
>not a laser tag center?
>
>If 70 percent of the voters feel a pool is so vital to a community that
>their tax money should build it, why should their tax money not be expected
>to subsidize it to some extent so as to keep it accessible to the majority?
>How to we as a community decide that we'd prefer an ice skating rink to an
>Office Depot and let our government officials know that if a skating rink
>(like a pool) is not a viable enough business to attract a private
>developer, we'd like to develop it as a community and subsidize its
>construction and operation?
>
>*****************************
>Lois Melina
>Editor, "Adopted Child" newsletter
>P.O. Box 9362
>Moscow ID 83843 USA
>1-208-882-1794
>orders: 1-888-882-1794
>fax: 1-208-883-8035
>Email: Lmelina@moscow.com
>http://www.raisingadoptedchildren.com
>