[Durham INC] let's help the City with ideas...

[Randy Pickle]

No, I wasn't being facetious about selling the parks. It's actually been
talked about. I ran it up the flagpole a couple of years ago in order to
create a perpetual maintenance fund (like cemeteries have). But I did hear
it again this year during the budget discussions. Parks and Rec. is
working on a study of utilization of the parks. With that in hand they
plan to develop a multi-tiered system of what gets done in/to a park. For
example, less used parks will get less attention; more used parks will get
more attention. This may be in the form of mowing, equipment, etc.

So it's not as far removed from the table as you'd like to think. I'm all
for it if it creates a perpetual maintenance fund. That way the park
maintenance/revitalization won't even have to be a part of the budget
process.

My plan went something like this: sell the park; take that money plus
10-15 years of the tax the new development/enterprise pays and sock it
away into a trust. After the initial time frame, let the taxes money go
back to the place it typically goes. This creates a fund that never dries
up and assures the future that parks will have proper care.
The City did create something like this, but it wasn't from the sell of
parks. It's such a small amount, it really isn't enough to do the
perpetual maintenance I had planned. I think that fund came from grant
money...

Just so you understand where I am in this budget picture. We (CCIP; I've
represented INC since Mile Woodard ask me to do so as he entered his
Presidency of INC) meet as a group for 4 hours a month. Additionally we
attend the City department budget sessions which last typically all
afternoon or morning (for the individual departments). During our regular
meetings, we frequently have department heads, Deputy Managers, and even the
City Manager in for conversations/questions. We're really about the Capital
Improvement budget, but in these lean times the last couple of years, there
hasn't been much money for that. So we've improved our system (with a
scoring matrix that the City now even uses) and brainstorm about where we're
all headed and what it'll take to get there. Last Wed. we even revisited the
"food tax" that failed during voting a few years back. So Cheryl must have a
bug in the room... Last week we had our newest Deputy Manager, Keith
Chadwell in for an hour and a half to meet him and see what page he is on.
So as a group, we are pretty well informed as to what's going on and where
we're heading as a City. The greatest thing about this group is, that
although we represent a vast cross-section of Durham citizenry, when we meet
as a group, we all leave the group we represent at the door and represent
Durham citizens. We can't push any particular agenda that our respective
group might like because it's only one vote. So the consensus of the group
becomes the norm. And I think all of us are proud of that fact. Two years
ago (when we had some funds), 17 of our projects were on the top 20 of the
City list. So it looks like we're all on the same page.

RWP
27 Beverly
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