Atlanta organization wants City Hall to protect, improve parks
June 16, 2009 at 11:19 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsCrime isn’t the only issue Atlantans are rallying around this year.
More than 60 neighborhood groups, community organizations and some guy named “Arthur Blank” have joined forces as the Parks Atlanta Rescue Coalition, or PARC. They want City Hall politicians — as well as candidates — to remember greenspaces when they trim the budget.
The AJC’s Eric Stirgus reports PARC wants City Hall to:
• By next year, take concrete steps to make Atlanta’s parks safer.
• By 2012, commit one mill of property taxes, about $20 million, to operate and maintain city parks. (The current Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs budget is $29.6 million. The proposed 2010 budget is $25.3 million.)
• By 2013, create a plan to acquire and develop more green space.
It’s a long article but worth the read.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
We have an outrageous consent order for the water to deal with till 2014 you know.
Have you heard about the Cops the Roads Marta and everything else?
I’m down with parks but we could do a lot just to make the ones we have safe first.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Wrong, Turner, we’ll be trying to pay off $4bn in sewer bonds decades past 2014. These Parks folks are like kindergartners nagging at their minimum-wage parents for the latest toy. No concept of money or priorities.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
There are more households in the City of Atlanta with dogs than there are with chidren, yet the one dog park in the city limits is run by a non-profit conservancy (Piedmont Park). It is an absolute disgrace than Commissoner Diane Harnell Cohen and Parks Director Ken Gillett (who is out of town every single weekend) do nothing to add more dog parks within the city limits.