UPlace: Voters right to reject parks district proposal

I would like to thank all of the University Place voters who soundly defeated the proposal for formation of a new taxing district in the form of a metropolitan parks district.

To anyone doing their homework, this concept was an ill-conceived, orchestrated attempt to put yet more of a tax burden on property owners using threats to beneficial programs to attempt to get it passed.

Strange how city officials always cut services that our community wants under the concept that it has no money. Perhaps looking inward and evaluating how they themselves manage would be a useful tool.

Are current administrative staff and salaries commensurate with the span of responsibility and duties? Are they working efficiently? Given that so many responsibilities are outsourced in whole or part - such as police, fire, emergency medical services, court system etc. - it would seem that priorities should be aligned with negotiating better deals for our community and looking inward at better ways to make our city more affordable and more efficient.

I would hope that various concerned groups would unite their efforts towards truly challenging the city to ensure beneficial program, such as recreation, rather than blindly accepting the city’s position that it has no money.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 12:04 PM with the headline "UPlace: Voters right to reject parks district proposal."