Plea from Parks and Recreation for citizens to come out to March 27 public meeting
Dear Citizen and Community Stakeholder,
The General Fund Budget Committee of the Board of Supervisors will host a public meeting on Tuesday, March 27th at 6:00 PM in the Lord Botetourt High School Auditorium for the purpose of receiving input on the FY13 County Budget. The budget currently projects a deficit of approximately $3,670,000, primarily due to mandated spending increases imposed on both the County and the Schools by the State. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the Board is considering significant cuts and/or reductions in funding to Parks & Recreation and other County services above what has already been deeply reduced over the past three years.
If accepted, the newly proposed cuts could drastically reduce or potentially eliminate certain services provided by this department that include; formation of youth recreation athletic leagues and summer programs; athletic field preparation for middle and high school teams; grounds maintenance for schools, recreation parks, athletic fields, libraries, and business parks; tourism activities and sport tournaments; Sr Citizen and Accessible Van Services; and the production of community special events such as the Children’s Fishing Carnival.
At the meeting on the 27th, it will be important for the Board of Supervisors to hear the value of these programs from you as a resident of the County and as a participant and user of our services. If available, please plan to attend the meeting and voice your support. I would also ask that you share this opportunity with others that you believe would be interested in attending.
More information about proposed cuts will be posted on the County’s website (http://www.co.botetourt.va.us/news_events/index.php ) by the end of business on Friday. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thanks for your continued support,
Richard “Pete” Peters, CPRE Parks and Recreation Director
We had a previous post on the budget here, where the school board discussed closing an elementary school and eliminating middle school and high school sports as ways to balance the budget.
March 23, 2012 - 11:09 AM
I think it’s completely inappropriate of Mr. Peters to be publishing such a note. Who employe him..the Board of Supervisors. By publishing this notice he is effectively publicly questioning his own bosses, and inciting citizens to question their decisions. While the Board is open to public debate and question, Peters should not be the one starting this debate. His job is to carry out policies implemented by the Board, not to question their decisions. Would you publicly question your boss? Not a smart move at all Mr. Peters
I disagree. I believe Mr. Peters is simply stating facts. The only opinion statement is “it will be important for the BOS to hear about the value of these programs…” Honestly, he didn’t even insinuate that there WAS value. You, County Citizen, are welcome to come and publicly decry that the Parks & Rec department has NO value. I would disagree wholeheartedly though. I speak as a user and participant, who I believe are best qualified to speak about the programs’ value. It would be a shame to see those services slashed.
And if Mr. Peters is unwise to defend his own department and reason for being, then perhaps we need to reconsider what is smart. Shall we all stand idly by and not question the decisions of those people elected to represent us? Isn’t that the whole purpose of this public meeting anyway?
I honestly do not think you know what you are talking about, the parks and rec department loves to run around this county wasting money away. Starting with that sports complex, every morning I go about for a walk or a stroll,down greenfield and that place is packed with workers making those fields pretty, that is great an all, but at what cost, they are always empty, there are a few ballgames that, I am sure, do not bring enough income to support so many workers. Another thing why are there so many parks and rec projects, we have beautiful trails and nature outings in botetourt, we do not need to give so much money for this department to keep our kids entertained. As a grandparent, I always entertain my kids I dont need a county department doing so. One thing that really gets me going is driving down the road, and seeing county vehicle from parks and rec to schools all driving down there road with one person and then another county vehicle going to the same place, dont you know what carpooling means??
Mr Peters, it is very noble that you want to save your department, but lets face it, you will sacrifice your employers and any activities necessary instead of getting a pay cut.