We object to the City deciding, without putting the issue to a citizen vote, to change the City Charter so that Parks & Recreation funds are not separate from the city, and spent by the Parks & Recs department, but are instead allocated to the City as part of the City General Fund and budgeted by the City. To do so is to steal monies that the Parks & Recs has SAVED for future needs.
Why is this important?
The Ashland Parks & Recreation Dept. has had separate funding since the City Charter of 1908. The City is currently moving through Committees, rather than through a vote open to the general public, to take the monies the Parks & Recs has SAVED for a rainy day (remember the 1997 flood?) and put it in the City GENERAL FUND which will pay for other services first, and the Parks LAST.
