State Parks under attack (again)

[PaleoRob]

Looks like the temporary reprieve that the state parks got is going to vanish again. State legislators are planning on shutting all state parks and slashing pay for all state employees (does that include the legislators as well?) in order to save money. Never mind that the state treasurer said that the state could lay off every single state employee and still be in the hole, but oh well.
No much of a person to get on a political rant, but I feel that our legislature over the past decade or so has generally done us a terrible disservice, and their current behavior is right in line with that. Why not let the voters decide themselves if they want a sales tax increase? Uh oh, the uninformed masses might do something that goes ideologically against what you like. Guess what? The public should get the final word, not you. So irritated this morning.

[Nan]

A friend of mine is having to rewrite a book she already sent to her publisher - now the main character has to sneak into closed Homolovi park.

How interesting! Now I want to read this!
Oddly enough, part of The Marauders takes place at Homolovi as well...

I don't know the title of the book yet, but it's the sequel to Stormwalker (by Allyson James), which just came out this month. She says the series is being marketed as a paranormal romance, but it's really fantasy.

[PaleoRob]

Hmm...read some reviews on Amazon. Not my usual sort of book...maybe I'll check it out though...

[chumley]

Hey Look! We're not alone!

Budget Squeeze Padlocks 55 Parks, Historic Sites
Updated 11:49 AM EDT, Mon, May 17, 2010

New York state has begun closing 55 parks and historic sites as the budget crisis continues.

Parks officials say parking lot gates and restrooms are being locked at 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and anyone venturing onto the properties will be asked to leave.

Gov. Paterson and parks Commissioner Carol Ash announced earlier this year that dozens of the state's 178 parks and 35 historic sites would have to be closed and others would have their services reduced because of New York's budget deficit, now estimated at $9.2 billion.

The properties on the closing list include John Boyd Thacher State Park, a clifftop park popular for its views of Albany, and several historic sites in the Hudson Valley commanded by Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The cuts also include canceling the annual July 4th fireworks display at state-run Jones Beach on Long Island.

A parks advocate called the situation a "slap in the face" to taxpayers.

"It's just preposterous that New Yorkers are being locked out of their parks," said Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks&Trails New York. "Of all things they pay taxes on, parks is what they feel like they get the most back from."

The Legislature has voted to restore $11.3 million in parks funding cut from Gov. Paterson's budget proposal. But lawmakers and Paterson have yet to agree on a budget, which is now 47 days late.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York

[PaleoRob]

I'm not sure if this makes me feel better or not.

[big_load]

I reviewed the NY parks closure list on Saturday. For what it's worth, those closures don't seem as horrible as the originally proposed and partly-implemented AZ closures. It appears they carefully selected for minimal impact to high-use areas, although there are some I'm not familiar with. Even so, each of those is somebody's home recreation spot.

[The_Eagle]

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/ar ... s0520.html

[PaleoRob]

These are definitely encouraging bits of news, but some of our more vulnerable places remain under the gun.

[azbackpackr]

I think someone, a state employee, is still going to be there at Homolovi. Have you heard otherwise?

[PaleoRob]

Could be, I haven't heard but you're closer to the action than I am.

[idunlop]

For anyone interested in the problems regarding the state parks, there is a recent project which aims to
raise awareness of this issue via a postcard campaign and a short documentary movie. The movie is to
be shown in Tempe on July 8th, and Tuscon on July 22nd.

The project is titled 'Postcards from the Parks', and the following is a short extract from the web-page :

http://www.postcardsfromtheparks.org/index.html

About the Postcards from the Parks Film Project

The documentary film Postcards from the Parks is an all-volunteer project led by four friends who
undertook a 6-month journey to visit all of Arizona's state parks, learn what they had to offer,
and how they could help sustain them far into the future. This odyssey began at a time of crisis in
the Arizona State Parks system - after a decade of starvation funding had crippled the agency's
capital budget for maintenance and repairs, and current budget cuts that have nearly dealt a
death blow to the state parks system.

[azbackpackr]

Thanks for posting this, and

[hikeaz]

A panel appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer to study government made its first recommendations Tuesday to turn more of it over to the private sector.

The initial report by the Commission on Privatization and Efficiency suggested the state pursue more opportunities to turn parks over to private companies or at least let them operate retail concessions. Members also want to push Congress to repeal laws that now prohibit the state from letting private firms set up shop in rest areas along interstate highways.

But state Gaming Director Mark Brnovich, whom Brewer named to head the panel, said this is only the first step. He said the nine-member commission, hand-picked by the governor, is predisposed to believe that if a government service can be privatized, it probably should be.

"Like the governor, members of the commission are strong believers in the free enterprise system and the free market," Brnovich said in an interview with Capitol Media Services. "History has shown that the private sector is able to come up with innovative and, very often, cost-effective solutions to problems."

Brnovich acknowledged that private companies, unlike government, have to make a profit. But he said commission members don't see this as meaning higher costs for taxpayers.

"The free market system, capitalism works because folks are forced to come up with better ideas and create greater efficiencies and come up with new innovations," Brnovich said. He calls it the "yellow book test."

"If a function is available, if you can look at it and find it in the ‘yellow book,' you should ask yourself, ‘should government be doing that?'" Brnovich said. "And if government is doing it, should it be done in conjunction through public-private partnership or can it be done in a better, more efficient way?"

Brnovich said this initial list of options includes those things that either already are underway or can be done relatively simply.

For example, the state contracted last year with the city of Yuma to operate the Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park. And the Arizona Parks Board has since worked out other deals with local groups to help keep parks open.

The commission, however, wants more, including giving private companies the opportunity to actually run the parks, collect all admission fees and pay the state a percentage. The report suggests this would be profitable for private companies by allowing them to sell food and other items and even operate lodging, as concessionaires do at Grand Canyon National Park, albeit with the federal government still running that one.

Brnovich said that, despite the bent of commission members toward privatizing, that doesn't necessarily mean state agencies would be put out of business and employees laid off. He said these agencies could submit bids, just the same as private groups.

That concept, called "managed competition," has been used in some communities to award contracts for trash collection.

He said that concept will be studied before the final report is issued at the end of this year.

But Brnovich said measuring costs and benefits is only part of any analysis of what to privatize.

"Additionally, you have to ask the question, is this something government should be doing and, if so, can it be done in a better way and can it be done in conjunction with the private sector or by the private sector?" he said.

Brnovich said there are certain "core government functions" that, political philosophy aside, probably should not be farmed out. That includes his own agency which oversees tribal gaming.

He acknowledged there are functions within his office that might, under other circumstances, lend themselves to outsourcing, such as audits of the books of tribal casinos. But Brnovich said the secrecy required in the contracts with tribes makes it more logical for all that work to be done "in house," with employees who are subject to background checks.

[azbackpackr]

I am sure this is probably done in other states, but I am not really comfortable with having the parks become commercialized.

And I would like to point out to the writer of the article that it was sort of a non-sequitur to suggest that private firms could run the parks, and then give the example of City of Yuma, which is obviously not a private firm, being contracted to run Quartermaster Depot SP.

[PaleoRob]

The commission, however, wants more, including giving private companies the opportunity to actually run the parks, collect all admission fees and pay the state a percentage. The report suggests this would be profitable for private companies by allowing them to sell food and other items and even operate lodging, as concessionaires do at Grand Canyon National Park, albeit with the federal government still running that one.

Yeah, that works pretty well - a state-sponsored private monopoly. I always enjoy reasonable prices when I buy things at the Grand Canyon... :roll:

[Jeffshadows]

I will happily pay a yearly recreation tax if I can be assured that it can only be used to fund parks, park staff, and preservation of open spaces. Privatization is the first step in the decline of accountability. I won't go into it here, but I got a first class lesson in why we can never privatize anything critical when I was in Iraq.

As far as our parks go: They belong to you and me. They do not belong to Brewer, her satanic cabinet, or anyone else with vision so short-range that he or she could not land a piece of paper in a waste basket. Sometimes the role of government is to protect the citizenry from itself. That is what we desperately need in times of mob mentality and misguided sentimentalism. Instead, we get a capitol that wants to play into the very hands of the fringe.

[hikeaz]

I think that it would be a workable plan to have folks pay, say, 75% of their income taxes into the general fund BUT be able to allocate where the remaining 25% goes. This, of course, would only apply to the 47% who are not on the dole.

When Phoenix instituted all these new taxes and fees recently (including a 2% tax on groceries), they said that they were eliminating 1500 employees as a cost-cutting measure. Guess what........ they eliminated FIFTEEN, not 1500.
How dumb must folks be to vote in more 'programs' run by the same folks who just robbed them blind.

[FLaVrT]

We spent last January hiking around AZ and were sadly informed about the threat to close state parks. It seemed pretty crazy at the time, since we were paying tourist taxes upon taxes to visit these places. I felt especially bad for the volunteers. What a kick in the teeth to those kindly people.

Seems like politicians use this kind of tactic to punish everyone for not shoveling more taxes to the state. You greedy workers just want to spend your money on stuff you want. I hope it works out, because we're coming back this winter for sure. Shame on you all anyway. Eat less or something.

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for the introduction thread.

[imike]

We spent last January hiking around AZ and were sadly informed about the threat to close state parks. It seemed pretty crazy at the time, since we were paying tourist taxes upon taxes to visit these places. I felt especially bad for the volunteers. What a kick in the teeth to those kindly people.

Seems like politicians use this kind of tactic to punish everyone for not shoveling more taxes to the state. You greedy workers just want to spend your money on stuff you want. I hope it works out, because we're coming back this winter for sure. Shame on you all anyway. Eat less or something.

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for the introduction thread.

Hey, New Mexico still has our parks open... at least so far!

[PaleoRob]

Homolovi Ruins set to reopen!
http://www.pr.state.az.us/parks/HORU/index.html
March 18th!

[big_load]

Great! I regret not having already visited.