| News for my Woodinville
neighbors |
| by Deb Sternagel 07/18/10 |
| The City Council has voted to shut down the Community
Center and drastically increase the rental cost of the field. |
| You will soon hear more about this and read about it in the Woodinville Weekly,
but wide-spread news of this come will come out too late - most of us will probably
read it after the next council meeting has occurred. The city is not even planning
to notify current users until at least next week (after the Tuesday 7/20 meeting
and the next meeting won’t occur until 8/3.) If you want to read the news Monday
night, you can get the Woodinville Weekly online at
www.nwnews.com/ |
| Here is the Detail: |
At last Tuesday’s (7/13) City Council meeting, following a presentation by the Parks
Commission and City Staff regarding Community Center expenses, budgets and programs,
Deputy Mayor Talmas (who has only lived in our State/City about two years) made
a motion to CLOSE DOWN and MOTHBALL the Carol Edwards Center (CEC)---our Community
center. Councilmember Bauman seconded that motion. |
Shortly thereafter, with some discussion and amendments to the motion, Council voted
4-3 to SHUT DOWN the Carol Edwards Center. They directed staff to see if off-site
space could be rented more economically for the pre-school programs. THERE WAS NO
DISCUSSION OF OR ANY KNOWLEDGE PRESENTED OF LEASE RATES IN WOODINVILLE. THERE WAS
NO DISCUSSION OF OR ANY KNOWLEDGE PRESENTED OF HOW PARENTS/CHILDREN WOULD BE AFFECTED,
QUALITY OF PRIVATE PROGRAMS OR ADVANTAGES OF THE CITY PROGRAMS. THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION
THAT THE FACILITY HAS ALREADY BEEN FUNDED/BUDGETED THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR,
AND THAT IT HAS BEEN RENTED BY OTHER USERS, SUCH AS BRIDES INTENDING TO HAVE THEIR
WEDDING IN THE BEAUTIFULLY AND RECENTLY RENOVATED FACILITY. THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION
THAT THE PUBLIC WAS BEING DENIED CRITICAL INFORMATION ON THIS DECISION AND PROCESS.
|
You can watch the entire meeting on the Woodinville Website
http://woodinville.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2 |
| The prevailing motion was made by Jeff Glickman and the majority vote was cast
by the candidates who were featured as THE TICKET during the past election
- Bernie Talmas, Chuck Price, and Susan Boundy- Sanders, as well as Mr.Glickman.
Paulette Bauman originally voted no, but I have been informed that she called in
the next day to change her vote to yes. |
So what does this mean? We will no longer have this facility for day to day
programs and offerings such as exercise and recreation classes and, where the city
hosts our very popular Civic programs ---the Light Festival, our Fall Harvest Festival,
Celebrate Woodinville, the annual Teen Art show, etc.
Additional major losses are the wonderful programs for seniors and special-needs
groups. |
| Regarding the Sports field |
For those of you who were instrumental in saving the property and helping us get
the lighted synthetic turf field built, you will be quite interested to note
and possibly angry that the
council has most likely perfected the plan to actually shut down a brand new facility
, which has been very well used (exceeding the budgeted income) since it’s
opening in April. When Mr. Glickman made the motion regarding the Community Center,
he tossed in that the field rental will be increased by 348% - yes – I did say three
hundred and forty eight percent!! Doubtful that many will choose to pay nearly $80
dollars per hour when they can rent a synthetic turf field in Bothell or from the
school district for $25 per hour. I know this first-hand since I personally called
many adult leagues to let them know the field would be built and available; each
response was an eagerness to queue up and use the facility, if it was competitively
priced. |
This action to increase the rental fee was taken even though the Parks and Recreation
Commission made the following statement in their report - Increasing rates can have
unintended impacts on revenues levels. If rates are increased too much, they could
actually reduce overall revenues. When raising rates, careful consideration should
be paid to prices charged by competition. Mr. Glickman blithely admitted that he
was just throwing out numbers he had scribbled on the back of an envelope! This
disrespectful manor and attitude, as well as uninformed conversation, makes me very
angry. |
You should note this very important point: Your Council majority took action, on
their own and without any public discussion, or announcement, and without advertising
the closure possibility as an agenda item. They made a decision to shut down an
established public facility, with NO input from the citizens of Woodinville. What
the Council did was ill informed (even though they supposedly were thrilled to get
their first look at some actual numbers) – WAS IT ILLEGAL? NOT IN THE FINER POINTS
OF THE LAW, BUT IT CERTAINLY WAS QUICK AND WILL MAKE PEOPLE LOSE THEIR JOBS AND
THE COMMUNITY WILL LOSE PRECIOUS RESOURCES. I wonder how many families and businesses
will consider moving here without drawing cards such as the wonderful programs so
carefully built from scratch over the last fifteen years. |
If you care about this
- First, forward this information to your email and facebook lists.
- You can send emails to the City Council,
citycouncil@ci.woodinville.wa.us protesting the decision.
You do not have to be a resident within city limits to express your thoughts,
but if you are a resident certainly state that fact, and if you believe the reason
for living in a city is to have it provide services such as these, definitely tell
them you are willing to help pay for them, and it is their job to find a way to
make them happen.
- Also attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday 7/20/10 and each council meeting
from there forward (first three Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.) and give public
comment to protest the action. Council actions are reversible! But we all need to
work together until our voices are acknowledged.
- You can call City Hall 425.489.2700 to express your thoughts. Richard Leahy is
the City Manager.
- Also call your Council Members. Their numbers are listed on the website
www.ci.woodinville.wa.us/CityHall/CouncilMembers.asp
Note – Council Members Aspen and Hageman tried their best to point out
the foibles of this plan and if you watch the video, Council member Boundy-Sanders
actually sounded quite reasonable at times and was calling for a business plan to
consider the actions, but in the end, she evidently was compelled to vote with the
ticket. Please remember these things during the next election.
|
Hoping to get your help, quickly and thoroughly!
Your neighbor and advocate for our wonderful city,
Deb Sternagel 425 486-3889 deb.s@comcast.net
|