Voters need chance to support recreation plan

Editor:

As The News-Times challenged its readership to become involved, I have forwarded the following question to the Republicans and the Democrats for consideration to be included in the straw polls on both parties' ballots. We will soon see if those in control of the ballots are really interested in what everyone else thinks, or just want to continue telling everyone else what to think.

Recently, Frank Neal, the past Community Services division director, had completed at the direction of the county commissioners a long-range plan for recreational services for Colum-bia County. This plan was completed by an outside recreational consulting firm. The plan was available for everyone to review.

As I recall, this plan called for five major park districts within the county. Each district had its own large and small parks for passive recreation and offered a diverse variety of inclusive recreation for the young and the old. Many methods for funding the proposed plan and projects were also suggested. The longer the county waits, the more expensive land will become. Land for nice, open parks and recreation is already being pushed away from developing areas.

This county has historically voted for improvements to quality of life projects, especially recreation. It seems only logical for everyone in the county to have the opportunity to support this plan.

Question: "Should Columbia County Commissioners begin planning, propose methodology for the implementation, and begin a systematic implementation of the recently completed long-range recreation plan?"

Larry Wells

Martinez