May 9th opposition
We only had 6 supportors at the May 9th meeting, but that was my fault. I did not get the word out. People are beginning to oppose the park. A lot of people came up and spoke against it. We need more people at meetings, and we need to find more adults willing to speak in favor of the park. A motion was approved to have public hearings on the skatepark, but dates are not yet set. Shirts are in, $5 for a white shirt, and $7.50 for a blue one. Email me to get one.
posted by Michael @ 10:29 AM
6 Comments:
I would like to go on record as being strongly against using Wilmette Park District funds to finance a skate park of the scope that your group has requested. If the financing being considered were in the range of $5,000 to $20,000, I would not be concerned. However, I believe spending anywhere near the $250,000 - $300,000 estimated amount being discussed would be irresponsible on the part of the Wilmette Park District.
When the board considers the skate park request, they should consider the following:
1. The use of taxpayer’s funds to finance the skate park at the current estimate is exorbitant.
2. There is no reliable data confirming that the skate park would be used by anyone other than a small percentage of Wilmette youth. Just look at the anemic activity your blog receives.
3. The Winnetka skate park is directly behind the Winnetka Park District’s offices, I have never seen more than 2-3 skateboarders use the park at a time.
I have no objection to a skate park in Wilmette, and I believe the persistent lobbying effort by you and your group is commendable. But, as any adult knows, sometimes even good intentions are not rewarded. Your quixotic intentions are honorable; but to continue your quest for a skate park of that magnitude is not in your best interest, or the Village of Wilmette. In this case, and at this funding level, I believe the only responsible message to send to your group is: “You can’t always get what you want.”
please email skatewilmette@gmail.com so that i can email you and more specifically address your concerns, but for now, the money is in the budget, the blog is much more of an update center than anything else, witht the winnetka skatepark, i have only gone once, but when i was there, there were 10-15 kids there at a time.
Your efforts are commendable. However, the site which is currently under consideration is going to met with strong opposition. There are multiple problems with trying to "shoe horn" in a skate park at the Community Playfields. Too much congestion and activity already there. No adult supervision. Excessive noise. The cost is way too much for an activity that will only be used by a small minority, no user fees and non-residents get the benefit of my tax dollars. My taxes are already outrageous. Sorry, but I can't support your efforts.
yet again, the opposition remains anonymous. I hope to debate this in public at the next meeting. Please, in the future sign your name at the bottom of a post. Let me say that with the conjestion, i really dont understand. Many people say that we would conjest the park, but a. the park is only extremely crowded on saturdays for soccer, and b. many other people say that there will not be enough of us. Please decide, do we conjest the park, or are their not enough of us. in reality, i do not believe that the park is overly conjested except possibly on saturdays during soccer season, and there will be enough skaters to fill the park, but most of them will not drive cars. Just a note, i was in front of harper school yesterday, and while i was there, over a 3 hour period, i counted 12 kids there at one time, and lots more were there, but were in and out. -michael rushmore
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I am a father of three boys and we all love to skateboard. Growing up skateboard parks didn't even exist.
Skateboarding provided good exercise and offers a creative outlet for kids no matter what their age.
In my opinion the more skate parks there are on the Northshore the better. We support local businesses when we travel, purchasing food, gas and other goodies during our all day skate sessions. More tax dinero in your pockets.
Head over to the Northbrook Skatepark and see the activity that's there after school or in the afternoons on the weekend. It's more than 2 or 3!
And anemic numbers that address this blog really have nothing to do with the support or lack there of for this project. I'd rather have 12 passionate people wanting to change the world than 100,000 followers any day of the week!
Tom Sybert
www.coolcatskateboards.com
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