from Robert E. Doyle, General Manager, East Bay Regional Park District
Years of neglect and inadequate funding have left our once “best in the nation” state system of beautiful parks and open spaces with a $25 billion backlog of repair and maintenance needs.
Additionally, parks are the front line of climate change and are being impacted today by extreme weather, rising sea-levels, droughts and fires – all adding on to an already overwhelming list of needs.
The good news is there are two statewide park bond proposals, AB 18 (Rendon) and SB 5 (De León) moving through the state legislature that would address park needs by placing a statewide park bond on the November 2018 ballot.
As the largest regional park district in the nation, with over 65 regional parks on 121,000 acres of open space, we have the responsibility to make sure the public is informed about a potential statewide park bond and how it would benefit our local regional parks. A statewide park bond would also include funding to address local park needs.
It has been 15 years since the last statewide park bond was passed in California. That is simply way too long. The time to invest in our parks is now.
Please join me in sharing the importance of parks and open space with legislators and the governor today.