Mayor's Parks Plan Both Praised and Brushbacked

City of Newcastle, WA -- Council Meeting of February 5th, 2013

 

 A somewhat radical proposal by Mayor Rich Crispo to revamp the Parks Commission, actually to disband it and then revamp it from scratch, expand its duties and call it another name was completely unveiled at this meeting, although it had been discussed quasi-informally at the Council Retreat in late January at the Newcastle Golf Club.  The plan primarily calls for the admission of two private organizations, Newcastle Trails and the Newcastle Historical Society, to be included in the new commission through these organizations' own representatives, the expansion of the new King County Library as an additional field within the commission's purview, among other fields to be included, mainly involving parks, events, community associations, and some volunteer activities.

 

The mayor was politely praised by his fellow councilmembers, as some called his approach "innovative" in regards to the plan that deals with the controversial Parks Commission, a commission that has come under criticism from the Council for the past year for various reasons, including absenteeism.  The verbal niceties stopped, however, when the plan came under a barrage of criticism led by Councilman Steve Buri.  Buri said he didn't want any councilmember to become a part of the Commission, as the plan outlined, because no one councilmember should have the authority to speak for the entire Council.  However, he appeared to accept the proposition that the Council could appoint a councilmember in a strictly observer status at Commission meetings, but not actually be a member of the Commission. 

 

Councilwoman Carol Simpson also didn't like further involvement of the Council with the Commission, calling it a potential "conflict of interest."  Councilman John Dulcich called the entire plan the "mayor's baby," and the mayor (specifically Crispo, but presumably whoever the mayor happened to be at any given time) should be the conduit at the Commission meetings.  Deputy Mayor Lisa Jensen seemed to place herself somewhere in the middle, offering compromise solutions, generally, between the mayor's plan and the more skeptical wing (Buri, Simpson and Dulcich) of the Council.  Councilmembers Bill Erxleben and Gordon Bisset seemed generally supportive of the plan.  Simpson, in so many words, called for a study session instead of a rush to judgment before voting on it.  Noting, by implication, the added duties for Parks or whatever the new face of it will be called, City Manager Rob Wyman reminded the Council that the City's Parks Manager had recently been reduced to a part-time position. N.P.R. is predicting that the plan will be approved with several modifications sometime in March.

 

Earlier in the meeting, Miss Washington, Mandy Schendel, was personally presented and read, by Mayor Crispo, the Proclamation for achievement that she was awarded (without her presence) at the January 15th Council meeting.  The Proclamation noted the various civic contributions that Miss Washington has made along with the awards that she has received over the past year-or-so.  After a round of applause from city officials and the audience, Ms. Schendel thanked the Council and said that she was proud to be from Newcastle.

 

King County Councilman for the 9th Council District, Reagan Dunn, gave his annual State of the County speech, and basically put a good spin on overall county management.  Dunn noted, nonetheless, that the bus system, King County Metro, was in financial trouble and that there would be cutbacks in future service.  Dunn said that Route 240 could be severely affected, but implied that he would do everything possible to keep that from happening.  Route 240, as Mayor Crispo noted in a question to Dunn, is the lifeline of Newcastle as far as public transportation is concerned.   N.P.R. would add that there would be practically no public transportation in Newcastle if Route 240 were to be completely eliminated.

 

The Council made a unanimously approved amendment to the 2013 budget, which appeared to have minor changes; they also approved other modifications regarding the city's financial structure.  No one from the public spoke in dissent to the changes or at all.

 

Councilmembers in Attendance:  Mayor Rich Crispo, Deputy Mayor Lisa Jensen, John Dulcich, Steve Buri, Carol Simpson, Bill Erxleben and Gordon Bissett.

[revised on 2/5/2013]