Candidate for
Director; Livermore Area Recreation and Park District

LARPD is a large and complex organization with Neighborhood, Community, and Special Use Parks and multiple programs for young children, teens, adults, and seniors within the 245 square mile service area. However, for many years now the State has been taking half of the property tax money due to LARPD. This now amounts to approximately 3.6 million dollars per year of lost revenue. To continue to serve the residents of the district we need to maximize use of our remaining funds and to search for other funding sources. Hiring a professional grant writer will involve an initial cost, but their salary can be paid for from the grant monies received. This way we can tap into multiple funding sources and free up our current staff to oversee the programs instead of having them spend their time searching for funding sources.

As a member of LARPD's Volunteers in Action (VIA) I know it is a well run group that allows citizens to help LARPD by volunteering their time to help staff accomplish various tasks. However, VIA should be expanded and LARPD needs to publicize the opportunities for people in the service area to help out. If elected I would work to ensure that more effort is spent advertizing, well in advance, the up-coming activities.

The Park and Recreation Planning Servey conducted by LARPD in April of 2002 is just the start of continuing to ask the residents what they would like to see. Community gardens and various Special Use Parks can be developed after detailed community input. Respondants have said they want more swimming pools but does this mean one large pool or several pools built in various areas of the City? Where should any new Community gardens be placed? Should we build a bike park and/or another skate park? All of these questions, and others, needed to be addressed. If elected I will work to make sure that LARPD continues to listen to the residents of the service area and then follow up to try to create the parks, amenities, and programs requested.