This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 8, 2011 - A week after proposing a budget that included steep cuts to St. Louis County parks, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley is feeling the heat from county council members, environmental groups and members of the general public.
But even though he said he'll work with members of the St. Louis County Council on crafting a budget, the Democratic chief executive says a close examination of the area's parks system is needed in tough financial times.
Dooley presented a budget a week ago that included a plan to lay off nearly 133 parks and recreation employees and close down a number of parks throughout the county. The proposal elicited skepticism from St. Louis County Council Chairman Steve Stenger, D-Affton, who questioned whether the cuts were necessary and wondered aloud whether the move was aimed at forcing a tax increase.
During Tuesday's meeting of the county council, a larger crowd than usual used the public forum period to sound off on the proposal. Among the speakers was John Cameron of Maplewood, who urged Dooley and the council to keep the parks open.
"I want to say, Mr. Dooley, please take a really close look and really think this through very, very carefully," Cameron said. "If you look around St. Louis County, there's a lot to be proud of: the economic growth, the wonderful business district in Clayton. But the parks really are the star of St. Louis County. If you do not think we have one of the best park systems, probably in this great country, you have not spent three seconds in our park system."
Cameron said if certain parks get shut down, their condition will decline.
"You and I both know exactly what's going to happen," Cameron said. "They're going to go into disrepair. They're going to be a place where things that are going to reach the papers, things that we don't want to talk about are going to happen."
Mehlville resident Bonnie Lorenz, a volunteer at St. Louis County Parks for eight years, told the council she wanted to make the 2012 budget cuts "fair and equitable across the board" and "find a way to fund the parks department."
"We have witnessed all very dedicated park employees doing their utmost, struggling to maintain the parks under severe budget constraints," Lorenz said. "The public may never come to Clayton, but they do see dedicated employees who are committed to county government."
Dooley said after the council meeting that he "recognizes" people are concerned about the parks.
"We want to make this thing work," Dooley said. "We can do this together. We're going to have to look at it, review it, see what the best ideas are and implement them."
Stenger set up a special budget committee to examine the proposal. Under the rules of county's charter, the council can only accept or reject the proposal. Unlike Congress or the state legislature, they cannot changeelements of Dooley's proposal.
Councilman Michael O'Mara, a Florissant Democrat in charge of the committee, said Dooley's budget would probably not pass.
"I would think that the way it's presented with cuts to the parks and cuts to services, the council wouldn't feel comfortable passing this budget at this time," O'Mara said. "This becomes a nonpartisan issue. When you're talking about parks and job services and people's livelihoods, I think we share the same views as council members."
O'Mara said Skip Mange, a former county council member, will be involved in the process to provide some independent review of the proposal. The budget will receive a public hearing next week.
"He's got a lot of heart for this county," O'Mara said. "And that brings an independent mindset to our meeting."
Environmental Groups React
Dooley's proposal also is sparking advocacy among two major environmental groups in the region.
The Open Space Council is actively encouraging county residents to speak out.
The group is planning a rally next Tuesday in Clayton before the first budget committee hearing. They're also encouraging people to testify against closing any parks.
"We're very upset that the county executive proposed to make major cuts only to the park system when it could have been balanced out other ways," said Brittany Barton, program director for the St. Louis branch of the Open Space Council. "It's not fair to take all the cuts out of one department."
The group's website also features a petition that has around 1,926 signatures.
Barton hopes the council looks at the numbers and does some "rebalancing." She said the council has the power to increase the 5-cent tax on parks to 7 cents -- a move that she said would bring in almost $5 million.
"So we're certainly advocating for that as well," said Barton, adding that her group would support finding cuts elsewhere or raising the parks tax.
Ed Smith of the Missouri Coalition of the Environment said his group is supporting the Open Space Council's efforts. His group posted the Open Space Council's event on its Facebook page.
"It's unfortunate that the threat of closing down county parks is being used in politics," Smith said. "The St. Louis County parks are an invaluable asset to all of our communities and should not be threatened. "
In an interview Tuesday at the World Trade Center in Clayton, Dooley said the budget process is still evolving.
"We're still looking at it and reviewing it," Dooley said. "There's some concern about some of the recommended cuts. We're reviewing that as well. We are committed to working with the county council. These are very frustrating times for us as well. But the fact remains that there is a budget reality -- less revenue and higher expenses. And we have to come to grips with that."
Asked about the pushback from the environmental groups, Dooley said, "Again, I don't want to close any parks."
"That's the last thing I want to do," Dooley said. "We're going to try to work out a compromise, but we've got to be realistic about every move for the next couple of years. We're going to have to make some very difficult choices about our budget and what services we want to provide to our public."
Dooley added, "Reducing the services is not moving the parks. People act as if the parks are going somewhere. We're talking about partnering with the state, possibly partnering with a neighboring municipality. There are a number of things that we can do. But we have to do something and thinking about how we're going to live within our budget."
Fenton Mayor Skeptical
But at least one mayor of a town that could be affected took a dim view of Dooley's plan.
Last week Garry Earls, the county's chief operating officer, suggested the county could turn over George Winter Park to Fenton. But Fenton Dennis Hancock said nobody from the county talked with officials from the city about the proposal. And this lack of communication prompted Hancock to say that he's "not sure how real this gift giving is going to be."
"There's a lot of speculation that I've seen -- particularly among the county council members -- as to whether there is actually a budget problem with the county or if this is simply a way for the administration to make a case for a tax increase to generate more revenue," Hancock said. "If (the county) were serious about pursuing (a transfer), someone should have contacted us while they were putting the budget together to at least gauge whether there was any interest on our part for taking on this park."
Like other municipalities, Hancock said Fenton is dealing with its own budget constraints. Taking on George Winter Park, he said, would prompt the city to spend money cutting grass, maintaining buildings and performing maintenance on docks.
"Along with that comes a higher degree of liability," Hancock said. "There was a drowning at George Winter Park just this past summer. And so we would have to look at all of those aspects before we would make any decision on whether this would be a good thing for the residents of Fenton or not."
Dooley wouldn't comment on Hancock's concerns. But he did say some municipalities and the state have expressed interest in helping the parks' upkeep.
'Show-me' Analyst Takes Another View
Dooley's proposal did receive some praise from David Stokes, a policy analyst at the libertarian Show Me Institute.
In a post for the think-tank's blog, Stokes said that while he doesn't "agree with every idea that the county executive proposes," he doesn't think Dooley "deserves the criticism from all sides that he is receiving."
In an interview, Stokes said it may be an appropriate for the county to ask cities to take some responsibility for the parks.
"It's an appropriate public policy discussion going forward as to as more and more cities incorporate, what is the county's role within these cities and within the county?" Stokes said. "How is the county going to react to a situation in the past decade and going forward that it doesn't have the constantly growing tax revenue that it could easily pay for all these services - like it had in other decades. I think Charlie Dooley is perfectly legitimate in asking the question: Where are we going to make the cuts to deal with the new reality of St. Louis County?"
Dooley said one option was turning a park over to a non-governmental entity, such as an animal welfare organization. Stokes said Lone Elk Park -- a wildlife refuge -- "might be ripe for some kind contracted-out managed maintenance" that involves charging fees.
"I mean more of a model that some states have with their state parks and the national parks have -- that you have to charge a fee to get into," Stokes said. "It's a destination park, and I think a model like that could work for Lone Elk Park. And I don't know enough of the Lone Elk Park budget or attendance numbers to know whether it could work at 100 percent privatization or if it should still need a limited public subsidy. I'd imagine it might need a limited public subsidy."
Asked about what would happen if cities balked at taking control of the parks, Stokes said "the dominant visitors are going to the people of the city that surrounds the park, so I think it's fair for the city to operate it.
"If you've got a small park inside a city and basically only the people of that city are using it and the city says it can't afford to maintain it so it won't take it over, well maybe those are the parks that need to be closed," Stokes said. "That's where I'll come to the defense and agree with the county. ... Some of these parks might deserve to be closed."
Jason Rosenbaum, a freelance journalist in St. Louis, covers state and local government and politics.
