We’ll soon know the fate of the Ballard and Loyal Heights Community centers. The mayor’s mid-year budget cuts will be announced on Monday (6/14), including any cuts to the city’s Parks and Recreation department.
Ballard residents turned out in force back in May to fight to keep the centers open. The cuts being announced for the rest of this year could involve closing centers or programs, scaling back hours, or doing nothing at all. Even if the centers survive this mid-year round of cuts, there is still concern about even more cuts for 2011.
The mid-year cuts will be unveiled during the City Council’s budget committee meeting on Monday at 10:30am. We’ll bring you all the details, or you can watch live on the Seattle Channel (21 on Comcast) or online.
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While are community centers are in danger of being closed, our Mayor believes putting streets on diets to force people out of their cars is a higher priority. $250,000 dollars would go a long way to keep our centers open!
We won’t know his priorities until we see his budget. He has been coy on many of these points when it comes to dollars!
These centers are 1 mile from each other. Of course one of them should be closed.
No, JD, “of course” doesn’t even figure into it — not if you actually know anything about the strength of the programs offered by each community center. Distance in miles is irrelevant to the more important fact that each center’s programs are FULL UP. If one of these centers is closed, hundreds of people will be excluded from access, because one center alone will not be able to provide programs and facilities. And the teen program at Loyal Heights is crucial to keeping kids off the streets and in a constructive envirnoment after school.
Yes, really, Virginia, facts do matter.
Community centers are gems. They must be saved. The reason they are in trouble has nothing to do with revenue and everything to do with other government spending which has no place in government, period.
Mighty ironic that the programs that the city should actually be funding are indeed the first to get cut.
Maybe some of you who think that government is the solution to all your problems should consider why these programs are on the chopping block.
i just heard the mayor talking on npr this a.m., about how important the community centers were over the weekend as far as allowing the fremonth fire victims to gather and be together. he said tax payers have done a good job supporting the centers. i couldn’t believe steve sherr didn’t mention the fact that some are possibly destined for the chopping block.