Resident pushes for funding for recreation facilities

Dear Mayor Anderson and Council Members:

I am unable to attend Saturday’s retreat, so I am writing to request that you take special consideration of items that impact the quality of life in Maricopa when reviewing the Capital Improvement Plan.

If I recall correctly, your top three priorities are:
1. Public Safety
2. Economic Development
3. Parks, Recreation and Libraries

All three of these are critically important to the sustainability of our community, no question. Only one, however, has a direct positive impact on all three: Parks, Recreation and Libraries.

Having recreational facilities will give people, especially our youth, a productive outlet for their time. Crime – and the drain on our community’s resources that follows – will decrease as a result.

And not only will the demand for public safety decrease, the economic development opportunities will significantly increase. You are working hard to bring attractive private employers to the city, right? A primary consideration for the businesses you are soliciting is undoubtedly the ability to acquire and retain quality people. I don’t think a community that has a reputation for substandard schools, must share a single park among its 40,000+/- residents and has no library to speak of has any realistic chance of becoming the next great employment center.

Furthermore, if done correctly, the development of recreation facilities could become a direct economic stimulus by bringing in new dollars to Maricopa via events and competitions that attract people from around the region, nation and world.

I know we have a lot of needs and limited financial resources, but people and businesses will not locate (or stay) in Maricopa because we have the coolest cop cars, smoothest roads or biggest city hall. Establishing recreation opportunities for residents is not a luxury, it is a necessity. This community will not grow as you’ve planned and it will not flourish if we do not fund this important initiative.

Please do not postpone the already overdue need to improve the quality of life for current and future Maricopa residents. Fund the requests for a library, aquatic center, dog park, skate park, trails and other projects that will improve the quality of life for your fellow Maricopans.

Respectfully,

Scott Bartle
Resident and Parks, Recreation and Libraries Advisory Committee member

Editor’s note: The City Council and staff are conducting a retreat Saturday at 8 a.m. to review and discuss the Capital Improvement Plan. The meeting is at the Global Water Center at 22590 N. Powers Parkway in Rancho El Dorado and is open to the public (see “Council to hold retreat to discuss budgetary impacts of Capital Improvement Plan”).

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