​Jane Adams and Kirsten Trimble are running for two of the three open seats on the Carbondale Park District Board of Commissioners.

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A thriving town needs great parks.

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For many years the Park District has operated on a shoestring budget. This year the budget allocates no money for capital improvements: 

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• No funds to repair to the roof on the gazebo at Turley Park, which leaks and will soon rot the structure. 

• No funds for new lawnmowers for Hickory Ridge Golf Course - the best golf course in the region. 

• No funds to repair the potholed roads at Evergreen Park or Marberry Arboretum.

• No funds to stabilize or repair the crumbling Life Center.

• No funds to repair Hickory Lodge and its grounds, once a jewel in the Park District crown.

 

The Board of Commissioners must take a hard look at its priorities. It's time for a new Comprehensive Parks Plan.

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The City is interested in reducing duplication of services and assuming some or all of the Park District's operations. We believe that this might provide a partial solution to the current situation.

 

We support the advisory referendum."Should the City of Carbondale and the Park District explore merging their operations?"

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We promise seriously to evaluate the costs and benefits of merging City and Park District operations, while keeping the Park District as a policy-setting taxing body.