Reopen San Mateo County Parks
Posted September 21, 2004 / Updated September 29, 2004

• What's happening
• Why this is important
• What you can do

September 29, 2004 News alert: County parks reopened!


The San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Division has been severely crippled by budget cuts. Since July, four of San Mateo County's popular parks have been closed to the public nearly half the time.

There is now a potential opportunity to restore funding to the parks. The Supervisors will be reviewing this year's budget next week. Please take a minute today to ask the Supervisors to allocate the funding necessary to protect our parks' natural resources, and to reopen all the parks to the public.

What's happening
For some 15 years, the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation budget has suffered as a result of the County's funding shortfall. Budget cuts have steadily increased; the Parks division now has nearly half the staffing level it had in 1990.

In July, the most recent budget cuts forced Parks and Rec to close four County parks - Edgewood, Junipero Serra, San Pedro Valley, and San Bruno Mountain -- on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. In addition, the lack of funding is also making it difficult for the remaining staff to adequately manage and protect the natural resources in the parks.

Next week, the Supervisors will be reviewing and revising this year's budget. This gives them the opportunity to allocate the funding necessary to reopen these parks.

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We must act now to ensure that these important public parks are maintained, protected, and accessible.

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What you can do

1. Write to the Supervisors.
Please ask the Supervisors to support increases to the Parks & Recreation budget so that this department can fulfill their mission to preserve our County's natural resources and enhance the community's quality of life.

President Mark Church
Supervisors Rose Jacobs Gibson, Richard Gordon, Jerry Hill, and Mike Nevin
400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063
Fax (650) 599-1027

For a sample letter prepared by our colleagues at the Friends of Edgewood, visit their website.

Please fax or email your letter as soon as possible, and by Monday, September 27 at the very latest. As always, please let us know you've written so we can track our effectiveness on this issue: alerts@GreenFoothills.org or fax (650) 968-8431.

2. Support Committee for Green Foothills.
Become a CGF member or make a donation.

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