If Clark County wants to regionalize its parks, the only way to do it is through a grass-roots movement and with a clear plan, a parks expert who has formed two major regional parks districts in the Midwest told a group of local administrators Wednesday.
David Fisher, former director of parks districts in St. Louis and Minneapolis, cited his experience gaining millions of dollars in investment as case studies of how the Clark County-Portland metro region could do the same.
As executive director of St. Louis’ parks district, Fisher helped guide $90 million in investment in parks, trails and open space in the St. Louis region, made up of three counties in Missouri composed of more than 1,600 square miles and two counties of more than 1,200 square miles across the river in Illinois. Fisher offered insights to local leaders, who are looking at different ways to regionalize or blend Clark County’s parks systems.
Seventy percent of voters in the St. Louis area approved a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax in 2000, but only because it had grass-roots support and those supporters were able to provide a clear vision of what their money would do, Fisher said. In St. Louis, that vision was greenways — a mixture of trails, parks, natural areas and even cultural centers.
“People are really not afraid to tax themselves on things they think are important,” said Fisher, who also spoke Wednesday at a Metro trails forum in Portland.
One of the recommendations released this spring by the Clark County Blue Ribbon Parks Commission — made up of two representatives each from Clark County, Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, Battle Ground and Ridgefield — was to explore the possibility of joining the existing Greater Clark Parks District or creating a separate special purpose taxing district.
The Blue Ribbon Commission issued a set of six very general recommendations, and now administrators and managers of those six jurisdictions are meeting to work out the nuts-and-bolts of how to get that work done, Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Director Pete Mayer said. Clark County and Vancouver are in a tight enough spot budget-wise to where they need to come up with a fix fast, while the other smaller cities may wind up joining later, he said.
“We really have to challenge and push ourselves to look to the immediate future,” he said after Fisher’s presentation at the Water Resources Center.
Parks benefit both the environment and lifestyles, Fisher said, but supporters also need to let people know they also play a big role in the economy.
In Minneapolis, where Fisher led the formation of the popular series of greenways along the Mississippi River, real estate taxes along one section of the greenway grew from $25 million in 1994 to $232 million in 2005 as developers rushed to build around the well-used riverfront.
“When you’re out recruiting companies … it’s about quality of life,” he said.
