Will the economic impact of the State Park Closings be higher than the taxpayer support? (San Francisco: sales, hotel)

[Weekend Traveler]

I was reading that the Governor wants to close most California State Parks to save money. While most people are against the idea and want to cuts to come from other programs (not MY pet program please!), I suspect that in the end many if not most State Parks will end up closing.

When government is short on money they always like to close or scale back the most visible and popular programs so the public gets mad and people then agree to a tax increase.

With the State Parks the impact of their closing will have a ripple effect by decreasing revenue from tourists who visit the area for recreation. For example, with the State Parks closed there will be less sales at local restaurants, shops, and other nearby attractions. Doesn't the Governor realize this?

[jc76]

Maybe enough volunteers could help keep the parks open? In our community many many organizations etc are run solely on volunteering. To close the state parks would be bad, it would also then be a place where the homeless would probably invade then you would never be able to re-open them

[Weekend Traveler]

Originally Posted by jc76

Maybe enough volunteers could help keep the parks open? In our community many many organizations etc are run solely on volunteering. To close the state parks would be bad, it would also then be a place where the homeless would probably invade then you would never be able to re-open them

Lets have unskilled untrained volunteers run many public enterprises! How about firing all the Librarians and letting volunteers run the library. That would save lots of money. How about volunteer teachers, police and firemen?

If that does not work, lets raise the user fees so high that only the rich can afford parks, libraries and rec centers.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by Weekend Traveler

I was reading that the Governor wants to close most California State Parks to save money. While most people are against the idea and want to cuts to come from other programs (not MY pet program please!),

That is the big problem, everyone is pointing fingers elsewhere.

I think everyone and every program has to take some kind of cut.

And people have to stop trying to protect "their" programs.

Aren't we all in this together??

[GypsySoul22]

Sound like here in Vermont. You can't get a job but you can volunteer and work your little butt off...

[Widowmaker2k]

I expect this is mostly a scare tactic on the part of the governor, especially considering that a similar (but less severe) park-closing program was proposed and shot down by the legislature last year. Also, this will only solve less than 6% of the budget crisis next year, and will hurt tourism and local economies. Truthfully, this really represents a serious lack of creative thinking and problem solving by the governor's office. Some parks undoubtedly should be closed, while others need to see fee increases, and some should be sold to private interests. Angel Island, for example, sits on a very valuable piece of land in the middle of San Francisco bay. Instead of simply closing the park, they could do far better by selling it to the private sector with set conditions. For example, require that the new owners keep and maintain x amount of historical buildings on the site, and then allow them to construct something profitable on the remaining land (a hotel/casino for example, because it's not like California's a no-gambling state anymore anyway, though that would require voter-approval).

[MisterDuke]

The state park nearest to me is Chino Hills State Park, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind if they closed it for awhile. It's used almost exclusively by mountain bikers, horseback riding and hikers. Even if they officially close it, those people will still be able to go around the fence to get in. And there are city and county parks adjacent to it, so it's not like people are going to be deprived.

I'm just curious how they think they would save money by closing it.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by MisterDuke

I'm just curious how they think they would save money by closing it.

The savings is employees, the state will lock the bathrooms, quit emptying trash cans, etc. No services provided at the park means no labor costs.

Don't I keep seeing people post on here saying we need to get rid of state employees to save money?

[Weekend Traveler]

Of course if the State Parks was closed, two things would happen:

1) People would figure out ways to get in anyway and without staff to monitor the propert, there would be trash, vandalism, homeless moving in, environmental destruction and noise issues.

2) When the money became available, the park would reopen but it would be in shambles and then the people will have to pay to have it rehabilitated.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I propose leaving the parks open and visitors can clean up after themselves. Why do you need someone to watch over a state park?

Eliminate the DMV employees at the local branches and most of them in Sacramento. Many of us have allready figured out that you can do this online. I bet that the entire DMV procedure can be done with little interaction from employees.

Libraries could infact be staffed by volunteers. We have plenty of people that would be willing to do this.

Fire Fighters can also be volunteer organizations. Many places do that now.

Eliminate all people in education that are not teaching. Even the Principle should be teaching students. This is done now with many private schools. But then those organizations need to make a profit. Counselors can for the most part be eliminated. Those that remain should also teach class. From the get go we eliminate the teachers unions as well as tenure.

Why are we housing children of children in our High Schools? Ever seen this before? Head start right at the High Schools. Why is that? Aren't we telling our kids that it is OK to get pregnant the state will step in and help? While we are at it eliminate the First Five program. Parents should be doing this at home without state help. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to read to our kids if we knew how to read, but then we spent our days in high school becomeing parents instead of learning to read because the state is going to help us out anyway.