King County Executive candidate and current chair of the King County Council Dow Constantine today issued a four-point plan intended to keep parks across King County open as the county moves to close its current budget gap.

Last month, current King County Executive Kurt Triplett called on the county to begin closing 39 parks by Dec. 1 in order to help close the budget deficit.

“I do not believe that closing parks is the right approach for dealing with the county’s budget problems, nor is it necessary,” Constantine said in a news release today. “If we use our existing resources more wisely, we can keep our neighborhood parks open and available for use by the people of King County.”

Two of the parks on the list include the 5.6- acre White Center Heights Park (Southwest 102nd and 7th Avenue Southwest) and the 9.4- acre White Center Pond Natural Area (102nd Southwest and 12th Avenue Southwest).

Thirteen jobs would be lost by closing the parks, and it's expected to save the county $4.6 million, said Triplett last month.

The park reduction is part of Triplett's 2010 budget plan, still under development. Triplett has also made proposals to trim another $38.5 million from the budget through reducing overhead in executive and budget offices, cutting funding for mental health and drug dependency programs and negotiating an unpaid 10-day furlough.

Constantine said his concern with the executive’s proposal to shutter parks is two-fold.

“Our 39 local parks provide critical services to the communities in which they reside," said Constantine in a release today. "Many of these parks are in low-income communities and are important community gathering places that provide recreation and exercise and enhance the quality of life for the communities in which they are located. Moreover, the voters of King County passed two parks levies in 2007 in order to save all our parks.  While this levy applied only to regional and rural parks, this was not the perception of the voters and I am not interested in closing these parks based on this technicality.”

Constantine’s parks plan outlined the following points:

Prioritize parks in the budget: When the executive transmits his budget to the council in late September, Constantine said he will propose funding these parks through 2010. This would provide the County Parks Department with time to execute on the executive's current plan - which Constantine believes has merit - to transfer urban parks to cities and other entities.  

Aggressively pursue annexations: All but five of the threatened neighborhood parks are in urban unincorporated areas slated for annexation by surrounding jurisdictions. The annexation of part of North Highline by Burien, approved by voters in the August ballot, will ensure that beginning in January six of these 39 parks will remain open. Similarly, the three other annexations on the November ballot, if approved, will protect 12 more parks.   

Partner with community groups: Constantine said he will initiate and expand discussions with local community groups and other interested organizations to support threatened parks.  

If necessary, modify the existing parks levy: The second of the two regional parks levies passed in 2007 includes significant funds for new open space acquisitions. Constantine said in a time of recession it would make sense to use a portion of those funds to keep our existing parks open and maintained. 

“By transferring the majority of these parks to other entities in 2010, my plan will also allow the county to use money already set aside to fund these parks in 2011 right now," said Constantine. “Given the County’s shrinking revenues, it is an economic reality that the county will have to stop funding local parks in the long-term. However, this process must be done in a responsible manner that allows adequate time for other jurisdictions or interested parties to step up to keep these parks open and available for use."

The 39 parks that at risk of being closed are:


132nd Square

Arbor Lake

Bingamon Pond

Boulevard Lane Park

Bridle Crest Trail

Bryn Mawr Park

Camelot Park

East Norway Hill

Edith Moultan Park

Evergreen Athletic Fields

Five Mile Lake Park

Green Tree Park

Hamm Creek Natural Area

Hazel Valley Park

Hilltop Park

Juanita Heights Park

Kingsgate

Klahanie Park

Lake Geneva Park

Lakewood Park

Maplewood Heights

Maplewood Park

May Creek Park

North Green River Park

North Meridian Park

North Shorewood Park

Park Orchard Park

Puget Sound Park

Renton Park

Salmon Creek Park

Sierra Heights/Honey Dew

Site 1 Duwamish

Skyway Park

South County
Ballfields

Southern Heights

Sunset Playfields

White Center Heights

White Center Pond Natural Area

Windsor Vista