At last week's Des Moines City Council meeting nearly 70 people attended to show their support for the city's parks and recreation programs.

It was standing room only, with people lined up outside the council doors.

This was after a story on a local blog caused many citizens to believe the city might completely cut their parks and recreation programs to balance next year's budget.

A city staffer leaked this information after a meeting where City Manager Tony Piasecki discussed a list of possible cuts he would be presenting to the council.

Among the proposals was the suggestion to cut all parks and recreation. This would mean the closing of all Des Moines parks and the elimination of programs, such as Camp Kaos.

While the council could pass the proposed cuts in their entirety, Piasecki will not present it to the council as a final resolution, simply as a place to begin discussion.

Councilman Dave Kaplan said, "I don't think there is anyone up here that supports eliminating parks and recreation programs in whole, that's crazy.

"That's why we pay a city manager to tell us about even the most absurd things, to paint a picture of how dramatic and how difficult the financial situation is here in the city."

The city of Des Moines is facing a $2 million shortfall next year. The projected revenues for next year are $3 million dollars less than 2008 and 2009.

This year's budget is based on projected revenues of $15.1 million.

No council member voiced support for completely cutting parks and recreation.

Mayor Bob Sheckler said the city's parks and the marina are what define the city.

Scott said she would in no way support closing parks and recreation. "It is an essential part of what our community is," Scott declared.
Kaplan said he has been trying to get a parks and recreation district on the ballot for years, but the proposal has never had the four necessary votes.

He said that the city is now in a position where Des Moines actually needs it.

Kaplan originally proposed a park district that would encompass Mount Rainier Pool as well as all the other Des Moines parks and recreation programs.

This did not pass, instead becoming a proposal on the November ballot to create a district to just fund the pool.

Councilman Scott Thomasson said while the council would never approve the elimination of parks and recreation, the budget process is not going to be painless.

It is likely the council will have to make cuts to the parks and recreation to balance the budget, according to Thomason.

Lawmakers are also looking at other departments to make cuts, especially the police department, which makes up 50 percent of the city's general fund budget.

Des Moines resident and parent Kirby Osborne echoed the sentiments of many other parents in attendance, saying that day care is not an option.

Some people said they would not be able to work if it were not for the before and after school activities provided by the city.

Andy Beal, a Pacific Middle School student, said without the city's activities kids are just going to end up playing video games all day.

Janel Stoneback, owner of Emerald City Smoothie, said the people in the community should be looking at ways they can volunteer and donate to support the local programs.

"We need to look within our own homes, we have a personal responsibility," Stoneback said.

Many people speaking asked why staffers are getting raises when the city is suffering financially, and also suggested furlough days as a way to help balance the budget.

Piasecki responded by saying any raises were much less than the workers were promised, if they received the raises at all. He said everyone in the city has a contract and many are union members.

None of them have to agree to any reductions. The staff agreed to furlough days and negotiated their raises in the hope no one would lose their job, according to Piasecki.

Last year when the revenue coming in was $1 million less than expected, council members cut 10 positions.

Piasecki's list of possible cuts was leaked to the blog before council members had an opportunity to look at the proposal.

Piasecki formally apologized to the council for this, saying that as city manager it is his responsibility to keep the council informed and to make sure they have the information before the public so when it does come out the public has all the information.

"I feel that it was very unfortunate that a few people grabbed a hold of information before I saw it or knew anything about it," Scott said.

"You are all here because someone made you knee jerk, someone alarmed you very much. So I would hope that everybody would carefully think their way through what it going on and be helpful with us in arriving at good solutions."

Kaplan said it was unfortunate the information that came out was not even accurate.

"A lot of people took initial information and implied that senior programs were going away when that was never on Tony's list," said Kaplan.

Councilwoman Susan White added, "Blogging isn't perfect. If people (write about) things they don't know all of the facts to, it is just the way of world, right now."