By: Diane Benjamin
PDF Page 10: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12766
Last April the Council unanimously approved spending $114,999 to hire Greenplay to develop a Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Master Plan.
Keep in mind, the only reason for Master Plans is to bind the hands of future Councils because millions have been spent planning. Even with this massive expense, future Councils can shelve these un-affordable plans and stick to what the business of government is supposed to be. (It isn’t the bankrupting dreams of this and past Councils)
At the Special Session on Monday the Council will hear the results of the Greenplay study. The findings start on PDF page 12: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14866
Page 19 claims Bloomington’s population is 79,998.
The number of households is 32,884 and household income is $60,072.
All three numbers are considerably higher that those previously reported, the source is not cited.
PDF page 29 states they wanted 400 survey responses but they got 505. For the math challenged, that’s less than 1% of the population.
See page 31:
86% were satisfied!
Isn’t that a wrap on this survey? 86% are satisfied with the current Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Art programs, why continue?
Because Greenplay has to justify the $114,999 price tag!
Greenplay spent a lot of time figuring out why 71 people were not satisfied.
Page 32 says 47% of those unsatisfied cited TAXES as the reason.
Page 33 says 48% of the unsatisfied were satisfied with Recreation.
Page 34 (I think) is still talking to the unsatisfied. The don’t use city facilities.
Page 35 asks what programs the City needs. All percentages listed are so ridiculously low the demand doesn’t exist in levels government should implement. It’s called saying NO!
Page 36 lists the items most important to households. 68% claimed special events. 32% claimed fitness classes – not the job of government to directly compete with the private sector. Third was outdoor recreation like hiking and fishing.
Page 37 – 95% think parks are well maintained. Again – end of survey (except it isn’t)
Page 38 – tiny percentages with their wish list for the future. Government’s job is to do what people are not capable of doing for themselves. The list either has percentages making them immaterial or the service is or should be offered by the private sector instead of government.
Page 39 – only 31% want bike paths, the survey doesn’t say on the roads or seperate.
The survey goes on and on and on, but nowhere does it ask:
Fix the infrastructure or spend money on recreation?
The $114,999 was wasted on priorities of cities with lots of extra money.
The Council will waste more time reviewing it Monday. Next they will waste money on the Creativity Center the survey shows no need for.
Does the survey list how many residents are satisfied with the flock of pink flamingos at the zoo?
Nope.
Just now I have been OUT OF TOWN for a week in a city of roughly 700,000 and it has GREAT streets, no litter and NO bike lanes. There is PLENTY to do here-NOT government funded and just last eve there was a story on the news about the different branches of local government “pooling” their resources to better serve the public AND save money. Have I died and gone to some unknown land??
Might have to ask the wizard.
Where where where?
How can I get on the study/consultant gravy train before BN goes bankrupt? It looks like either government will gladly hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone who can prop up their “quality of life” narrative with a study or a plan.
I went to the first public “input” meeting. It was, in fact, a presentation of the projects requested by “stakeholders’ who had been invited to a previous, private meeting. There was no input taken by the attendees of the public meeting. Several people felt deceived and left.
The survey was of a random sampling of residents. The report does not say how many surveys were sent by mail/email or how many phone calls were made. The report does not include the proposed O’Neil Aquatic Center or a new Community Center to replace the Lincoln Leisure Center. The Cultural Arts is under the umbrella of Parks & Rec but there is no mention in this report. Expenses for Cultural Arts will be additional.