The board is looking for groups or individuals from across the district with ideas for projects, both large and small, that will help us work towards our mission. Projects considered should have a base of community support demonstrated by current or projected volunteer involvement and/or financial backing. Interested parties should contact the district here or via one of your commissioners directly.

The district recently formed a joint committee with the non-profit, Northside Community Education.  The committee is charged with investigating the viability of building an indoor pool for the use of the district as well as fundraising for the costs of furthering its investigation. If you are interested in joining the Joint Pool Committee please contact Dana Scheffler at 509-637-3559 (MAPARD) or Scott Clements at 503-329-1099 (Northside).

It was great to see such a strong voter turnout for the election too; 70%!

The district passed by a narrow margin of roughly 50 votes. The levy did not pass, but 1800 people voted for it.

So now we have our work cut out for us. Let’s make this great!

One of the questions on this Fall’s ballot is one looking for approval of an 8-cent levy to support the  function of the Mount Adams Park and Recreation District. For many, the answer to the question of a “new” tax is quick and easy to come up with, no. However, life is never that simple, seldom that black and white. Fortunately, the people of Western Klickitat County have a history of looking at issues carefully and of making the choices which will provide the most benefit over the long-term.

One of the concerns that has been voiced about the levy is that “it will just go up and up”.

Here’s the facts:

Under the laws of Washington State a levy for a Park and Recreation District can never exceed 60-cents (per $1000 of assessed property value). The levy must be voter approved, expires after 6 years, and any changes or new levies must also be voter approved.

Still, the fear persists that the levy will “just rise to 60 cents”. That would only happen if the people of the district proved that they wanted it to rise by voting it so. However, it is important to note that a levy of 60 cents is the extreme. The other extreme is not approving any levy at all.

What are the costs and consequences associated with not approving the levy?

If the district doesn’t get this basic level of funding it will fail to function effectively and efficiently. Without office support the volunteer Park and Recreation District Commissioners would have more work than they could accomplish between monthly meetings. The goals and expectations of the new district would fail to be met and the chance to succeed would never really have been attainable.

The costs of not funding the district are hard to calculate, but they still exist. For example, what is the cost of a child not having a safe place to learn to swim? What is the cost of a teenager getting involved with drugs and alcohol instead of spending their free time learning a new and healthy sport outdoors. What is the cost of our seniors not having access to programs that keep them healthy and happy? When looked at in that way those types of cost could be endless and would far exceed any 60 cent cost at the other end of the spectrum.

These are hard decisions. None of us like paying taxes. Some taxes, however, when they provide us direct benefit, are worth it. This tax, for example, doesn’t go to Olympia or Washington D.C. Instead, this is a tax that will remain under the control of our neighbors, for our own benefit, and it stays right here in Western Klickitat County to make our communities stronger, happier, healthier, and safer.

Please note: we’ll be picking them back up the first weekend in November so that we can reuse them.

October 5, 2010 6:30 p.m. Pioneer Center, 501 N.E. Washington St., White Salmon, WA
Sponsored by Mt. Adams Soroptimist, Kathleen Butcher (541) 490-3432
All candidates included.

October 14, 2010 7 p.m. Dallesport Community Center 136 6th Ave., Dallesport, WA
Sponsored by Dallesport Community Council, Elaine Kincheloe (509) 767-0699

Nine Canidates file for commissioner positions.  Read Enterprise article here:

http://www.whitesalmonenterprise.com/WSENews2.shtml

We invite you to give the Skamania County Commissioners comments of support in person and if that is not possible then via email. Send emails to 2010mapard@gmail.com. We will forward them to the commissioners. The deadline for emailing is July 6th.

The formation of the Mount Adams Park and Recreation District at this time is an awesome opportunity for our unique and diverse community on the Washington side of the river. Beyond individual projects, it is an investment in our community’s physical, emotional and mental health. It is a tool that can turn possibilities into realities. When a community pulls together to do things that have not been done before like this, it signals that better days are ahead. It signals to our rising businesses that this is a good place to be located. It signals to our elder population that they will be taken care of and it is a vow to our youth that they will be given access to a life time of good health.
We need your voice to be heard. Please take the time to provide a comment for the hearing and invite your friends to do so as well.
Thank you.

The Klickitat County Commissioners authorized the Mt. Adams Joint Parks & Rec District and a separate levy of .08/1000 to be on the ballot for your vote in November. This is a huge step forward!

Skamania County Commissioners have scheduled their counterpart hearing on July 13th at 5:30 pm at the Underwood Community Hall.

Following the Skamania meeting the elections office of Klickitat county will set a special filing period for commissioners of the joint parks and recreation district.

Commissioners must live with in the district boundaries.  Any interested persons who would like to learn more should contact us at the following email:mapard2010@gmail.com.

Petitions are heading out to all parts of the proposed district this week. If you’d like the chance to vote on the matter, please find the time to sign a copy of the petition.

As a reminder, to sign the petition you will need to be an active, registered voter within the proposed district. You will also need to provide the physical address where you are registered to vote. If you aren’t registered or can’t remember what physical address you are registered to vote at, you can fill out a voter registration card when you sign the petition.

Alternatively, you can register to vote on-line at:
https://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/secure/Pages/OnlineVoterRegistration.aspx

and you can update your voter registration on-line at:
http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/VoterVault/Pages/MyVote.aspx

We are looking for businesses, organizations, e.t.c. that would be interested in hosting a petition so that people could come and sign it when they have time. An updated list of these locations will be published in the Enterprise and on this site.

We are also looking for people interested in picking up a petition and spending a couple of hours gathering some signatures from friends and neighbors. If you are interested in either, please contact Meghann Dallin at meghanndallin@gmail.com.

Petitions can be signed at:

Mount Adams Chamber of Commerce

White Salmon Library

Trout Lake General Store

Heavenly Grounds/Andy’s Chevron – Trout Lake

Glenwood General Store

The Enterprise, office of

Collage of the Gorge

McCoy-Holliston Insurance, office of

Bergstrom Family Eye Care

Dickey Farms

Little Mountain Hardware Store, Trout Lake

Miller’s Sports, White Salmon

Solstice

Proactive

Jane Gray CPA, offices of

Lyle Mercantile

White Salmon City Hall

Country Cafe, Lyle

Big River Diner

Lyle Hotel and Restaurant

Trellis, White Salmon

Mother’s Market, Hood River