BY HONOLULU CITY COUNCIL MEMBER KIMBERLY MARCOS PINE – Our city parks are gathering places for our ohana, friends, sports teams and civic organizations, and their care is a continued source of community pride. This is why I introduced a new bill to incentivize park adoptions and make it easier for organizations to donate their time and resources to improving our parks. While the City’s existing Adopt-a-Park program brings volunteers to our parks to help keep them clean, our families deserve more and we can have more.
When I see the condition of our parks on the Leeward Coast, I am reminded that the taxpayer isn’t able sustain the improvements needed. By having multiple park partners contribute, our parks will be revitalized without raising taxes for homeowners. With businesses, organizations and groups in our community committed to donate goods and services, now is the time to be innovative and push forward with the beautification and capital improvement of our parks.
In tandem with the park partners donating improvements, there are groups and non-profit organizations who want to help restore pride in our parks by engaging the community with beautification projects and family and culturally oriented programs that can benefit the community by promoting healthier lifestyles and environmental stewardship toward their park.
Currently the process for participants or organizations willing to donate goods or services involves clearance by the City departments which is a complicated and lengthy process, requiring multiple department approvals (that does not include new polices changes that occur from one administration to the next). I will be working with City departments to formulate a simplistic and expeditious process that would attract more park donors to kokua.
If you or your organization would like to become a park adoption partner on the Leeward Coast, please call my office at (808) 768-5001 or send an e-mail to kmpine@honolulu.gov with your comments, suggestions and questions. Remember, it’s not just about adopting a park; it’s about transforming a community.
Our parks would not be is such disaray if the City did their job. Now Councilwoman Pine wants the public to once again shoulder the burden of the City's failure to do their core responsibilities. Why do we pay taxes if the City can't manage the money correctly.
Instead of creating a new program, amend the current one. Unless the new one cancels the old, you have two programs that do the same thing (nothing), paying cronies to sit on their okoles
And somebody please fix the headline. It says "Part" instead of "Park."
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