Hasn’t the Palmetto Bay Mayor and Council noticed that it is the holidays and kids are home on break? The Mayor, Vice Mayor and council are apparently oblivious to this fact, as there are no accommodations made for the youth activities. Where is the winter break camp, especially now that the JFTA camp has moved on?
My own daughter was disappointed to find the Coral Reef park concession stand closed during this same school break period “for renovations, a new menu” Is this really a good time to plan for closure of this amenity? I think not.
I thought it would be a good idea to send my brother and his family over to Palmetto Bay Park on Tuesday, 12/27, so my nephew could enjoy the skate park. I was wrong. They were told (very professionally and politely) by staff that the skate park does not open until 4:00 PM. My brother and family ended up traveling to the open Miami-Dade County Parks skate park located off Sunset Drive.
This is what happens when you have a Mayor, Vice Mayor and council who are too far removed from having young kids of their own. You get what they think is appropriate, not what the child rearing tax-payers need and deserve.
Why haven’t Mayor Shelley Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Brian Pariser and the remainder of the council provided the Parks department with the proper budgeting to properly staff the skate park to be open appropriate hours, especially during off school holiday season? Just as important is why the web site only indicates Palmetto Bay Park's Hours of Operation as ‘Open Sunrise to Sunset (with the exception of reserved fields).’ (CLICK HERE to view) There is no mention of reduced hours for the skate parks. This from a Mayor and Vice Mayor who claim transparency! Their failure to properly fund and notify the public again becomes glaringly apparent.
We have built outstanding park assets. We have an outstanding village staff, including parks staff. So why are the kids getting the short end of the deal, especially as the Mayor and Vice Mayor have struggled to find ways to provide discounts to their friends and allies? Expensive activities and amenities free to seniors and friends, but closed to our youth.
Mayor Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Pariser and the remainder of the council need to get tuned in with the demographics of the community. Open the parks for walkers at a consistent and early hour. Don’t wait for 4:00 PM to open a skate park when kids are out of school and need activities. Get a camp going for those who need child care when schools are closed.
I can certainly spend time with my nephew by that time, sneaking out of the office a bit early, my nephew and other similarly situated youth needed that skate park opened earlier in the day.
What do you expect Mayor? This same council is spending our tax dollars to fight kids from attending Palmer Trinity School.
ReplyDeleteThey also can't open Thallata Park to the public, but they can have a private party for the council there.
ReplyDeleteWhy is there an obvious hatred against youth by the elected officials?
ReplyDeleteBarb.
The thing is, they spent the money to BUILD the skate park, so they should have it open enough for people to use. Will it be closed until 4:00 during the summer too? So, basically, it is open at 4 on school days, when kids have homework, but it's not open during break, when kids have time on their hands. Stupid.
ReplyDeleteYour post comes close to what many are saying. The reality is that this is a council of oldsters that view their purpose as that of a condo control board.
ReplyDeleteMr mayor. You are so right. The council , for whatever reasons are just out of touch.
ReplyDeleteSkateboarding is not a crime.
ReplyDeleteYou must be heartborken Gene to see all of the hard work by you and the original council go down the toilet under Shelley and Brian. This is what you get for helping them. Need I remind you of your own quote? No good deed goes unpunished.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Village staff? Don't they have a responsibility to plan park programming so that it meets the needs of kids who are out of school? You rightly give the council a hard time about the park's programming but they don't operate in vacuum.
ReplyDeleteI bet that mayor Stanczyk keeps the skate park locked for fear it will attract private and charter school children.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments made as to how stupid it is for the village to spend money to build a skatepark and keep it locked up while kids are on school break, looking for places to play. This speaks volumes to the lack of respect that our city has for kids and working parents. MY TAX DOLLARS PAID FOR THIS PARK. OPEN IT UP OR GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK.
ReplyDeleteLet me see if I read this correctly. The city built a skate park, but does not have it open for when the kids are out of school. Really? Who elected these people?
ReplyDeleteEasy test for voting next time:
ReplyDeleteVote for the current mayor and council members if you are retired and want the streets rolled up by 9:00 PM, especially on weekends.
Vote to sweep out these losers if you have kids and expect to have a living a breathing community where kids and the family life is respected.
Hi Gene. We are thinking of taking our son to the skate park today. We wonder if it will be open before 4 pm.
ReplyDelete