The unincorporated communities of Midland, Parkland and Spanaway make up the majority of County Council District 5. D-5 also includes a bit of south Tacoma and a bit of east Tacoma (but the city parks are under the jurisdiction of Metro Parks, not Pierce County Parks & Recreation),

Why, many wonder, did District 5 absorb 60% of the cuts to county parks, while the other 6 districts only absorbed 40% combined? We paid our fair share of taxes, and yet we're not getting our fair share of parks service (to Midland's Dawson Park - or the other D-5 parks that were cut).

See the PC Parks spreadsheet showing the new service levels of our parks here.

FYI - the volunteers who took charge in maintaining the park have been bullied into signing an adopt-a-park agreement and undergoing background checks and training--and--we were told, in writing, we would have to come up with $108 a month if we wanted a porta-pot at the park (since P&R locked Dawson's bathrooms 24/7), but as soon as we came up with the money, the price jumped to over $170 a month. Thankfully D-5's Councilmember, Barbara Gelman, came up with enough money to cover the cost for this season - but then what?

See the supposed costs, according to Parks & Rec, to maintain Dawson Park here.

See the article on King 5 News on the closure of Sprinker Ice Rink here, and the article in the News Tribune here.

Please help defend District 5 and its parks. Email the County Council, Executive and Parks Director, and tell them we deserve the SAME level of services as the other 6 districts, whether it be parks service, law enforcement, roads, or ANY service provided by our local government. We are just as important as others who live in Pierce County, and we shouldn't stand by and accept being treated as though we matter less.

Kathy Kravit-Smith
Parks Director
KKRAVIT@co.pierce.wa.us

Barbara Gelman
District 5 County Councilmember
bgelman@co.pierce.wa.us

Roger Bush
County Council Chair
RBUSH@co.pierce.wa.us

Pat McCarthy
County Executive
pmccart@co.pierce.wa.us