Many of Mayor Mike McGinn's budget balancing ideas are painful but necessary. We wonder about how necessary others are, however.
The Seattle City Council is looking into charging people to park in our city parks. A preliminary study on the matter will be presented to the council by next April.
This one bears close scrutiny.
We know the city is facing a $67 million shortfall in its 2011-2012 budget, exacerbated by an additional $11 million loss in funds because of the repeal of the candy tax. Meanwhile, city budget analyst Ben Noble last week projected that the city's tough economic times will likely drag on through 2012.
But the time to start charging people to park in our parks is not here yet. Parks represent the last bastions of free-ness for a lot of people. Where else can one go with the family or friends, or simply alone with a book, without a wallet, and simply disconnect for a while?
Yes, the downtown business core will increase its hourly rates to $4, which will help with the rotation of customers, some experts maintain. And charging to park or spend time at a park - national, state, county or otherwise - is an increasingly common practice.
But charging for parking in our city parks is not only the lazy way out of a financial jam, but the quickest way to get patrons to clog up neighborhood streets with parked cars and those looking for spaces.
We'll see what the numbers-crunches present to the council by April, though we wish they were more focused on city government efficiencies. It's hard to imagine the revenues raised from such a move would outweigh the damage done to the quality of life in the big city. This is one more, and unnecessary, arrow aimed at the body politic.[[In-content Ad]]
