The Whole Lease Thing 1.29.2007 | 3 Comment(s)
I don't have a problem with BJC leasing a "disconnected" portion of Forest Park. I do have a problem with the backdoor politics that went into crafting the final deal; however, what worries me the most about this deal is the precedent it creates.

Public parks are for the public. If a private corporation wants to develop a piece of public parkland for their own use over an extended period of time (isn't BJC's lease for 99 years or something), I really believe the public should have a say in that. Mayor Slay and supporters of the BJC lease pretty much bypassed public opinion because they didn't want it. Too often, city officials forget who they work for. But, on the flip side, we pretty much don't hold them accountable either. I mean we vote in the same alderman year after year even if we don't like them.

The precedent this deal sets troubles me. Today it's a section of Forest Park nobody realized was a part of the grand park in the first place, tomorrow it's an unused section of Tower Grove Park. Sure, you say, we'll never see our parks carved up for private development, but I believe the Forest Park/BJC deal makes private development of our parks easier to do.

I may be wrong, and I do think the lease deal is beneficial to Forest Park, but...I don't know, I see a larger, more troubling picture here.
3 comments:

By Blogger stlmark, at 10:45 AM

I completely agree. I find myself disinterested in this issue, but the public official's lack of concern for the people's input is scary.

 

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:39 PM

I also agree with you here. It's like a slippery slope. Where will it end? The public should have the vote on this. We definately need to see and recognize these things and remember this when we vote. It's just sad to see that voters recognize the name and just vote for that person even if they recognize the name from negative news. It's just sad to see a private company taking part of a public park.

 

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:40 AM

If you're worried about precedent, Forest Park was already pimped out years ago. The many attractions governed independently of City Hall have long occupied parkland, even years before the mediplex itself set its own precedent in its existing lease started in the 1970s.