Parks Permit

A couple of weeks back we directed a SPONSIBLE CHALLENGE at California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for "his" proposal to close 48 state parks to help save some money in the face of a staggering $38 billion deficit.

Over the past week we decided to find out the details of the proposal that has become the center of so much controversy. To that end we contacted Kris Lannin Liang, Deputy Director Public Affairs, Department of Parks & Recreation to ask her how and why the proposal came to pass.

To our surprise we learned that it was not, contrary to media reports, the Governor who ordered the closing of the parks, but the Park Directors', and that it was actually a stopgap measure that would prevent a much more widespread crisis. Had all the parks been kept open the entire parks system would have degraded so badly that they would have lost visitors for the forseeable future.

Liang's suggestion to rehabilitate the state's parks program? To reform the budget and get the parks off the General Fund and into their own. She said that collectively they're actively pursuing ways in which they can create public private partnerships as a way of bringing in extra revenue.

We're pleased to learn that Governor Schwarzenegger, who we recently awarded as the most sponsible political figure of 2007, hasn't turned his back on California's greatest resource– it's natural beauty. Unfortunately the mass media loves to inform by way of generalities and sensationalism. It makes us wonder how many other stories we read each day are presented only as half truths.