Partnerships are the Key

By Barbara Heller

My time on the Council has shown me that the most effective way to make something happen is for the City to form partnerships with community interests. I applaud the joint efforts of the neighbors and the City in cleaning up an old industrial area along Mahon Creek and turning it into a bicycle and walking path with restored wetlands. A major component of enjoying where you live is having nearby parks and paths. What a pleasure the Mahon Path will be in safely traveling around San Rafael!

Neighborhoods are also enjoying the recent renovation of Freitas, Bernhard Hoffman and Pickleweed Parks. Walkers and cyclists are now able to use the completed second phase of the Shoreline Park/Bay trail. Coming up is the rebuilding of the Terra Linda pool, the new Ranchitos Park, and improvements to the Pickleweed Community Center. I am working with my Sun Valley neighbors and the City to raise funds for renovation of Sun Valley Park. Bret Harte residents are also working with the City to renew their local park. I encourage other neighborhoods to consider doing the same thing.

I am proud of what we have accomplished, but there is still work to do. A priority of mine is to encourage the schools to share their facilities with San Rafael's recreation programs. It just makes good sense to use school fields and buildings to their full potential and combine scarce funds to improve and maintain them. A dream of mine is to have the City and San Rafael High School join forces to build a new swimming pool. This would fill a gap in serving the fitness and health needs of all ages in central San Rafael.

These admirable plans require funds. Luckily, State Proposition 12, which approved parks and recreational facility bonds, will soon give San Rafael $688,000. That is not enough to fill all the recreational needs of the city, but it can be used as seed money to apply for other grants and to form partnerships with private funding sources. Recent community meetings hosted by the Parks and Recreation Commission gave everyone information about San Rafael's future recreational needs and ongoing projects. Various residents also spoke about their local priorities. These meetings were very helpful in setting an agenda for improving our recreational amenities. I encourage you to let your voice be heard, too.

The Council also needs ideas from citizens about how we can best maintain our parks and recreational buildings. Parks grow tired, equipment standards change and neighborhood desires evolve. Currently the park system needs $2.5 million just to make necessary repairs and improvements to our existing facilities, let alone any new ones. We have a comprehensive maintenance plan, but we need input from you about how to encourage community partnerships for funding and donations of time and energy.

Not only are playing fields, parks, and recreation programs important, but the library is also a key ingredient in our quality of life. We will soon add a bi-lingual librarian, which will greatly enhance the accessibility of library services for everyone. I also want to work with the community to expand the San Rafael Library and ensure that its services are available every day.

In short, working together as partners, we can enhance our already flourishing city. I have briefly touched on some of the major issues. Please let me know your concerns, ideas, and visions for San Rafael's parks and other community programs.