My Vision for the Park District

By Norman C. La Force

I want to save open space, expand recreational opportunities, and restore native habitat and wildlife

I bring 25 years of passion, commitment, and expertise to the effort to save open space and operate the premier local park system in the country to make it better, better for people to enjoy and also better for our effort to preserve and enhance wildlife and habitat.

My passion is saving land for park for people to enjoy and for the preservation of wildlife and habitat. For the past 25 years I have lead the Sierra Club's campaign to create the Eastshore State park and to save the East Bay shoreline. I was the leader in putting together the Sierra Club plan for the Berkeley Waterfront that saved Berkeley's shoreline from development. I also led the effort to save the Albany shoreline from development and to turn it into a great park and open space. I helped save the Emeryville Crescent as a protected wetland habitat. I am leading the effort to save the Richmond shoreline as public open space.

I want to lead the East Bay Regional Park District into the 21st Century, expanding our existing parks, adding new ones, and providing recreational opportunities for the people of the East Bay while also protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat.

In 1934 the people of the East Bay took the first step when they created the East Bay Regional Park District. We look back at those founders of the Park District with pride and awe at the park system we now enjoy. Fifty years from now I want people of the East Bay to look back at what I did at the beginning of the 21st century with the same pride and wonder at how much more land we saved, more habitat we protected, and more recreational opportunities we created for future generations to enjoy and savor.

I have identified three policy initiatives that I want to pursue as a Director. They are:

First, we need to continue to acquire new park lands. Assuming Measure WW passes, then the District can use these funds and leverage them with other sources to continue that effort.

Second, we need to expand recreational opportunities in the parks we have and will acquire. We need facilities, trails, recreational programs, and educational programs. Funding for operations comes out of a different source from Measure WW so we would need to find new revenues for funding programs. I hope we can put on the ballot in the future the equivalent of Measure CC for the rest of the Park District. I would like to see the completion of the Tom Bates sports complex.

Third, the District needs to expand its own habitat restoration and enhancement work on existing District lands. We need to do this because we see not only a continuing loss of habitat, but also where it may exist, it often in a degraded state. Again, funding sources will need to be found for this work.