Great news for Washington's Parks in today's Council 28's Hotline!
WFSE/AFSCME PRESENTS ALTERNATIVE FORT WORDEN MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT SAVES STATE
$1.2 MILLION The Federation on Friday formally asked the state
Parks Commission to reject plans to turn over management of Fort Worden State
Park in Port Townsend and instead embrace the union’s alternative that would
save $1.2 million and not sap further revenue from the cash-starved parks
system.
The Fort Worden Public Development Authority (FWPDA) wants to
take over effective control of the historic battery, made famous as the setting
for the 1982 Richard Gere movie, “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
But
among other “asks,” the PDA wants to skim off $250,000 of the $350,000 in annual
camp fees at Fort Worden.
The Federation, instead, proposes a plan
that keeps the park under the commission’s control and makes the PDA a partner
with the ability to do fundraising for upgrades to buildings that tenants now
use.
The Federation’s “Black Friday Memo” also identifies nine areas
where the PDA’s business plan does not comply with a 2008 long-range plan.
That’s required by the Legislature. The union will ask the Parks Commission at
its Dec. 6 meeting in Monroe to declare the business plan out of compliance and
allow employees to offer alternatives under state competitive contracting rules
and the General Government Collective Bargaining Agreement.
But
first, on Nov. 29, the public will get a chance to comment on the PDA’s plans at
a public meeting in Port Townsend.
The Federation’s “Black Friday
Memo” outlines savings of $1.2 million from what the PDA proposes. The union
proposes increasing tenant rents by about 35 percent – but still well under
market rates. And the Federation plan would bring all reservations for parks
facilities under the commission; that would cut out the current wasteful
practice where the tenants act as a third-party broker and sub-lease space they
pay little or nothing for.
“Not only is the current deficit nearly
eliminated in the first year, but a solid foundation for future increases in
revenue is created that has a greater opportunity for success,” the Federation’s
memo said.
The union also saves by rejecting the PDA’s marketing
plan, instead using parks staff. And the Federation would save $147,000 by
upgrading the current computer reservation system rather than replacing it to
the tune of $162,000, as proposed by the PDA.
The Fort Worden Public
Development Authority would also rely on state subsidies to operate.
This flies in the face of current joint efforts by the commission and Federation
to ask the Legislature for additional General Fund monies to smooth out the
transition to the user-fee based Discover Pass system, which still is not
bringing in the required revenue to make up for lost state funds.
“The PDA plan is a drain on the parks system,” said Jeanine Livingston, the
Federation’s contract compliance manager. “Parks have been cut beyond the bone.
The PDA plan calls for a state subsidy that places the rest of the parks system
in jeopardy. There could be additional layoffs, fewer year-round parks and parks
closures. We can’t ask the Legislature for more money to cover the Discover Pass
and then even more money to subsidize the PDA’s contracting out plan.”
