Washington State Parks Commision

[Grumpy]

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is a board of seven citizen volunteers appointed by the governor. They schedule regular meetings and at pre-determined locations around the state. There is usually a work session prior to the actual regular meeting with a possible tour of area sites or parks the following day - no public comments or formal action are taken at work sessions and tours.

Meeting schedule for 2009:

June 12 - Wenatchee (Eastern Headquarters) 270 9th Street NE, Suite 200
East Wenatchee, WA (9:00 a.m to ---) - Public comments can address new and ongoing issues not on the agenda - this will be addressed right after the approval of the minutes.

August 6 - Tri Cities - ( Location - TBA)
October 1 - Spokane - (Location - TBA)
December 3 - Centralia - (Location - TBA)

The agenda for the June 12th meeting is available on the Commission's website - http://www.parks.wa.gov/agency/commissionmeetings.

At this time the following will be a report only - no action requested by the commission.
# E-8: Implenentation of Plan for 2009-2011 Capital and Operating enacted budgets.

Arlene Brooks, WA. State Director (pnw4wda - c)

[Grumpy]

The August 6th (Thursday) meeting of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commissioners will be held at the Columbia Basin College (Gjerde Room) 2600 North 20th Ave Pasco, WA; (9:00 a.m. ...?); agenda unavailable at this time.

Arlene Brooks, WA. State Director

[Grumpy]

I have already asked for time off to attend this meeting...

[Grumpy]

Just as an FYI to everyone - I have yet to receive a reply to my letter of June 3rd to Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission with regards to the reappropreation of 9.6 million of NOVA recreation funds and requesting an explaination on how the motorized community will benefit from this direction over the next two years (2009-2011).
I did receive two calls fron Director Rex Derr; he requesting a clarification of my letter; the second call was how State Parks interperted the bill (State Budget) that Governor Gregoire signed - "all monies was to be used to keep all State Parks open."
It was then brought to his attention in the bill - it has a one-liner addressing "access for motorized recreation" and that we have only one State Park that has provision for motorized activities (Riverside State Park - Spokane area).
It seemed there was an oversite by staff and his part to catch "that part" - and that this would be brought before the Commissioners at their meeting on June 12th. I am still waiting for a reply to my letter - once I hear - you will hear their response. (I have found agencies/government replies usually takes between 6 and 8 weeks - stay tuned - we might get lucky by August 12th)

Arlene Brooks, WA. State Director

[Grumpy]

So, anyone besides me interested in "observing" at this meeting??

[Grumpy]

Still no agenda out. Sent an e-mail asking about it...Will post it when/if I get the thing.

[bobracing]

Got a location yet?

[Grumpy]

Columbia Basin College
2600 N. 20th Ave.-Gjerde Room (Bldg?)
Pasco, WA 99301

Hours should be 9AM to 4PM

[Grumpy]

WASHINGTON STATE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION

Date: Aug. 6, 2009

Place: Columbia Basic College
Gjerde Room
2600 North 20th Ave.
Pasco, WA 99301

Time: 9 a.m.
Flag Salute: Chris Ford, Park Ranger, Sacajawea State Park
Call of the Roll
Introduction of Staff
Recognition of State and Local Officials
Recognition of Volunteers
Service Pins
Centennial Quality Award

Agenda Approval

Minutes of Previous Meeting

Public Comments – New and ongoing issues not on the agenda

Area and Region Reports
Area report: Reade Obern, Park Ranger, Sacajawea State Park
Region report: Jim Harris, Director, Eastern Region

Business

Agenda Items

Requested Action — Expedited
E-1: Riverside State Park – City of Spokane – Perpetual Easement
This item asks the Commission to grant the City of Spokane a perpetual road use easement for continued use of State Parks-owned Aubrey L. White Parkway to access the City’s municipal wastewater treatment plant. This item complies with the Centennial 2013 Plan element, “Our Commitment – Public Service.â€

[Grumpy]

For those who will be attending the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission meeting in Pasco on August 6th - the agenda is now available. You may download the 23 page reports or the shorter agenda version at: http://www.parks.wa.gov/ (Left side) - scan down to Commission Meetings - this will have the necessary reports and agenda information; meeting starts at 9:00 a.m.

On the agenda - # L - Public Comments (New and ongoing issues not on the agenda) will be addressed right after the approval of the previous meeting minutes. The actual discussion on "Implementation Plan for 2009-2011 Capital and Operating Enacted Budgets" (Item E-11) will be addressed as the last item on the agenda.

Arlene Brooks, WA. State Director

[Grumpy]

Oh, and if you have questions about how these folks are going to spend the NOVA funds, send an e-mail to Ilene.Frisch@parks.wa.gov. She's Adminstration, Technology & Finance Director.

[Grumpy]

Anyone else going to observe how these guys do things with me? Likely go over mid morning...

[Grumpy]

Not much to report. Done just after noon, then they went into executive session. No direct mention of NOVA, other than it was part of the funds transfer done by the legislature. Earl Nettnin apparently snuck in long enough to leave a question form about NOVA, but he was not around while I was...

[Grumpy]

Oh, and as near as I can tell, I was the only civilian there

[Grumpy]

These are the folks who sit on this commision. You might want to look real close at what some of them have been involved in over the years:


Washington State Parks and Recreation Commissioners
The commission is made up of seven citizen members appointed by the governor. Commissioners may not hold elected or full-time appointive office during their service and receive no pay beyond legitimate travel expenses.



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Eliot Scull, Chair
East Wenatchee
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2010

Eliot Scull is a retired ophthalmologist who was raised on the East Coast and moved to Seattle in 1967. He and his wife Tina relocated to Wenatchee eight years later, where they have practiced medicine ever since. Scull's lifelong interest in the outdoors has led him to serve as chair of the Chelan County Parks Board, a trustee of the Washington state chapter of the Nature Conservancy and two terms on the board of the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation (including one term as chairman). He is a co-founder and current president of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust. He also is a former board member of the San Juan Preservation Trust, where he holds the emeritus position of Land Counselor. He believes strongly in public lands and particularly in State Parks as an important responsibility of Washington state government. He wants to see a healthy and growing system of parks across the state.


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Fred Olson, Vice Chair
Olympia
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2012

Fred Olson recently retired from Washington State Government. During his career with the state, he served as Deputy Director of the Department of Ecology, Director of Administration for the Office of the Attorney General, and prior to retirement was Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Chris Gregoire. Before joining state government he worked for 17 years in the newspaper business as a reporter and managing editor of The Olympian. Olson serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington State Employees Credit Union. He is a Washington native, an outdoors enthusiast, and is committed to helping make the state’s recreational, cultural, historical, and natural resources available to the public through the parks system.


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Joe Taller, Secretary
Olympia
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2012

Joe Taller has served in both public and private sectors. He joined the Boeing Company in 1957 and retired in 1997 after having worked in engineering, industrial relations and community affairs. He directed the company's corporate contributions and K-12 education program and managed several areas of human resources at the corporate headquarters level. Taller has served the public as a Washington state representative, elected three times from the 36th district and was director of the Washington State Office of Financial Management between 1981 and 1985. He was executive director of Washington Promise and state director of Communities in Schools. An active Washington citizen, Taller has been board vice president of the Washington State Historical Society and was a founding board member of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. He also has served as a member on the American Red Cross National Board of Governors and the Heritage College Board of Directors.


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Rodger Schmitt
Port Townsend
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2015

Rodger Schmitt has been a board member for the Jefferson Land Trust in Port Townsend since 2004, currently serving as treasurer. Prior to moving to Washington state in 2003, he spent 23 years with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in several states and held a range of leadership positions, including national recreation director in Washington, D.C., from 1997 to 2003. He also served as deputy associate director of the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors in the mid-1980s and early in his career worked for 12 years as a park ranger and assistant park manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in California. He has served as an officer and advisor for many park and natural resources organizations and boards. He and his wife, Jill, live in Port Townsend. They have three daughters and three grandchildren. In his leisure time, he enjoys traveling, hiking, kayaking and photography.


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Joan K. Thomas
Seattle
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2008

Joan Thomas retired in 1994 from the State Board of Tax Appeals, where she served as property tax referee. She is a past president of both the Washington Environmental Council and the League of Women Voters of Washington and a founding board member of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. She currently sits on the board of directors of Friends of Discovery Park. Her interest in parks and recreation dates back to the 1960s when she worked on Initiative 215, which established the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.


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Cecilia Vogt
Yakima
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2010

Cecilia Vogt is recently retired, having served since April 2002, as executive director of the Yakima Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. Prior to that, she was owner of Cecilia Vogt Consulting, assisting non-profit organizations and businesses with image promotion, strategic planning, fund-raising, meeting facilitation and special projects. She served for three years as public relations director, then eight years as executive director of the Yakima Greenway Foundation, a 3600-acre private, non-profit land trust. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations with a minor in environmental studies at Central Washington University in 1988. Her other affiliations include serving as co-founder and past president of the Washington State Trails Coalition; member of the Red Cross Washington State Service Council; Yakima Rotary Club member; former member of the Yakima Bike/Pedestrian Advisory Committee; board member of Cowiche Canyon Conservancy and board member of Central Washington Comprehensive Mental Health. She is an avid outdoors enthusiast, parks user, hiker, cyclist and skier with a passion for protecting the environment.


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Lucinda S. Whaley
Spokane
Term expires: Dec. 31, 2015

Lucinda "Cindy" S. Whaley is an attorney in a Spokane-based law firm. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and employment law. She is active in many bar activities, advises businesses and non-profit organizations and has been an adjunct professor of law. Prior to attending Gonzaga Law School, she worked as Congressional staff in Washington D.C., later moving to Spokane, where she worked on Spokane's EXPO '74. She has a longtime interest in winter skiing and also enjoys bicycling, golf and gardening. She and her husband and teenage daughter spend time fishing and boating on the Pend Oreille River and also enjoy touring Washington state.


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Looks to me like this group is fairly heavily leaned in the oposite direction from some of what we are working on.

[Grumpy]

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has just posted information on their next meeting location; agenda will be available about a week in advance of the meeting.

October 1 - Center Place, 2426 North Discovery Place, Spokane 99216

According to the notice - regular meetings are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; however, it has been found they do not adhere strictly to the agenda - the meeting in Pasco started at 8:00 am.

Our item of concern - Implementation Plan for 2009-2011 Capital Operating Enacted Budget Report (Item E-11) was last on the agenda. The only reference to the NOVA Funds in the Parks Budget report stated " Those funds must also be earned by the State before they become available for use by State Parks and Recreation Commission." I have yet to receive a response to my letter drafted on behalf of the Association.

The report did say - there will be a two percent staff reduction; specific savings on out-of-state travel, training and equipment purchases; and spending restricted to only critically necessary activities.

Proposed meeting dates & locations for 2010 are:

January 14, Olympia
March 11, Tacoma area
June 24, Walla Walla
August 12, Spokane
September 30, Yakima
December 2, Everet/Snohomish area