Scott:

     You state that, in your opinion, 'the majority of the people who use the parks are not from Geauga County, they are from Cuyahoga or Lake Counties' . 

     Whether that is true or not, IF it is true, won't these many visitors shop somewhere in Geauga County, buy an ice cream cone or a lunch or dinners, or even be stupid enough to buy a gun?   Why shut off a resource that DRAWS people to our County? They will probably keep coming back.   Shut down the parks and shut off the visiting dollars.

--  Bill Kennedy

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Bill:  I said I would love to see the stats on actual park usage (if it exists) in terms of WHO uses the trails, hikes, rents the structures, comes to the lectures, etc.  My bet is we have provided these facilities for PERSONS OUTSIDE OF GEAUGA COUNTY!  Now I ask:  Is that a good use of tax dollars for OUR citizens?  The answer is quite apparent to me...

     It is a complete fallacy that these "outsiders" who run their bikes around these trails and hike and hug trees, etc. STAY AND PURCHASE GOODS HERE.  I have been in business for ten years here on Burton's Main Street and NOT ONCE has one of these bike fags or nature lovers purchased a gun from me!  NADA!  They are cheap as hell!  I have seen these bike fags - AKA "stick people" - stop by the coffee shop here, but they would NEVER drink one of those sugar-laden foo-foo coffees, I will assure you...  They might buy a spring water or two...  Oh boy...   Yeah, a real spike in the business around here... Ha!  What a joke! 

     Bill, you need a tight fitting strait jacket if you think out-of-town people are streaming out of the Geauga Parks every weekend or whenever and lighting up the GNP's of the nearby towns!  Ha!  That's a real laugher!   I would have you do this (I do it every Saturday morning) this weekend:  Stand out here on Burton's Main Street and ask all of the people going down the street where all of the stores are and say, "Pardon me, but did you just come from the Geauga Parks?"  YOU WILL GET BLANK STARES! 

     Further, no one is saying that we "shut down the parks", but rather DEMAND they start acting in a fiscally sound way and quit aquiring ground that they don't need.  Question:  WHAT is the PROPER amount of park land needed?  Do they need to buy up golf courses and shut them down and grow rabbits, deer and turkey?  Do they NEED to buy hundreds and hundreds of acres of NEW LAND every year?  Do they NEED to pay a park ranger $106,000+++ per year or a "program director" (I'd love to see that job description - "nature walk at 10 am" or "lecture of how to spot spotted deer at dusk" or "the endangered yellow-bellied sap sucking salamander and how you can save him", blah, blah, blah - rubbish) who is paid $96,000++++ per year.  If you don't fee outraged by these figures, you ain't human...

     There is immense FAT in this park and we aim to trim it.  We aim to shut-off funding until they shrink back into something that more resembles what will best serve this county.  RIGHT NOW THEIR BUDGET IS NOT SUSTAINABLE WITHOUT HUGE TAX INCREASES.  And we're NOT giving them more money, period.