BY KAY-ELLE DASH
 
So I’ve heard the most exciting news… parks and recreation returns this January! I know I know, its reviews aren’t anything spectacular and you DO feel like you’re watching a less Dwight infused office but who doesn’t love Amy Pohler?( I do think her full talents are down played and her true comedic awesome-osity is lost by many one-liners but for a quick laugh it’s delightful.) Also, as I AM writing this for a we’ll-make-it-someday indie production company - I’m always up for letting newbies try to shine (except for that really annoying gal that Jim dated before he had the guts to date Pam – like come on, you were a sucky version of Pam ON the office and your even worse trying to be the MAIN Pam in your own show)! Anyway, I’m not totally writing to tell you to watch this show (although you should, like I said, it’s delightful). I’m more writing to tell you that although this show is just another mockumentary it does have some real life aspects. Like the ongoing story of parks and recs districts never having enough funding.
It really is a problem, often these organizations are put at the bottom of the totem pole because their services offered and not “top-priority.” These organizations are created to not just maintain parks & playgrounds but to provide inexpensive programming and events to communities and people of all ages. How is that not a top priority, you know, keeping kids off the streets. Or is our government just telling us “, yes please go sell your weed and smoke your cocaine and create crack babies that can dumb down our ‘wonderful’ public education system because you know, no child is left behind… but oh yeah were also going to cut extracurricular funding in your schools too so don’t plan on staying off the streets that way either.”
How do I know this? Well, just because I tell you that do not immediately presume I’m not neutral to the cause, but I myself am a supervisor for a park district. If you’re wondering who I’d “be” on the show I’d say I have about half of Amy Pohler's characters’ job. Why only half? Well because we have an awesome Nick Offerman like man who writes awesome grants so we are lucky enough to have funding to split her job up, but in most cases it all falls on one person. Which if you watch the show is very hard they often joke about how much she does and is often in two places at once yet still succeeds… anyway… that’s what’s real about the show. Often there is one person doing the work of three, including dealing with the public’s complaints about bad up keep but the only answer that can be provided it “sorry not enough funding.” And of course, they are never satisfied with that answer. (If you’re wondering, there really are people who complain that there are too many benches…)
What can you take from all this? Well nationwide park districts are rallying to add about a 6% tax increase to help fund parks and recs around the country you can vote yes for it. Yeah yeah yeah “my money, the government already takes so much” BLAH BLAH BLAH but let’s be real if they don’t take it to help keep crack babies to a minimum then we will be paying outta the backdoor for welfare and so on. So, please, if you hear anything about this cause, support it.
Better Parks, Less Crack Babies: Vote Yes!
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