Alabama to close state parks.
Our governor has given an ultimatum to close several state parks next month and additional parks beginning in 2016. He's trimming down budget if he can't get his new tax increase passed. I hope he'...
Forum Discussion
This topic is all of the negative things mentioned here, but you folks that live other than in CA really have it pretty good Parks wise.
Don't get me wrong, California has an awful lot to offer, our coastline, tall mountains, deep valleys and spectacular places in between. We also have the likes of our governors, who are without question centered on entitlements, being the pocketbook of the left and political legacies.
Our parks , however, are run by out of state companies that make a great profit without really doing much if anything to improve our recreational outlets. One of the prime examples was the wisdom of the Parks Comm. in putting out to bid the concessions contract for Old Town San Diego St. Pk. The contract went to a legal firm from the right coast and they raised rents for park businesses and brought in out of state maintenance companies. The original lease holder built up the park from an old mission site to a bushelling money maker for the State and who hired local folks to work and improve the park.
Now most of the profits from the park go out of state and the services we still have are really poor.
But, they reduced the drain of hiring and paying state employees from the General Fund.
Of course there are benefits for RVers, in the few parks near Los Angeles, a dry no hookup campsite "near" the beach only runs $60 a night or more and there are several county parks on old outdated state highways that are head to toe asphalt parking lots called campgrounds. Prices are a little cheaper than St Parks but really an old highway turned into a campground and sites are only in the $30 to $40 range. Oh yeah, no hook ups and porta-potties.
And of course they did close a lot of campgrounds too which cost tens of thousands if not millions to repair after they were shuttered and left without caretakers to prevent vandalism.
Yeah, most of you have it pretty good.
Don't get me wrong, California has an awful lot to offer, our coastline, tall mountains, deep valleys and spectacular places in between. We also have the likes of our governors, who are without question centered on entitlements, being the pocketbook of the left and political legacies.
Our parks , however, are run by out of state companies that make a great profit without really doing much if anything to improve our recreational outlets. One of the prime examples was the wisdom of the Parks Comm. in putting out to bid the concessions contract for Old Town San Diego St. Pk. The contract went to a legal firm from the right coast and they raised rents for park businesses and brought in out of state maintenance companies. The original lease holder built up the park from an old mission site to a bushelling money maker for the State and who hired local folks to work and improve the park.
Now most of the profits from the park go out of state and the services we still have are really poor.
But, they reduced the drain of hiring and paying state employees from the General Fund.
Of course there are benefits for RVers, in the few parks near Los Angeles, a dry no hookup campsite "near" the beach only runs $60 a night or more and there are several county parks on old outdated state highways that are head to toe asphalt parking lots called campgrounds. Prices are a little cheaper than St Parks but really an old highway turned into a campground and sites are only in the $30 to $40 range. Oh yeah, no hook ups and porta-potties.
And of course they did close a lot of campgrounds too which cost tens of thousands if not millions to repair after they were shuttered and left without caretakers to prevent vandalism.
Yeah, most of you have it pretty good.
