Ashland Parks and recreate Commissioner, position 2
As an ashland native…
As an Ashland native, I’m running to ensure that our beloved public spaces continue to thrive and serve present and coming generations as graciously as they’ve served past ones.
Priorities
Take our trails seriously
We have world-class trails that draw tourism from all across the country right in our back-yard, yet they often lack proper upkeep, signage, and face persistent traffic use battles. In order to diversify our tourism draws, it’s time we took trails seriously. We are already listed in the top 10 trail destinations in the US, imagine what we could do if we tried a little harder.
Despite this, no group seems particularly happy about them. It’s a bit of the wild west out there.
“We build trails, not trailheads”
I was examining a potential trail site with a former Parks and Recreation commissioner and during our conversation I was struck by something he said. “We build trails, but we don’t build trailheads”. That was years ago and I’ve been shocked at how often I’ve thought on those words, largely because of the short-sightedness of it. It almost sounded like someone saying “we build houses, not doors”.
This is one example of what I mean when I say, “Take our trails seriously”. Trails need adequate parking, they need signage, the signage needs to inform people about potential risks, and expectations of etiquette, not simply the name of the trail.
Beyond the trailhead.
Have you ever heard of “desire paths”?
Who’s responsible for a desire path? Who built it?
Desire paths can be viewed in one of two ways:
The people are wrong and we need greater enforecment against them
Enforcement is non-existant, trailheads . Everyone seems to know a story about
User parks to help the local economy
We are a tourist town and we thrive by the visitors we receive. By getting creative about how Parks can draw more outsiders and keep them longer. While we still have plenty of draw to our town, we have been slow to adjust to rapidly shifting dynamics such as smoke, waning interest in Shakespear, and greater regional competition.