Closing state parks a poor move for future

The gods must be crazy. From the administration who brought you such money saving proposals as legalization of mixed martial arts, tax on sugared sodas, allowing wine to be sold in grocery stores and my personal favorite - taxing early intervention programs for autism and other learning disorders, comes the latest in interesting cost-saving measures. The governor unveiled his plans to close, or significantly reduce, the operating capacity of 55 state parks and historical sites throughout New York.

"New York faces [a] historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude," said Gov. Paterson."It has demanded many difficult, but necessary, decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our state."

He's right, of course. The New York state deficit, reported at $8.2 billion in mid-February, has since jumped an additional $500 million. Everyone can agree this is a problem, but it seems like the measures to fix the issue are becoming increasingly ridiculous.

The proposed closing of these 55 sites will alleviate an estimated $6.5 million of our almost $9 billion debt - the fiscal equivalent of handing a Band-Aid to a gunshot victim.

And, while we're on the subject of savings, what does the term "closed" really mean? How much extra funding will have to be funneled into security systems or live patrols to enforce these closures? If these sites are closed, will they be allowed to decay until they are just a vine-covered eyesore?

I can see the press release 10 years down the road: "State unveils plans to spend $2 billion in a campaign to revitalize state parks."

Then there's the issue of health. In a move to curb obesity and help people get on the fast track to better health, Paterson proposed a much-debated tax on sugared sodas. Fine, I can get behind that in the same way I could get behind cigarette taxes, but the argument loses some weight when you propose to close down some of the areas in which kids will be getting much of their exercise. Without many summer programs, sporting events and classics like hiking and jogging, the dangerously low exercise rate among kids will plummet even further. In a humorous sidenote, Paterson also proposed a 4 percent tax hike for health clubs in his 2009-10 budget plans.

Apart from the questionable savings and health effects of this park-closing coup, there is another facet to the plan that factors into something bigger. New York has seen many recent cuts in the areas of health care, school funding and college tuition to name a few. The phrase "not mortgaging our children's future," while certainly overused on the campaign trail, does have basic merit here.

Kids today are facing an exciting road through life according to the government: "Sorry, kiddies, you won't be getting the quality early education you need, nor will you be able to enjoy outdoor activities in some of the most beautiful places in the state. Luckily, when you get to college there will be less money available to help with tuition, and you'd better pray you don't get sick, because health care costs will be ridiculous. When you graduate, let's hope the economy is better so you don't join the 10 percent of Americans who are unemployed."

Oh, by the way, when you finally do retire there may not actually be any Social Security money left, because we spent it all. Good luck.

While closing state parks may be at the bottom of the list of these problems, it all adds up. We live in a cynical world and hearing about parks closing down to save a small fraction of the mountain of debt our politicians have accrued isn't doing anything to help our morale. I have no nostalgic stories to tell about camping with my parents or playing Frisbee with my golden retriever at any of the parks that will be affected by these cuts, but there are plenty of folks out there who do. Hearing that these parks will be closing is just another piece of the disenchantment puzzle, another positive thing being undone in the name of political convenience and irresponsibility.

If there is anyone out there who actually believes the only way to clean up the state's budget woes is to close parks and tax soda, I invite you to the corner of the room labeled "Naive." There are far more sensible ways to curb runaway spending; we just need a government that's not afraid to dig a little deeper to find them. Until then, we may just be waiting for a Coke bottle to fall from the sky and give the Paterson administration the gift of insight.