LETTER: Parks are ‘civilized’

Published 1:30 am Saturday, August 1, 2026

Parks and recreation are not required services and have no dedicated funding line, so they are the first to disappear when the budget gets tight. Jefferson County will have no choice but to close parks and recreation facilities without additional financial support.

If you value recreation and park access for your family’s quality of life, please consider voting yes on Proposition 1 for six years of modest funding while the community can have the necessary discussions to figure out a permanent funding model.

Throughout the county, we could lose some portion of our six community centers, Memorial Field, 23 county parks, youth sports, 4-H clubs, county campgrounds and trails.

Nobody likes taxes, but as a famous Supreme Court Justice once said, “Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society.”

Let’s be civilized and support our community’s quality of life.

Deborah Jahnke

Port Townsend