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Resident urges county attention to parks-district representation and historical context
Summary
A Jennings Lodge resident told commissioners Jan. 16 that Milwaukee has disproportionate park representation versus the unincorporated areas and urged historical context when addressing parks-district governance and intergovernmental agreements.
A longtime resident and advisory-board member told the board on Jan. 16 that historical planning and governance decisions have left unincorporated Clackamas County with fewer parks per resident than the City of Milwaukie and urged the county to consider proportional representation and timely resolution of an intergovernmental agreement dispute.
"Milwaukee is about 22,000 people and they have 18 parks. The other 83,000 people have 16 parks," said Grover Jeffrey Bornfield of Jennings Lodge, who said he serves on a district advisory committee and the library board. Bornfield said a 1970s comprehensive-plan process and later formation of a parks special district shaped current funding and governance structures; he said the county approved a request in 2018 to move to proportional representation, a change that took two years to implement.
Bornfield said the City of Milwaukie has not signed a current intergovernmental agreement (IGA) and is pursuing an appeal of a court ruling; he said the city seeks city-council-only removal from the district rather than the state statutory process requiring a vote of all district voters. "They're appealing a judge's ruling that says if they wanted to leave the district, they would have to follow the Oregon statutes... They want it to be just the city council can decide," he told the board.
The transcript records no immediate board directive or vote on the parks issue; Bornfield said progress is slow and urged continued county attention to the parks-district structure and representation.
