Upcoming parks district survey crucial for future park plans
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The members of the board and staff of the Vashon Park District have made the development of a comprehensive strategic plan for our park system a major goal this year. In creating this comprehensive plan, we will establish a vision for our parks and an operational plan for realizing that vision. We will need help from the citizens of Vashon as we work to determine what this vision should be. Islanders can help in a big way by participating in a professionally designed and conducted survey, the purpose of which will be to determine how islanders are currently using our parks, programs and other services, what preferences they have for the management of current park facilities, programs and services, and what improvements in our facilities, programs and services that they hope to see in the future.
After seeking proposals from professional survey firms and interviewing members of three firms that submitted proposals, we have chosen Beckwith Consulting Group, a local, experienced, highly regarded company, to conduct this survey. Members of VPD, as well as the board members who make up the board’s planning committee have already met with Beckwith to begin to formulate the survey. It should be complete in a few weeks.
Very soon islanders will receive announcements that explain everything about the about survey. Our goal is to make participation as quick and easy as possible.
Please complete the survey when it becomes available to you. Validity increases with the number of islanders who participate, and we need the results to be valid so that our plan, which will depend largely on the results of this citizen survey, can be a document that reflects the wants and needs of the community, can be something all of the citizens of Vashon can believe in and can be confidently used by the Vashon Park District as a decision-making tool.
Please help us by participating in this important survey. This is your opportunity to help shape the future of Vashon Parks.
— Bob McMahon
