We’re encouraged by continued signs of fiscal responsibility at the Vashon Park District.

While the state’s recent audit of the park district hit hard — auditors criticized the district for continuing to take on debt and for spending a large amount on debt service last year — there are also indications that this much-disparaged agency is beginning to get its act together.

Elaine Ott has done a great deal to clean up the district’s finances since taking the helm there. A state auditor even noted he was impressed with Ott’s work. A board of commissioners with some fresh faces has pledged to address remaining financial issues, suggested it won’t spend any more on the VES Fields than necessary and, at the state Auditor’s Office’s request, plans to create a financial plan for the district, something it could have benefitted from a long time ago. As board chair Lu-Ann Branch recently said, they are working to “right the ship” and set the district on a more sustainable course.

Currently, however, the park district is still limping along due to falling tax revenue, past overspending and debt from the VES Fields project. The administrative staff, once a half-dozen strong, is now a bare-bones crew. Since Ott and another staff member were at an out-of-state conference this week, the park district offices have simply been closed, dark offices serving as a reminder of the consequences of poor fiscal management. We are pleased, however, that the district is currently in the process of filling a couple positions.

New faces and new practices won’t transform the park district overnight, though. A state auditor said it will likely be at least 18 months — until the district is slated to pay off one of its bonds — until we may see more tangible signs of improvement there.

As commissioners push forward, we hope they aim for a few basic objectives. We hope they heed the advice of the state auditors, who provide a valuable outside and expert perspective. We hope they add more administrative staff to the office soon, providing some well-earned relief for Ott — who seems to carry it all these days — and not risk losing her as an asset. And we hope the district, as soon as it can, will stop taking on debt, ending a practice that has long concerned us and has drawn criticism from other officials.

We’re discouraged that at least one commissioner, Bill Ameling, still insists he knows better than two rounds of state auditors who questioned park district practices. But Ameling is just one voice on the board, and we’re hopeful the rest of the board — or at least three of them — will stand up for change that will “right the ship” at the park district.