Park Board ignores concerns about Burnet Woods dog park | Opinion

Preserve Burnet Woods Board of Directors
·4 min read
Cynthia Duvall of the Preserve Burnet Woods board points out the proposed location of a new dog park at Burnet Woods in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati on Thursday, May 19, 2022. City plans to install a dog park in the north-east corner of the park has drawn criticism from local groups and neighbors.
Cynthia Duvall of the Preserve Burnet Woods board points out the proposed location of a new dog park at Burnet Woods in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati on Thursday, May 19, 2022. City plans to install a dog park in the north-east corner of the park has drawn criticism from local groups and neighbors.

As Cincinnati continues to extract itself from the quagmire of political corruption in recent years, Cincinnatians need like never before to participate, hold elected and appointed officials accountable, and mobilize to replace ineffective leaders.

We have institutions and procedures in place to do this. For example, neighborhood councils serve as advisers to City Council on matters that will affect specific neighborhoods. Similarly, local government convenes forums for the public to comment on matters like budget, housing, environment and other city business.

These interactions between the citizenry and elected or appointed public servants are what make our government a participatory democracy. Furthermore, public servants have a duty to facilitate that participation for citizens through community engagement.

But what happens when public servants charged with the task of facilitating engagement have contempt for, and therefore end up manhandling, the process and those who rightfully participate in it?

A recent example of this manhandling of community engagement is occurring as the Cincinnati Park Board of Commissioners advances a plan to construct a dog park in Burnet Woods despite clear opposition to the idea from numerous stakeholders, including various civic councils. Two of the three community councils representing neighborhoods who will be most immediately impacted by the development (i.e., Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview Neighborhood Association and Corryville Community Council) have passed resolutions officially opposing construction of a dog park in Burnet Woods. The Park Board of Commissioners has ignored these two communities’ voices.

The proposed location of a new dog park at Burnet Woods in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati on Thursday, May 19, 2022. City plans to install a dog park in the north-east corner of the park has drawn criticism from local groups and neighbors.
The proposed location of a new dog park at Burnet Woods in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati on Thursday, May 19, 2022. City plans to install a dog park in the north-east corner of the park has drawn criticism from local groups and neighbors.

By making decisions in direct contradiction to the neighborhood councils’ wishes, and by refusing to hold professional community engagement, the Park Board is violating both the letter and spirit of City Ordinance No. 358, which champions the essential function of community engagement in city business and which city appointees swear an oath to uphold. As if this abdication of oath wasn’t insulting enough, the commissioners have joked with each about avoiding getting "feedbacked to death," and one opined, "I’m not sure what we’re going to learn" through community engagement.

In a recording from the July 2021 meeting, which you can find on the Park Board’s YouTube page, you’ll witness contemptuous laughter about "cutting loose" the citizens who made public comment of concern on the topic of a dog park in Clifton. Many of these commenters have donated hundreds of hours of volunteer work to Cincinnati Parks, only to be summarily devalued and dismissed by the Park Board.

Sure, some might say that whether we agree with the Park Board Commissioners’ plans or not, they are simply doing their job. But are they? The Cincinnati Park system is currently running at an approximately $70 million deferred maintenance. This means that the Cincinnati Parks system is some $70 million behind on maintaining infrastructure for which it is already supposed to be caretaker. Under its current leadership, it has lost ground in the Trust for Public Lands’ national ranking of parks, though it’s important to note that the two most recent appointees can hardly be blamed as they’ve served for but three months or so at this point.

While there isn’t room here to cite all the reasons why, beyond lack of community engagement, a coalition of at least seven organizations representing several thousands of citizens oppose the dog park in Burnet Woods, some are worth mentioning briefly.

Chia Chi Ho, an engineering professor at University of Cincinnati, watches a family of Canada geese in Burnet Woods, Thursday, June 16, 2022. The 90-acre Cincinnati park is just steps from the University of Cincinnati and offers, trails, a fishing lake, disc golf course, playgrounds and shelters. The parents hissed at people walking by, staying close to the youngster, who was hatched in the spring. Give them a wide berth, because they are known to attack while protecting their territory and young ones.

First, synthetic turf has been found to contain PFAS (otherwise known as "forever chemicals") as well as phthalates, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants that will leach into the watershed and could negatively impact the health of wildlife and humans.

Second, Burnet Woods is a designated Important Bird and Wildlife Area (IBA) by the National Audubon Society, and there is ample research showing the negative impact of concentrated domesticated dog activity on the quality of wildlife habitat.

Third, Burnet Woods already suffers from infrastructure-in-disrepair, some of which needs to be brought into compliance with the Americans with Disability Act. It is fiscally irresponsible to add new infrastructure to a park that already suffers from such general neglect.

In sum, when city appointees such as Park Board Commissioners manhandle community engagement, and as a byproduct mismanage public natural resources, they need to be held accountable. Our elected leaders (i.e., City Council and the mayor) are responsible for exacting that account. Where there is ability, there is responsibility. City Council and the mayor have the ability, and therefore responsibility, to reign in a runaway Park Board. If they won’t, voters have the responsibility come November to participate in our local democracy and to elect city leaders who will.

Preserve Burnet Woods is an all-volunteer, 501c3, nonprofit. The mission of Preserve Burnet Woods is to protect, promote, celebrate and sustain Burnet Woods as a community-supported greenspace and urban oasis.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Park Board ignores concerns about Burnet Woods dog park | Opinion