4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 24, 2019 Author Posted March 24, 2019 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Buffalo Barbarian said: each parent is paying 2 grand!? Thats a lot of money. Dont know how you can compete with that. if you or the other parents have property you might want to make field there. Are there schools that can let you use their fields? 2 grand is on the low side and does not include traveling to tournaments ($400+ per). It is for the entire year and you get a lot for your money, but a lot of those type of clubs have their own fields. I will look into the high school field but that will only take care of the older kids, the ones that can play 11v11. 7 minutes ago, Buffalo Barbarian said: hate to be so negative but government could care less. If you got money they they are open for business if not you're out. In a perfect world the power is with the taxpayers, but trying to get enough of them irritated and showing up to a township meeting sounds like a monster task. People like to B word but when it comes time to do something there is usually a litany of other things to do. Which in turn is why government sucks. Edited March 24, 2019 by 4BillsintheBurgh 1
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 1 minute ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: 2 grand is on the low side and does not include traveling to tournaments ($400+ per). It is for the entire year and you get a lot for your money, but a lot of those type of clubs have their own fields. I will look into the high school field but that will only take care of the older kids, the ones that can play 11v11. I commend your effort to helping the kids and hope they can practice somewhere. God speed.
4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 24, 2019 Author Posted March 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, Gray Beard said: We ran into a similar situation. Fortunately one of the parents was the local orthodontist. $$$. He lived on a huge piece of property. A hobby farm. We met at his place when the real field wasn’t available. Here in western pa there isn't a whole ton of flat land around. I have an acre but it's better for sledding than for soccer. Just now, Buffalo Barbarian said: I commend your effort to helping the kids and hope they can practice somewhere. God speed. I used to fantasize about winning the lottery and building my own fields for the kids so I wouldn't have to deal with those *********.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 24, 2019 Posted March 24, 2019 11 minutes ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: Here in western pa there isn't a whole ton of flat land around. I have an acre but it's better for sledding than for soccer. I used to fantasize about winning the lottery and building my own fields for the kids so I wouldn't have to deal with those *********. Have to talk to the other parents and see if they can pitch in and buy a field, then you wont have to worry about government (unless you dont pay your state rent {taxes} or eminent domain)
NoSaint Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 1 hour ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: We have been using these fields since probably the early nineties, maybe the 80's. It's not like we're from another area and are just paying to use them. The park is local and being used by local kids. Is there any process to reserve the fields? If so, were you following that process?
/dev/null Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 government and money, it's hard to compete when they get together do you maybe know any italians from a "good family" that could send a message ? 1
Wacka Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 Grease some palms. Always works for local governments.
stuvian Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 2 hours ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: I just didn't know if I should go to the state rep or stick with the local township board first. I almost feel like I should just go to the state guy. If the field is under the municipality start there
NoSaint Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 11 minutes ago, stuvian said: If the field is under the municipality start there Yup. Go to the person running the field before jumping to higher ups. I’d add talking to the other league may be effective too. Work your way up the chain. And try to bring a solution instead of a problem. They get bombarded with problems. Make it easy to help you. That said, be aware that simply wanting the field available at the time most convenient to you based on paying taxes might not be a particularly compelling argument for them to pass up a well funded rental. Really more details are needed to help guide you though.
4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 25, 2019 Author Posted March 25, 2019 56 minutes ago, NoSaint said: Yup. Go to the person running the field before jumping to higher ups. I’d add talking to the other league may be effective too. Work your way up the chain. And try to bring a solution instead of a problem. They get bombarded with problems. Make it easy to help you. That said, be aware that simply wanting the field available at the time most convenient to you based on paying taxes might not be a particularly compelling argument for them to pass up a well funded rental. Really more details are needed to help guide you though. I think our township has like 7,000 residents, we have been in on the natural gas fracking boon in the area so there really isn't a great need for the cash. I'd almost liken this to providing local government services to another area and leaving your area short on services. Really in the end, I don't know what a solution would be. They knowingly took away time from our kids and gave it to kids from outside the area. So they're making a decision that is based on money and not (as far as I am concerned) helping the local families who are their constituents. It's just kind of a dick move, and it's not the first from this rec board and it won't be the last. It really just sucks since we're all volunteers trying to give these kids a decent experience and it's a struggle where it doesn't need to be.
4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 25, 2019 Author Posted March 25, 2019 2 hours ago, NoSaint said: Is there any process to reserve the fields? If so, were you following that process? Not aware of a process, we had some issues a few years ago and the township manager stood behind our use of the fields. He has been helpful so I'll probably start there. I know there is a process for other rental's in the park, maybe I can get the township to agree to something where we can have our exclusive use somehow put in writing, thanks.
Misterbluesky Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 5 hours ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: Just hoping to get a little advice regarding dealing with local government. The situation is this: I am involved with a local soccer club that uses our local townships park fields for games and practice. This spring the recreation board has decided to rent the fields Monday and Tuesday nights to competative club so our local club will not be able to practice on them. While I realize the board can do what it wants I would like to push back through our township board and am looking for advice on how to do that. As one of many volunteers it kind of sucks to get 40% of our possible practice days taken away and the local club gets nothing but cut grass from our recreational board. I appreciate any help/advice on where to start. My first thought is to go to the township manager and probably a township board meeting but I'm wondering if I will need to go higher. Thanks. What prevents you from using one of your local school district fields for practice?
4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 25, 2019 Author Posted March 25, 2019 2 minutes ago, Misterbluesky said: What prevents you from using one of your local school district fields for practice? School administrators for now, I will be talking to them. At best, we hopefully will use the fields for the older kids. I just found out about this today and the season kicks off April 7th. Oh, there might be some insurance issues, but hopefully we can work that out. Insurance companies are running the world anymore.
apuszczalowski Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 Personally, I think your out of luck if you arent paying for rental fees and booking the field for those times. It may have been fine before because they didnt have any interest from a paying group and it was never an issue of others wanting to use the field, but now that someone is going to pay, they will get priority, doesnt matter if they are local or not. And it doesnt matter if the parents pay taxes, everyone does and when you work out how much of their tax dollars go to fund that field, it might work out to pocket change from their share. I get this argument all the time from people, you dont get to pick and chose how your personal tax dollars are spent. Other peoples tax dollars are funding the field too, and people may be upset that the municipality would push away paying customers to allow people to use the field for free, bringing in additional revenue can lower taxes, or atleast keep them from going up. What I would suggest, depending on the organisation you're a part of, if you can prove you are a 'not for profit' or a charitable organisation, sometimes you can get a grant, or the local council/government may wave fees for use of the public fields or facilities.
Jauronimo Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 Remember this phrase: "Am I being detained?!?! I know my rights!!"
KD in CA Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 16 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said: hate to be so negative but government could care less. If you got money they they are open for business if not you're out. Wait, what??? How can this be?? I thought government was our only protection against evil corporations! 1
snafu Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 Are the fields lit up at night? Maybe arrange to get the Rec Board to use some of its new found $$ to light up the field -- increasing its availability. Maybe you can also find some electrician who wants to do the job cheap for some free advertising. Don't waste your time going to a State representative for a Town matter. There's probably not a lot of crossover between those jurisdictions.
Tenhigh Posted March 25, 2019 Posted March 25, 2019 14 hours ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said: I think our township has like 7,000 residents, we have been in on the natural gas fracking boon in the area so there really isn't a great need for the cash. I'd almost liken this to providing local government services to another area and leaving your area short on services. Really in the end, I don't know what a solution would be. They knowingly took away time from our kids and gave it to kids from outside the area. So they're making a decision that is based on money and not (as far as I am concerned) helping the local families who are their constituents. It's just kind of a dick move, and it's not the first from this rec board and it won't be the last. It really just sucks since we're all volunteers trying to give these kids a decent experience and it's a struggle where it doesn't need to be. Consider writing a scathing OP Ed naming specific council members, and read it at your next town board meeting. If the response isn't what you want, publish it, shaming them into doing the right thing. It's really the only other way to really motivate a politician. Since you don't have money as a carrot, use shame as a stick. Or just change the night you practice.
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