LIVERMORE — Whichever two candidates are elected to the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District board, they'll have their work cut out for them.
The parks district, an independent agency created in 1947, provides parks and recreation services for a 245-square-mile area spanning Livermore and beyond.
More than 40 parks and facilities and a slew of recreational programs fall under the district's domain, which borders Pleasanton and Dublin to the west and Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties to the north, east and south.
Like all local agencies, the district may be vulnerable in coming months to raids on its coffers by state legislators looking for ways to balance the state's sickly budget.
The challenge for board members will be prioritizing programs and, if necessary, making difficult cuts, parks district officials say.
Incumbents Steve Goodman and Beth Wilson are vying with challenger Barbara Kraybill for two open seats on the five-member board.
Kraybill, 63, a former district staff member for 30 years, says her experience managing district youth programs makes her well qualified for the board.
"There's a lot of people who would be great. ... I think my only serious advantage is that, if elected, I can hit the ground running," said Kraybill, who retired last year as the district's superintendent of youth services. "I won't have to spend an hour each with two dozen staff people to learn the Advertisementbudget. I can walk into the room and know what everyone does."
Wilson, 61, a teacher in the Tracy school district, was appointed to the board last August to replace a resigning member. If elected, the self-described "trails advocate" says one of her goals would be enhancing parks and trails and expanding the district's range of outdoor programs to get more children outdoors — a measure she says is badly needed to combat childhood obesity.
Her dream is to one day develop a state-of-the-art "green" building that would house both indoor and outdoor environmental education programs for local kids.
"I have exciting ideas," Wilson said. "I love being on the LARPD board. I feel I can do things for the community in a different way from what I (already) do as a teacher."
Goodman, 54, a Livermore native who says he "will match his passion for Livermore parks with anyone," worked in public recreation for 26 years for the district and for Milpitas and San Mateo before taking a managerial position at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. He has served on the parks district board for four years.
If re-elected, Goodman says he will continue making sure the district is well-insulated if and when state officials start looking to raid the district's budget.
Last year, the district started an "economic uncertainty fund." The $1.6 million "rainy day fund" "isn't a lot, but it's better than nothing," he said.
The bulk of the district's $24 million 2008-09 budget comes from a combination of program fees, a special district tax and property taxes. Few residents are aware that the parks district has been under severe financial stress since 1992, when the state forced local agencies to start giving up a portion of their property taxes to fill gaps in education funding, parks officials say.
The district was among the hardest hit by the state: About half of its property taxes — an amount equivalent to $6.9 million in 2007-08 — are siphoned each year.
If the economy gets worse, the district might have to make difficult program cuts to protect its most valuable assets — its parks, Wilson said. Both she and Goodman said funding shortages left the board with no choice but to close The Friendship Center for seniors earlier this year — a "heart-wrenching decision," Wilson said.
Kraybill, who in the 1980s started the parks district's now thriving after school program for children, said if there was one thing her years of digging for grant money as a district staffer taught her, it's that where there's a will to find funds, there's a way. She said her top priorities are children and seniors.
"I am really set that we need to find some way to get The Friendship Center reopened for our seniors," she said.
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