Marietta taxpayers have been waiting for more than a month for a "message" from Mayor Bill Dunaway, which "will fully explain" the dollar amounts assigned to parks and recreation facilities selected to receive $11 million if the $25 million bond referendum is approved on Nov. 3. He made this promise at the September City Council meeting and on Oct. 27, his "message" finally arrived on his Web page. Unfortunately, his "message" says nothing new.

Early voting for the referendum began Oct. 9. A flyer containing facts and figures should have been made available to citizens well before this date, but providing information is not Marietta city government's strong suit. Over and over again city officials have demonstrated contempt for the citizen's need to know.

The "mayor's message" states that public input was used by the City Council to develop "a priority list of projected bond project costs by type and site for the parks system." In addition to being awkwardly phrased, that sentence is inaccurate. What was presented to the city council was a non-prioritized list of projects totaling $60 million that bears little resemblance to the 20 politically massaged projects listed in the Web statement.

The "message" also contains a medical risk-like disclaimer that essentially gives a yet-to-be-named citizen committee the flexibility to spend the $25 million in the manner they desire. This was confirmed when Councilwoman Holly Walquist told the MDJ it was important to form a citizens committee so that the council would get "input as to what they want in the parks." She followed that by stating she hoped the new council would follow the "list (in the "message") as closely as possible."

In addition to all this uncertainty, there are many other reasons to vote "No" for the proposed parks bond.

* If bond money is used for land acquisition, the city tax digest will be reduced at a time when tax revenues are declining, and will cost the school system millions of dollars in future revenues.

* It has been well established that except for the Franklin Road area, the city has enough parkland, and more than it can manage. The 28-acre Wildwood Park and the nearby 45.6-acre Burruss Nature Park are examples of neglected areas used for illicit activities for decades.

* In order to "enhance revenues, reduce expenses and maintain levels of service within the Parks Department" the city has adopted a policy of leasing public parks to private for-profit businesses. City staff recently recommended that the Aviation Sports Complex and Custer Park, both on the bond funding list, be leased to private for-profit businesses. How do the citizens of Marietta know that bond dollars will not be used to develop and /or improve parks and recreation facilities that will then be turned over to private businesses?

City taxpayers have subsidized the Marietta Conference Center golf course to the tune of $1 million over the last three years because of its cash flow problems, with no recreation benefits derived by Mariettans.

Bond money has been earmarked for the "development of new and existing parks, facilities and trails." This is a "catch all" category that gives city officials another $5 million to do with as they please.

Trails are costing approximately $1 million per mile to construct and it is not yet known what their level of use will be. Putting more money into trails at this time is a big gamble.

The administrative cost of issuing two bonds totaling $59 million in the same year approaches $1 million. This at a time when the city is increasing electric utility rates in January, cutting back on basic services such as mosquito control, ignoring pot holes, taking away the longevity pay of its workers and contributions to their pension fund, and delaying equipment purchases, all in an attempt to overcome its cash flow problems.

The taxpayer is already on the hook for too much public debt, amounting to $127.4 million for revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, and TAD bonds, plus an estimated $400 million in Marietta Board of Lights and Water "off book debt" for MEAG bonds.

The parks bond will add $25 million to the household debt of Mariettans.

I can find no compelling reason to issue parks and recreation bonds at this time. It appears much more prudent to wait for the new City Council to establish some real priorities and costs upon which to fund improvements. My bet is that $12 million will solve Marietta's recreational needs, and in two years, city government and taxpayers might be in a better position to incur this debt.

Larry Wills is a retired recycling consultant.