 - The Riverton City Council plans to revisit its previous discussion about community service contracts in the coming weeks, citing feedback from community members who expressed concern about a potential decrease in funding for R Recreation.){kind=link}
(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton City Council plans to revisit its previous discussion about community service contracts in the coming weeks, citing feedback from community members who expressed concern about a potential decrease in funding for R Recreation.
“I have spent a significant amount of time responding to emails, phone calls, and text messages (about) some of the discussion that we had,” Councilmember Karen Johnson said during a council meeting Tuesday. “There have been a lot of citizens that have reached out, (and) taking into consideration a lot of the conversations that we’ve had, I have to agree with them. … I think we may have gotten it wrong with R Recreation.”
Johnson said she would like to revise her recommendation for funding for R Recreation – and for the Paws for Life Animal League, which recently sent her “additional information” about their operation that she found “very helpful.”
She noted, however, that she does not intend to recommend increasing the total amount budgeted for community service contracts.
“I want to stay within those parameters,” Johnson said. “But I do want to recommend full funding – if not a little bit more – for R Recreation.”
Councilmember Mike Bailey agreed that “we need to stay within the $240,000,” noting that it will be important for the other organizations requesting community service contracts to participate in the conversation when the council revisits the topic so they can “make their case also.”
Bailey also reiterated that “these were all tough decisions, and we wish we had the money to give everybody what they needed and/or wanted – but we don’t.”
Public comment
Two community members advocated for more funding for R Recreation during the public comment portion of this week’s meeting, including local nurse Kristen Marshall, who shared “how beneficial and impactful” the program has been for her family – especially her 18-year-old son, Noah, who “fell in love with the Summer Academy program” when they moved to Riverton.
“He had a lot of wonderful mentors that (were) very supportive,” Marshall said. “After that, he decided that, as a 15-year-old, due to connections and the interest that he had gained from that program, he wanted to go to (Central Wyoming College).”
Her son graduated from high school and CWC this year, she said, and he has been able to work as an intern for Wyoming PBS.
“These connections and the opportunities (from the) R Rec community programs are so impactful,” Marshall said. “So I just hope that you would reconsider – and maybe even increase funding for R Rec.”
Local resident Curt Galitz also approached the council to “plead” for full funding for R Recreation this week, calling the program an “integral part of our community.”
“It enriches youth, it enriches families, (and) I think R Recreation was a major impact in getting Boys and Girls Club to Riverton, which has been a major blessing in our community,” Galitz said. “I think it’s just incredible for what it does. And it would just be heartbreaking to see that get cut. … So please, please, please take another look at that.”
For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.