$13,000,000 Credit Card Bill

Is it responsible city governance to invest 20 years of planning on the renovation of an athletic field and then breakout the tax payer's credit card (issue tax bonds) to pay for it all? 

The OC Register is reporting that today the City of Fullerton is "unveiling" the new and improved Lion's Field after a $13 million upgrade and rehab, complete with that nifty artificial turf that has been showing up in shopping centers and yards around town.  The turf will be the new playing surface for kids in Pop Warner football and Bobby Sox.  I'm not a big fan of artificial turf but I can appreciate some of its advantages like maintenance cost savings and water conservation.

I'm also not a big fan of tax bonds for athletic fields but I can appreciate a bond's usefulness under certain circumstances.  In my opinion, this athletic field, which is used by a select few, should not be paid for with the taxpayer's credit card, the bill for which our children will be burdened with.  I love working with kids, hence my continued involvement and support of Boy Scouts, which is privately funded; however, this facility is paid for with tax revenue which means that's another $13 million for something other than our infrastructural needs including public education and public safety.

I would rather see tax bonds issued to help recover from emergent and disastrous events, such as a major earthquake or tsunami.  Janet Morrissey wrote a good article for Time/CNN on the muni bond debacle which paints our City's current path towards filing Chapter 9.

"Since last July, 207 municipal issuers defaulted on bonds valued at $6 billion, and that number is expected to escalate..."

Our elected leaders should exercise better judgment when it comes to the indebtedness of our children.  I find it ironic that the same children on the Lion's Field this season will be the ones saddled with paying the debt of their youth sports, unless of course the kids get smart and move from Fullerton.