Through organizing, community advocacy work and a concentrated effort made by Anchorage Park Foundation, park bonds in Alaska’s largest city have passed for the last 12 years in a row.
That isn’t a coincidence. Diana Rhoades, Director of Programs at Anchorage Park Foundation, says that at the time of the organization’s founding, there were no advocacy groups that could inform the public about what bonds did and the purpose they served the community.
“When we were formed, it was a public-private partnership with the Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department and with private partners, we started off with Rasmussen Foundation and the community saying, ‘Wow, we need more money for parks and trails,’” Rhoades said.
APF was founded by Executive Director Beth Nordlund, who has been the original director since the Foundation’s inception in 2004.
“Prior to that, there wasn’t any sort of advocacy and civic engagement, helping people understand what their vote meant at municipal elections,” Rhoades said. “So that’s how we started and that’s how we’ve continued and just helping people understand through year round programming, about the value of parks and trails for our public health. Letting people know the power of their vote.”
Rhoades says that bonds are the “bread and butter” of how municipal governments pay for parks and trails. This year’s ballot has nine propositions on the ballot, she says, and if voters say yes, then APF has funding for new projects.
“I think there are 15 projects on this year’s park and trail bond, but it’s $4.3 million and that is paid for through people’s property taxes, and the property taxes come out to about less than $8 on a $400,000 home,” Rhoades said. “So it’s $1.75 for maintenance and to retire previous bonds to keep the money flowing for parks and trails.”
On the bond this year is a project that would connect Ship Creek Trail to the Coastal Trail, a one-mile stretch. Davis Park in Mountain View is also on the list, Rhoades said.
“So we go in, I was just on the phone with the Mountain View Community Council talking to them about how they need to make sure and vote in this upcoming bond package,” Rhoades said. “A park project in their neighborhood is going to be on the ballot and so depending on where the projects are, then we are communicating with and having meetings with those neighborhood associations to their community council.”
Rhoades encourages folks who work in the nonprofit world to think about how they can make change in their community.
“They think, ‘Oh, politics, we’re a nonprofit and can’t do that,’” Rhoades said. “But they can if it’s within their mission, and if it’s something they’re working for in the community.”
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
