I enjoyed your post and would love to address some of the issues you raise. I spent 5 years working to get this park constructed and am intimately acquainted with the whole process.

First I am a staunch supporter of the individual and private business. This park (and city parks in general) however stands for precisely the type of structure we should get from responsible government. It is a low cost infrastructure item with little or no overhead and maintenance open to all. The skatepark also does not preclude private business. Right now with skating the picture is blurry, but I will refer to a sport with a longer history to make my point. The existence of hundreds of tennis courts in the city has not prevented the existence of either non-profit run clubs like the YMCA or for profit private clubs like the Austin Country Club.

The same could be said for basketball, rock climbing and even running. What city built parks have enabled that none of the above can claim is a venue where all tax payers can congregate and use a public resource. Skateparks in Austin will follow the same model.

Secondly I would love to point out that thousands of Austin residents, property owners, businesses and even manufacturing concerns did ask for this vocally, by signature, by participation in the civic process through voting and attending numerous government meetings and ultimately with their feet at the skatepark which next to the hike bike has quickly assumed the position of the most used park amenity in Austin. They thank Will Wynn for fulfilling the promise he made to us and he should expect to be paid by the democratic currency of votes.

The total cost of the skatepark to the city was just over $200,00. The tax bills of constituents noted above more than covers the hard and soft costs of this park with plenty left over for other public duties. Through their activism they were essentially able to procure land, procure funds (arguably funds they raised by working jobs and paying taxes) and build the skatepark. This is not much different from taking your proscribed action of forming a non-profit except in this case many more users are welcome to come out and use this park.

You are welcomed as well and I hope to see you there!

Jared Ficklin
Executive Co-Director
Austin Public Skatepark Action Committee

Mr. Ficklin, please understand I mean no insult when I say this, but when I read your comments, this is what they translated into:

"As long as the robbery is relatively small compared to others, it's OK."

No, this kind of thing isn't what I want government doing. I don't want the government to do anything; I want the people who constitute it to stop what they do. They do not have the authority to tell you or I what to do. I think taxation is only a thinly disguised manifestation of robbery and I want it to end.

Given this, there isn't anything you can say to justify having a local government tax me to provide services to others. You say there are Austinites who asked for this skate park. That's wonderful. Now what about the rest of us who have to deal with it? Suppose you provide me a very accurate estimate of my "share" of this expense and suppose I refuse to pay it. Guess what happens if I don't pay my property taxes in full by the end of this month: my welfare ends up in the hands of Travis County law enforcement.

I submit to you that this is totally unjust. The fact that a group of people within a community agree something should be done does not impose a duty upon others to help that group with their project. You think the taxes of those thousands of petitioners can cover the cost of the park?

Then get those people to pay for it on their own dime and don't involve me or the many thousands more who are unaware of or against it.

I do intend on dropping by to see how it turned out. But no matter how wicked the grinding or how sick the verts, I will not like what I see.

I'm sorry, Drizz, but when I read your comment, this is what it translated to:
"If it doesn't involve me, it's obviously not important."

Suppose you like baseball. Well there are some fine baseball fields around here. Now what if members of the community don't want to pay for these baseball fields because it doesn't involve them? Why aren't the players forced to pay for all their fields? Why should skating be any different?

Aaron, your distillation of my comment is incorrect. I do not presume to dictate what is important to others. Obviously, having a cheap and good place to skate is of value to others. There is a clear demand for such facilities and I acknowledge it.

Where I draw the line is some asshole pointing a gun at me, telling me to cough up some money or face the chances of the prison system...let alone face my chances of self-defense against police. Ultimately, that is what tax collection becomes: someone from the government telling me to hand over my money on threat of serious physical harm. I object to that in the strongest possible terms.

I don't see what the problem is with people paying for the services they desire. I don't see what the problem is with people banding together to provide those services to others who might not be able to afford them. But don't fucking corral me and thousands of others into paying for those services. That is slavery and it is outrageous it is taken so lightly these days by so many.

I don't want public funded skate parks or baseball fields. I don't want public funded anything. I don't want taxation. I don't want the public funding things each individual doesn't explicitly choose to fund without the threat of force behind that decision.