Public input? What a sham. I am a member of the Big Finn Hill Park west neighborhood and a daily user of the park (where I walk with a very friendly dog). I was totally unaware of any of the sweeping changes that are currently proposed for the park.

There was a public meeting held on June 20 at Finn Hill Middle School, where the big changes were unveiled for the first time. This was not a forum for public comment or input, however, as those of us asking questions and voicing concerns were often told to hold our tongues.

We were directed to fill out a comment form and be sure to mail it in within 10 days of the meeting, when it would be subjected to “final review” (by whom?) on July 8.

As of July 15, the trail committee will make its final recommendations (note: this is the same day that Kirkland Parks Department officials told us they would begin work in the park with a bobcat skid steer).

Then Parks Department staff will review the trail committee’s final recommendations on July 22 and these recommendations are scheduled to be approved on July 26.

At what point, and where, will the public, neighbors, citizens and park users be allowed to voice our concerns and opinions? Please tell me because I don’t know. There has been no signage or announcement of meetings and the public comment forms were posted at the kiosk with just five days for the public to fill out and send them in.

It feels to me like this is just another issue of someone trying to seize these beautiful, undeveloped woods and turn them into something for a minority interest (remember the new firehouse fiasco of 2011)?

These changes are slated to turn this wild habitat into a bikers’ paradise, complete with jumps, ramps, boardwalks and new clearings and trails.  There will even be baffle gates installed to make sure that bikers aren’t going too fast (so what’s the point of the other stuff, then)?

The plan also calls for an area cut through the middle of the park large enough to bring in an “emergency vehicle.”

Why, oh why, do outside interests keep coming in and trying to fix something that isn’t broken? What, I ask you, is so very wrong with these woods as they are? To me, they are perfect. Please, leave Big Finn Hill Park west alone!

Elizabeth R. Yori, Kirkland