DCR Oversight Hearing Testimony
State Representative Anne M. Paulsen

My district is proud to be the location of the very first park in our park system-Beaverbrook and Waverley Oaks.  As a person who grew up in the city and used public transportation to access public parks and beaches, I know very well the value of these public spaces and how important they are to the quality of life in our state, and how valuable they are to our families and to the tourism dollars. 

And it is clear from the paper today that the firing of Commissioner Abbott was a knee-jerk reaction to a near-tragedy and an attempt to deflect the blame for chronic underfunding from higher-ranking officials onto the shoulders of the Commissioner.  Two long-time MDC, now DCR employees were discovered for covering up sidewalk deficiencies and filing inaccurate reports to the Commissioner.  How much more professional it would have been to have investigated and laid blame on the real culprits before firing the Commissioner. 

We have lost the leadership of a commissioner who labored to create a management plan that would meld the DEM and MDC, and make the park system, bikeways, the pools, the rinks, the dams, the beaches, and the parkways all develop miraculously into a world class amenity with ever-diminishing revenue.  No wonder, when asked directly, she objected to providing part of the budget for the Patriots' send-off or hiring a losing candidate for the Legislature, when she needed workers out in the field to do the work.  And no wonder she admitted that her budget needed more revenue.  As part of the restructure of DEM and the MDC, a stewardship council was formed.  The purpose was to provide citizen support for the DCR and to provide ways for the public to make input into the budget and priorities of the DCR.  I hope the Stewardship Council will live up to their mission and demand that a professional person well versed in conservation and advocacy, as well as having management skills, be named as the new commissioner.    

In 1996 the Green Ribbon Report, commissioned by Governor Weld, forecast a dire future for our MDC parks if we continued to underfund them, and we have, and now we continue to see the consequences- not enough staff to get the job done. 

I hope that the takeover of the winter maintenance of the parkways does not create a precedent for making our parkways highways.  I noticed that the Governor referred to the parkways as highways in his comments on transferring the snow plowing to the highway department.  As the Green Ribbon Report states, "distinct and divergent cultures and engineering outlooks motivate and inform park agencies and highway departments, and the Green Ribbon Commission believes management by [MA Highway] is inappropriate for a parkway system." 

In 2001, an interagency partnership was created among MA Highway, EOEA, MDC and the Historical Commission to take a statewide inventory of the parkway system, and create treatment guidelines to protect and maintain these areas over time.  A draft of the Parkway Treatment Guidelines was released in 2003, but without funds, this project has not yet been completed.  There is now $100,000 in the 04 Transportation Bond Bill to complete this project, once it is appropriated by the Governor.  It is very important that that work be finished. 

The Secretary of the Commonwealth has sought protection of our parkways though placement on the Historic Register. 

In our cities and towns, we have all have historic districts of which we are proud, and which we know add to the value and interest of our communities.  Our parkways are historic districts and should be preserved in order to protect them and the linear parks through which the parkways run. 

I am very sorry that Commissioner Abbott and her chief of staff became the victims of a "kill the messenger" strategy because there is a lot of blame to be shared.

With the administration and the Legislature for allowing our parks to deteriorate, with the driver who admitted losing his concentration, with the school which did not have the bus stop location changed, with the public that demands bone dry pavement for cars with little or no interest in pedestrian safety. 

If indeed, we put real effort into preserving and enhancing our parks and conservation lands which make up 10% of the land mass, if we begin to fund these important resources and give up the pretense that we can protect these spaces on the cheap, maybe Commissioner Abbott can take some satisfaction that her unfair firing was a catalyst for real change.