Updated: Petition Launches to Save County Parks Reaches 2,000 Signatures

Kristen Weber hit her goal: 2,000 people have signed the online petition she posted asking St. Louis County not to close parks to cut the budget.

A petition was the best way to gauge community interest, Weber said. She knew she wanted to take action to protect county parks, but she didn’t know if anyone else cared the way she did.

She hoped to see a few hundred signatures over a few weeks, naming 2,000 as an eventual goal. After one week, she’s already past the 2,000 mark.

Her new goal is 5,000 signatures.

Two online petitions launched after Weber’s, both with more than 1,100 signatures. Maryland Heights residents also have a paper petition.

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Kristen Weber hoped a few people would sign her online petition to save county parks from budget cuts — but when she heard 100 people had joined in the first 24 hours, she knew county residents were behind her.

"Oh, wow, yay!" she said excitedly. “That alone is enough for me to go forward. I’m in this for the long haul.”

A Fenton resident, Weber said it’s “ridiculous” that County Executive Charlie Dooley is , like the nearby George Winter County Park and Suson Park, to save money.

“My first initial reaction was, this directly affects me,” she said. “They’re just totally tunnel-visioned on these cuts, and I just thought I had to take a stance.”

So she logged on to Change.org, where a woman recently launched a national petition that led to Bank of America canceling their $5 monthly fee for debit card users.

She created a petition during her lunch break asking Dooley to reconsider his proposal. Then, she waited.

“I need to see what solid ground I have first,” she said. “People read and watch, but will they go on and click?”

They clicked. Weber said she’d hoped for a few hundred signatures over the next two weeks, and now she has more than 100 in the first 24 hours.

One of those signers, Webster Groves resident Vicky Swederska said while she’s usually not in the forefront of political protests, she didn’t hesitate to support Weber’s cause.

“I’m not going to go out and occupy Wall Street,” Swederska said. “But whenever something like this hits close to home, I’m there to act on it. If it takes gathering at a hearing or something like that, yeah, I’m all in favor of that.”

A member of the Ozark Fly Fishers and Stream Team 31, Swederska said she has a heart for conservation issues, especially the parks where she, her children and her grandchildren spend time.

Swederska’s son, Michael Swederska, Jr., signed the petition right above her.

In what he called “the most difficult decision I have had to make” in his career, Dooley proposed closing 19 county parks, St. Vincent Community Center, two public pools and the farm animals exhibit at Suson Park. The Department of Parks and Recreation would also lose 135 staff positions.

Residents can comment on the proposed budget at the first public budget hearing immediately after the County Council meeting Nov. 15 at 41 S. Central Ave. in Clayton. County Council meetings usually end at about 6:30 p.m. 

Weber said she’ll definitely be there.

The council is also meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the same address, but budget discussion is not on the agenda.