Taft, California Parks and Recreation Department to vote – Help Kids Living With HIV, or Support Boy Scouts of America’s Discrimination?

Scouting for All asks all of its supporters to contact the Park and Recreation Depart of Taft, California to encourage a NO VOTE against the BSA from acquiring their park land. Scouting for All says, "Give the land to Project Kindle and HIV organization for children living with HIV. The BSA discriminates against gay and atheist kids.”

This is near Taft, California. Contact info for the park & rec department, which is the organization voting Thursday, is at:

http://www.taft.org/wsrpd/contact.htm

Please contact the Parks and Recreation Department to let them know that supporting an exlusive, discriminatory organization like the Boy Scouts of America is not acceptable.

Article from:http://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/articles/2007/07/18/news/news02.txt

Two groups now want Mil Potrero

By Doug Keeler
Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 9:51 AM CDT

More than 2-1/2 years after its lease with the United States Forest Service expired, the West Side Recreation and Park District may finally get to wash its hands of Mil Potrero.

The district has been looking for another organization to take over the park to save it the cost of removing buildings and infrastructure and now two groups are competing to take it over.

Both groups are nonprofits.

One is the Southern Sierra Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the other Project Kindle, which operates camping programs for children either infect ed with HIV or impacted by HIV and AIDS.

Both groups have sent letters to the rec district saying they want to take the camp over and have met with USFS officials to discuss their plans.

Both groups have also said at least part of the park will be available for public use.

The rec district's board will decide which group it wants to deal with when it meets Thursday night.

The Boy Scouts have sent a letter to the Taft City Council asking for its support in their bid to take over the mountain camp.

The rec district operated Mil Potrero for nearly 40 years.

The park is located off Cerro Noroeste Road west of Pine Mountain Club, a few miles east of Camp Condor.

In the summer of 2002, the district board voted to let its lease with the USFS expire That lease ran through the end of 2004.

Since then, both the district and forest service have been looking for a firm to take it over.

There have been several inquiries during that time, but no new operator has been found.

The district was still on the hook with the park, even though its lease expired.

The district was going to have to pay to remove the buildings and other facilities at a cost of $60,000 to $100,000, District Administrator Don Koenig said.

Those include cabins operated by the Girl Scouts, West Side Peace Officers Association and others.

He said either way, it's a good deal.

"Now everybody wins," he said. "We still get to have a public campground and either the children or the Boy Scouts have a facility and the forest service is going to be able to generate some revenue."