CLDC off to good start

The Community Leadership Development Committee is working to develop a plan that the Western Elmore County Recreation District can use to develop programs that the community wants.

The WECRD has been under heavy fire to do something. Originally formed with the intention of building a community facility that included an indoor swimming pool, progress on that goal has been, to be charitable, slow. In fact, the entire direction of the WECRD has been called into question, and that's what the CLDC is designed to do -- give the rec district some focus and direction.

It is essentially an independent body and we have to admit its make-up is wonderfully diverse, not just in terms of community representation, but also the fact that it contains both supporters and critics of the district, all of whom have agreed to work together to develop a viable plan for the district. That's a good thing and we applaud it.

If the group decides a community center is needed, and there is no guarantee it will, its tentative timeline seems much more reasonable than the one the district itself had proposed during last year's elections, when, under heavy pressure to produce something, district officials said they would be able to open a facility by the end of this year. The CLDC timeline puts an opening at the end of 2013.

That may seem a long way out, especially for those who want to see the district dissolved now, but it's an example of the realism the CLDC is bringing to the process, which the WECRD had lacked. The WECRD board has agreed to abide by the recommendations of the CLDC (more precisely, the YMCA to which the CLDC will initially report). If the Y likes what the CLDC recommends, and agrees to partner with the rec district, we could see a Y in Mountain Home in the not too distant future. And to be honest, if the Y decides it's not feasible, the rec district is doomed. That decision will come as early as next June or July.

We think the CLDC process is worth exploring. In less than a year we'll know -- based on solid, independent expertise -- whether or not the rec district has a future. Even though it means one more year of taxes, we believe the final analysis would give citizens an opportunity to see once and for all what is possible and what isn't, with hard, inarguable data to back up their beliefs. It's only then that we believe any ballot-box decision on the rec district would be appropriate.

The CLDC deserves a chance to put together a plan, and at that point, if a community consensus hasn't already been reached, then is the time to begin the real debate on the rec district.

-- Kelly Everitt