To the editor:

I would like to thank Val Tollefson and the city attorney for their prompt response to a call from the Save the Tot Lot group. Hopefully your good efforts will halt the destruction of a beautiful and well-loved pocket park.

The parks department’s claim that the Madison Avenue Tot Lot is better situated on the corner of Wyatt and Madison Ave is highly disingenuous.  Actually, this move of a well-loved neighborhood pocket park to a busy intersection benefits only the realtor, parks department and developer of another downtown housing complex. I suspect that this deal to consolidate the Hoskinson and Oliver House properties has already been made — part of a long-term plan — that, as usual, was dreamed up behind the scenes.

This move is not only unwise, it is illegal. The restrictions imposed on the Tot Lot property in the 1997 sale to the city of Bainbridge Island remain in effect at least until 2027. These restrictions, which carry over in the 2009 transfer to parks, explicitly prohibit development as well as exchange.

While I appreciate  their efforts to preserve natural habitat and public space, the parks department agenda also seems driven by obscure motives that are not in the public interest. We should oppose these shady shenanigans, and stop this illegal move of a sweet little playground to an undesirable and dangerous location.

Any discussions of present and future properties must include the unfinished business of past acquisitions and transfers in an honest and legal manner.

Again, thanks to Val and the city attorney for doing the right thing.

CRAIG SPENCER

Bainbridge Island