Located in North East Mesa at 7745 East Brown Rd, Red Mountain Park has been a textbook example of a successful community park. Located at the center of the park is a lake which is stocked regularly for local fishing and surrounded by natural scenery surrounding trails which are abundant with wildlife and natural vegetation. Surrounding the lake are all the amenities you would expect at a community park which include picnic area’s for family gatherings, playgrounds, basketball, volleyball and pickle ball courts as well as seemingly endless grass areas wide open for other recreational activities. On the eastern outskirts of the park is a natural desert landscape which is used by locals for hiking, biking, bird watching and even horseback riding. Recently, the City of Mesa has also added a disc golf course which utilizes the natural terrain as a unique perspective. The course is used by local residents and also attracts visitors from surrounding areas alike. This desert is recognized by the City of Mesa as a part of Red Mountain Park and a recent vote has approved an expansion of the park which was welcomed by the majority of voters. Community members were excited that our park would be growing and were excited to see what the future would hold. However, the City of Mesa proposed destroying this land and adding 10 full sized soccer field to an already existing 6 which are currently part of the Red Mountain Sports complex on the south side of the park. The estimated total of the proposed park expansion is officially listed by the city as costing 225 MILLION DOLLARS and according to city officials the massive budget does not include making repairs to existing lights, sidewalks and restrooms. The city intended on adding 23 full size soccer fields to this natural desert which would annihilate the wildlife, vegetation and other amenities which make this park arguably the best park in the city of Mesa. Luckily the second vote failed to pass which stopped the additional 13 soccer fields. The city held only two “public” meetings which were held in online only venue’s in which comments and questions were not publicly displayed but instead chosen and read by a monitor. The city’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to listen to the community’s wishes is what is driving me to create and this petition. I understand our communities desire for a park expansion however that’s not what we’re getting. The park expansion the citizens of Mesa expected is a community park which capitalizes on the natural desert terrain and wildlife which is what North East Mesa is known for.

I write this petition in hopes that our community leaders see what the citizens of Mesa actually desire in a community park. Ultimately, if you support a park that’s more fitting with the natural desert atmosphere, support native wildlife and vegetation or simply want responsible spending that does not cost a ridiculous amount of tax payer dollars for facilities that will not even be accessible to the general public, I urge you to sign this petition to stop the current plan. The citizens of Mesa and city officials must come together in order to continue to make North East Mesa one of the best regions to live in all of Arizona.