Misleading contest
Playground naming not handled well
Dear Editor:
I am disgusted with how the iHeartParks playground committee resolved its naming contest. I voted for a playground name after seeing the list of possible names posted on their Web site. I made sure that other people voted as well. It was, in theory, a great chance for a local resident to receive recognition for naming a highly visible community gathering place that will be around for years.
Given the number of names submitted, I assumed that the committee would find a way to narrow the list down, such as having citizens vote on the top five names. I also assumed that one of the children who submitted the names would be the winner, and would receive a class pizza party as promised.
Instead, the results of the “contest” were not posted until weeks after the committee’s Web site said they would be, and then big money won, not any local residents.
Evidently the committee allowed a generous donation from the Stanwood- Camano Rotary Club to trump the kids’ ideas and their hopes of winning a local contest. It also wasted everyone’s time.
I would have no problem with the playground being named after the Rotary Club if their donation had preceded the contest.
But to hold a contest largely involving children and then declaring the results too tangled to sort through is wrong.
Because of that, I will not be supporting the playground in the future. At this point I do not trust the playground committee to put children ahead of other interests, and ultimately, the playground should be about our local children above all.
I appreciate the Rotary Club’s donation tremendously, but do not appreciate how this contest was handled. The puzzling consolation prize of a picket offered to participants did not make the unforeseen outcome of this contest right.
Heidi Hiatt Camano Island
