There will be a vote in November to have a new recreation center built here in Redmond. I am an advocate for this and it is of the utmost importance that it passes. Our children need and deserve a safe place where they can learn life skills, while at the same time strengthening their minds and bodies.

Recreation centers have a positive impact on our communities. It’s a place where kids can go to participate in organized activities or even do homework. A quality recreation center would be an asset to our community and in these trying times we cannot afford to ignore the benefits of building one. It is long overdue.

Recreation centers provide opportunity for education. It creates an active and healthy community, it increases property value, and they make great communities whole. Recreation centers help create leaders in our communities and this is what we want. Keep this in mind: It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

We spend millions of dollars on infrastructure and new equipment year after year, which is necessary. Now we need to focus on investing in our children as well as their safety and welfare. It doesn’t matter if you have kids or not. We are investing in the future of Redmond. What’s in it for you is a great city with a great community. We must begin with the end in sight. This is vision, this is the future.

I am asking all of you to please invest in the future of the children by voting for a new recreation center. This is weighing heavy on my heart because this may be our last opportunity to get this passed. We must look at this as a capital investment that we should not and cannot afford to ignore. Please share this with your friends and neighbors and ask them to support this as well. November is close and we don’t have much time to get the word out. We have to save all of the children because they are our future and this is how we can begin to do this.

If there is ever an investment that we need to make, this is it. I’d rather invest in a recreation Center than a new jail.

Clifford Evelyn

Redmond city councilor