Letter to the editor: More voices needed to be heard in O'Hara Township park renaming issue

For a variety of reasons, I was not in favor of changing the name of Squaw Valley Park. Not the least of which was that more O’Hara Township residents were not given the time or opportunity to express their opinion, pro or con.

It may very well be that the majority of O’Hara residents were in favor of the name change and while not in favor, I would certainly have respected and supported the decision of the majority.

The O’Hara Township Parks and Recreation Commission was assigned the responsibility of helping to determine the direction of this issue. The consensus of opinion was that more O’Hara Township residents needed to be afforded the opportunity of expressing their opinions.

Because meeting participation and zoom technology is not available to everyone, the suggestion was made to send surveys to homes across the Lower Valley requesting time-sensitive responses. This would certainly have reached a broader range of residents.

A question was also raised regarding the online petition favoring the name change. Namely, whether or not those objecting to the change were welcome to participate.

In closing, if the majority of O’Hara Township residents expressed their opinion in favor of the name change, I would certainly have respected and supported that decision. Unfortunately, the viewpoints of more of the citizens of O’Hara Township were not heard.

Joe Jablonski

O’Hara Township Parks and Recreation Commission