State lags on upkeep of parks system

For anyone who goes to Artesani Playground or Herter Park or crosses the river from Allston to Cambridge or Watertown, this story in today's Globe is too true.

''We should not accept the status quo," Romney said in February 2003. ''Every park in Massachusetts should be world-class and the way to achieve this is to create a unified, world-class management system."

BUT

• Since 2003, the DCR has lost 158 employees
• Funding has dropped by more than 10 percent since 2002
• Governing Magazine recently ranked state spending on parks and recreation and found Massachusetts last in the nation

State Representative Mike Moran of Brighton, who sometimes beseeches the city for help in cleaning graffiti on DCR-owned land in his district, said that years of inadequate funding preceded Romney.
''He wants to have a world-class parks system. Today we have a Third-World parks system," Moran said. ''I don't think Governor Romney understands how important these pools and rinks and recreation areas are for people that don't have them at their disposal down the street or in their backyard."