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Come out for the parks

TONIGHT, THE newly formed Commission on Parks and Recreation meets in public for the first time. This is a command performance for anyone who is a) a lover of the parks; b) a lover of the city; c) a voter who helped contribute to this amazing development by voting to create this new body.

Here's today's DN Editorial. Come out at 6 if you can.

TONIGHT, THE newly formed Commission on Parks and Recreation meets in public for the first time. This is a command performance for anyone who is a) a lover of the parks; b) a lover of the city; c) a voter who helped contribute to this amazing development by voting to create this new body.

It's also close to the hearts of this editorial board, which provided scrutiny of Fairmount Park and its governance in 2001. After detailing the history that had transformed parts of this 9,700-acre urban gem into a cash-starved graveyard for trash, abandoned cars and public neglect, we championed dissolving the existing commission, merging the Parks and Recreation departments, and making the mayor more accountable for its health. City Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds-Brown created the legislation.

It took eight years, but now, with Michael DiBerardinis overseeing Parks and Recreation, a 15-member commission drawn from park and public-space advocates, and heightened public commitment to our city's shared assets, the future looks much brighter.

But the parks still need you - more than ever. Tonight's meeting will be at the Horticulture Center in West Park at 6 p.m.