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Murray pitches in bucks for parks

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Bill Lucia

Putting his money where his mouth is, Mayor Ed Murray contributed $500 to the Seattle Parks For All campaign earlier this month, according to Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission records. The campaign is backing a ballot initiative that would create a metropolitan parks district in Seattle. The district would be governed by the members of the City Council, acting as the district's board, and would levy property taxes to help cover the cost of parks and other recreational facilities. Murray sent legislation to the council earlier this year that paved the way for the district measure to get put on the ballot. The mayor see the district as a way to provide a stable source of funding for the city's parks and to help take care of a maintenance backlog that is apparently around $267 million. He stumped for the initiative Monday with a number of other supporters at the Yesler Community Center. — B.L.

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By Bill Lucia

Bill Lucia writes about Seattle City Hall and politics for Crosscut. He can be reached at bill.lucia@crosscut.com and you can follow him on Twitter @bill_lucia.