NAC Action Alert: Seattle, WA
NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE
ACTION ALERT
ACTION ALERT
http://www.naturist
DATE: April 28, 2008
SUBJECT: Seattle, Washington
TO: All Naturists and others who are interested
Dear Naturist,
This is an Action Alert from the Naturist Action Committee concerning an important situation in Seattle, Washington.
A SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITY
Supporting local activists, NAC is asking you to participate in an online survey to indicate that you favor the inclusion of clothing-optional areas in the City of Seattle's consideration of future strategic plans.
Please take a few minutes to participate in the online survey to show your support. The last day to complete the survey will be Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
ANYBODY may participate, including those who are not residents of Seattle. Take the survey at:
http://www.surveymo
The survey is divided into six goals areas. The first four are most important to us. The last two are intended mainly for internal issues.
SUGGESTED COMMENTS
Goals I - IV are the most appropriate to fit in comments about wanting to have clothing-optional beaches. For your suggestions, you may wish to use the page referring to Goal II: "Provide Recreation and Learning Opportunities to Support Healthy & Diverse Communities.
Additionally, you may use the area entitled "other feedback" at the end of the survey. You may choose to make your survey comments anonymously, but NAC encourages you to lend strength to your suggestions by standing behind them with your name and address.
The survey invites you to respond to the question: "What, if anything, is missing from this goal area?" Use your own words to add comments. Here are some general suggestions:
1) Call for Parks & Recreation to help work with local groups for the development of European-style clothing-optional beaches that are properly signed along the 24 miles of available Seattle Park & Recreation shoreline.
2) Quiet areas with a history of clothing-optional use on the shoreline of Magnuson Park would be an excellent candidate for clothing-optional use.
Use your own words. Suggest another beach area, or bring up other issues in which you are interested.
FURTHER IDEAS
You may also want to point out:
1) For years, several beaches in Seattle have included areas that have been used quietly and informally for clothing-optional recreation. However, despite a high demand and preference for such areas, there are currently no areas officially set aside or properly signed for such purposes.
2) Many major cities on the west coast have many popular clothing- optional beach destinations close by and there is high demand in Seattle for the same type of opportunities. (You might want to mention Wreck Beach in Vancouver BC, Collins Beach and Rooster Rock State Park near Portland and the several state-owned clothing-optional beaches that exist along the California coast.)
3) Relate your own positive experiences of skinny dipping at Seattle beaches. This could be casual use of a traditionally used area or as a participant during a WNBR, Magnuson Beach Bares, BFC or other organized event.
4) Seattle is a major body-positive town with large numbers of events which have some social nudity aspects including many naked bike rides (artistic and political), body painting parties, Magnuson Beach Bares, Sun Lovers Under Gray Skies, Body Freedom Collaborative, and nude swims at municipal pools (pioneered by NAC) There are several large social nudity communities in the Greater Seattle area.
5) You may also want to direct attention to http://NudeBeachesY
6) If you live outside the Seattle area you may wish to add (probably under Goal II): You and your family enjoy traveling to the West Coast/Pacific Northwest and visiting clothing-optional beaches is a major activity that you look forward to when vacationing.
7) You expect that every civilized city will have clothing-optional beaches for local use and as tourist attractions, and you don't understand why Seattle, of all cities, has no officially-designat
Perhaps these comments can go on the Goal III page OR at the very end of the survey under Section 7 "Overall and About You" under "other feedback"
COMMENTS FROM A LOCAL ACTIVIST
Local activist Daniel Johnson offers these important remarks, which NAC is including verbatim in this Action Alert.
"If you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk. Actions speak louder than words. If Parks really intends to do outreach and do relationship building, work with local non profits and support diversity, as is indicated in the SAP, it must recognize the steady call for clothing-optional beaches by locals and discontinue stalling against any real long-term change. It is time to move beyond the status quo and begin working with locals on creating partnerships for building healthy, family-friendly, clothing-optional beaches along with other forms of clothing-optional recreation in the City.
"Parks & Rec must find a way to properly staff clothing-free swims by local groups with lifeguards. The recent policy change which has resulted in canceling nude swims at Ballard Pool is discriminatory and ridiculous. By all conventional measures of being an adult, including the fact that 18 year olds are adult enough to go to war, marry and raise children, why are 18 year old lifeguards not considered adult enough to staff the swims? Parks & Recreation purposefully raised the age limit recently for lifeguards from 18 to 21 knowing that most lifeguards are younger and tend to move on after a few years as a lifeguard and that having no staff to fulfill the ridiculous new age requirement would force these events to be canceled."
BACKGROUND
Seattle Parks and Recreation is seeking input from the public regarding its Strategic Action Plan (SAP), an important document that will determine the direction of Seattle Parks & Recreation for the next five years by defining its priorities and values. Seattle Parks & Recreation was charged to create the SAP by the Mayor's Office and the Seattle City Council because they felt that Parks & Rec was not being held accountable to the public.
Info on the SAP is at
http://www.seattle.
This is our big opportunity for our voices to be heard and counted!! They have to acknowledge our comments in a formal manner!
The SAP meetings and the online surveys are a great opportunities for us to convey to Seattle Parks & Recreation that we need opportunities for European-style clothing-optional recreation, especially designated clothing-optional beaches. It is absolutely critical that the skinny-dipping community be represented in the Strategic Action Plan.
Thanks for participating!
FURTHER INFORMATION
For additional local information, contact:
Daniel Johnson
(206) 369-2661 cell
PLEASE HELP NAC TO CONTINUE HELPING NATURISTS!
The Naturist Action Committee is a volunteer nonprofit organization that exists to advance and protect the rights of naturists throughout North America. Identifying and fighting bad local lawmaking is necessary, but it's expensive. To do its job, NAC relies entirely on the voluntary generosity of supporters like you. To donate to NAC, use the address below
NAC
PO Box 132
Oshkosh, WI 54903
Or call toll free (800) 886-7230 to donate by phone using your MasterCard, Visa or Discover Card. Or use your credit card to make a convenient online donation:
http://www.naturist
Thank you for choosing to make a difference.
Naturally,
Bob Morton
Executive Director
Naturist Action Committee
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Naturist Action Committee (NAC) - PO Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Executive Dir. Bob Morton -
Board Member Mark Storey -
Online Rep. Dennis Kirkpatrick -
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