Petition To Save Parks Hits 2,000 And Growing

Kristen Weber hit one goal and now on to the next.

At last count, 2,000 people have signed the online petition she posted asking St. Louis County not to close parks to cut the budget.

Weber created the petition on her lunch break after reading the news about potential park closers. She’d been inspired by a woman whose Change.org petition led Bank of America to cancel its plan to charge debit card users a $5 monthly fee, so she logged on and started a petition of her own.

A petition was the best way to gauge community interest, Weber said. She knew she wanted to take action to protect county parks, but she didn’t know if anyone else cared the way she did.

“I need to see what solid ground I have first,” she said last week. “People read and watch, but will they go on and click?”

She hoped to see a few hundred signatures over a few weeks, naming 2,000 as an eventual goal. After a week, she’s already past the 2,000 mark.

Her new goal is 5,000 signatures.

Two online petitions launched after Weber’s, both with more than 1,100 signatures. Maryland Heights residents also have a paper petition.