Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close almost all state parks is just plain dumb. We could almost forgive him if this fell into the typical cynical realm of making citizens suffer by cutting popular services so that next time they’ll be more supportive of proposed tax increases. But in a remote area such as Del Norte County that is heavily dependent on tourism, a call to close not some of our state parks but all of them amounts to political terrorism on the part of the Terminator.

These are financially desperate times in Sacramento. State leaders spent too much when the treasury was flush, and now revenues are way below what’s needed to support our current level of services and bureaucracy. The governor and legislators have been absolutely hapless in dealing with this situation, first going months past their deadline for adopting a budget, then presenting voters with a hopelessly complicated combination of propositions that wouldn’t have fixed the problem anyway.

Divergent ways of defining those words make for three capsules of thought at the beginning of this long Memorial Day weekend.

• “Support”: Just what did it mean when Crescent City Council members stood up along with more than 50 people in the audience Monday to demonstrate their “support” for the Visitors Bureau?

The audience members, after all, showed up to back the bureau’s efforts to gain an ongoing source of funding from the council. Dedication of one-quarter of the city’s revenue from the hotel/motel tax is sought. This would provide the bureau with the financial stability to much more aggressively promote tourism in our area, which would in turn produce more revenue from that hotel/motel tax while boosting the local economy.

When times are tough — and all you have to do is look at the governor’s latest state budget proposals to see how tough they are — individuals, families and whole communities need to decide what their priorities are and how they can most efficiently achieve them.

City leaders are asking today for the public’s input on priorities for Crescent City during a town hall from 9:30 to noon at the Crescent Fire Protection District, 255 Washington Blvd. What they hear could have immediate impact, because City Council members may be talking about their budget Monday night.

It’s the type of discussion that needs to be taking place at all levels, from family budget meetings to overall community consensus-building. No doubt a lot of time already has been spent setting local priorities, but they must be reinforced and reassessed constantly, especially when the economic landscape shifts.

Next week Crescent City and Del Norte County will be considering  two things that have a significant impact on our economic priorities.

Tuesday’s ballot initiatives impacting the budget for the state of California ask us to make difficult choices on what should be funded and as a consequence, what will not be funded. Our community has a similar decision to make about the future of the Visitors Bureau and the major economic returns possible if it receives permanent and sustainable funding.

An actual vote will not be held at the Flynn Center on Monday night at the City Council meeting.  The Visitors Bureau is having Chris Howard make a brief statement during public comment, present the council with a six-page summary of facts, and then ask those in the audience to please stand if they want the council to prioritize permanent and sustainable funding of the Visitors Bureau from the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT).