Park Advisory Boards in Los Angeles

I am on the board of an independent park in Salt Lake City, well not that independent, as it is jointly owned by the city and county, but the land trust format means that the park has an opportunity for citizen oversight and input that is greater than the typical park.

It's comparable to parks conservancies which usually are independent organizations that have a contract with a city or county to run a park, comparable to a business improvement district.  The Central Park Conservancy and the Bryant Park Conservancy are premier examples of this form of park management.

The next level is a "Friends of the Park" organization.  Salt Lake has a few, but not one for every park, and the parks that have them, this provides an opportunity for residents to have more input and two-way communications about parks matters.  I participate in one such group because I want the various facilities in the nearby parks to mine to be coordinated, to reduce duplication, etc.

Note that rather than requiring separately incorporated friends groups for each park (or library), I suggest that an overarching group be created for a community, for all the parks (or libraries), with affinity groups for each park, but with overall administration and funds management rested in the master group.  Salt Lake doesn't do this for parks, but it does for libraries.  Park Pride in Atlanta is an overarching group, but there still might be separately incorporated friends groups for large parks.

I was thinking about this and the fact that most parks do not have this kind of opportunity for citizen input and oversight.  Who do you call when there is a problem, how do you create a program for your local park?

In Baltimore County, in the 1970s, as a budget move, they fired all the parks and recreation personnel responsible for programming.  They created a system of parks and/or recreation councils for specific or groups of parks and recreation facilities.  These councils are staffed by citizens who raise the funds for programming.

I think that's interesting, but I do think it's unfair that wealthy areas can raise lots of funds, while low income areas cannot   The County should have a system to step in and provide additional funding for communities unable to raise much in the way of funding.

And the County should have developed a system for technical training and capacity building for the people involved in parks and recreation councils, because we can be assured that most people involved aren't planners, and are unfamiliar with best practices in parks and recreation.

Plus, while anyone can organize anything, most people's interests are centered around team sports, so other forms of outdoor activities, such as biking or walking, tend to be ignored.  (For example, separately, I argue that bike cooperatives should be offered space in recreation centers.)

It happens that while I've been thinking about this, I was in Los Angeles, and while at the Highland Park Recreation Center, looking at their information board, I noticed a flyer seeking members for park advisory boards.

I doubt the City Recreation and Parks department does an annual conference, comparable to Atlanta's Park Pride organization, but they do publish a handbook for members.

I'm hoping to get an annual parks and recreation capacity building conference off the ground here in Salt Lake, within a couple years, hopefully.