December 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 53

AG e N Cy vi e w

HOUSTON PARKS AND RECREATION
Population Served: 2.99 million
Agency Director: William " Joe " turner
Budget: $61.9 million (FY 2011)
Staﬀ: 600 full time
Parks: 350 developed parks, 200
greenspaces and esplanades, 58
community centers, seven golf

courses, two gardens, one indoor
swimming pool for people with disabilities, 17 staffed tennis centers
(78 un-staffed tennis sites), and
trails, six skateparks, and dog
parks.

Major Cities, Major Opportunities for
Parks Director Joe Turner

detention facilities. If done right, they can
also serve as a park. Ninety-nine percent of
the time those areas will be dry and available for recreation. Being in office has also
taught me how to leverage grant monies and
private philanthropy. "
That's not to say any of it is easy. Parker struggles with fi nancial and other realities involved in park creation. " There's not
enough land in the inner core and the land
that is available is expensive, making it increasingly difficult to do this type of project, "
she says. " This is why being innovative is
critical. "
Parker nonetheless is excited about the
city's current plans for improving and expanding parks and recreation in Houston.
" We are currently working toward an inner
city with a necklace of parks and greenbelts
and hike and bike trails along our bayous'
most of it privately funded, " she explains.
" This includes a stunning rebirth of Buffalo
Bayou, the waterway on which Houston was
founded 175 years ago. " Developing community gardens has also been a major component of Parker's approach to connecting city
residents to green spaces.
Those are projects that fit Parker's lifelong view of parks.
" Parks can have different meanings for
different people, " Parker explains. " They
can also have different meanings at different stages of life. When I was a kid, all we
needed was a flat surface and we were out
playing baseball or football. For a lot of urban kids, a park is a basketball court. There
may not be a blade of grass anywhere nearby. For adults, a walking trail or a place with
a bench for contemplation may be the ideal park. It's not one size fits all. We need a
range of options. "
-Philip Hayward, Editor, Parks & Recreation

As the FouRth lARGest
citY in the united states and
10th densest in per capita
population, houston is global
in stature and offerings. A city
that has had to reinvent itself
periodically to address booms
and busts of gas and oil and
port activities, houston is now
solidly diverse in its economic
base-healthcare, education,
aerospace, energy, shipping.
it's also a highly diverse city
demographically-more than
90 languages are spoken there. it all makes for a
strong foundation for houston's 350 parks and
200 greenspaces. this is the setting that greeted
Joe turner in 2004 when he took charge of the
cApRA-certified houston parks and Recreation
Department.
turner came to hpRD from the surrounding
harris county where he headed its precinct 4
staff and operations. A native of houston, turner
developed his appreciation for parks and greenspace on family vacations that centered on fishing
and camping. to this day, turner emphasizes responsive government, customer service, and the
need to preserve parkland and greenspace for
current and future generations. he attributes
much of his success in applying business practices
to parks and recreation administration to his 29
prior years in working in the franchise field. turner
has worked in the administrations of two houston
mayors, bill White and Annise parker (current).
" i have enjoyed my time with both of them,
and they both enjoy the outdoors, " turner says.
" this has made it easy to schedule them for
events at our parks. they both are big supporters
of the department and our team.
" i have access to the Mayor [parker] when i
need it, " turner continues. " i mainly communicate
with her by e-mail, as you can imagine her schedule is always full. i can always access her at our
weekly council meetings for a quick meeting if
needed. We have bi-monthly all-Directors

meetings and i can schedule
an individual meeting anytime
i need one.
While turner has many
priorities, the need to involve
children in nature is particularly pressing. " We all understand the importance of
nature and our environment.
but with our society today,
that has been lost on our children for numerous reasons, "
he says. " it is so important
that our park systems engage
our youth and parents to connect our children to
nature. if we don't, they will not have the attachment we all have today "
turner says the acceptance of dual-use of
properties for flooding and park use has constituted a major change in how parks are viewed-
and used.
" We have 22 watersheds in harris county and
our harris county Flood control District is
charged with reducing flooding in the county, " he
explains. " our partnership with hcFcD on detention ponds and adding trails and natural habitats
has been outstanding over the past years. We are
a city of bayous, which is another aspect of the
partnership with hcFcD. their bayou work allows
us to the ability to build trails along all of these
bayous and not incur the cost of the land to build
these trails. "
but above all, it is budgets that vex turner and
his staff.
" We are funded mainly out of the general
fund and with the economic issues all cities are
facing, we struggle to maintain adequate funding
for the department, " turner says. " We had to take
a $5 million cut in our budget this year and lay off
120 team members. that was an especially hard
day for our department. but we have had to learn
to operate differently and more effectively to continue to deliver the services that are most important to our citizens. "
-philip hayward

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December 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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