June 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 26

Who, What, Where & how Around the Parks

s t r at e g i es

Game Changing Math
A small agency leverages its friends
group into many.
By Tom Lovell and Janet Snook

n the January issue of Parks
&Recreation Tom Lovell wrote
of the crisis in the allocation
of resources to support parks
and recreation services, open
space, and facilities. Unfortunately, little
has changed. Political priorities are still
taking a turn back toward the basics. Federal, state, and local deficits and revenue
shortfalls are dominating our conversations and the political landscape. We are
still at a disadvantage. Just this last month
we had an excellent opportunity in Washington to share our story with our representatives and senators and, without
exception, the levels of understanding of
our contribution to this national discussion
were, at best, cursory and shallow. We received platitudes for parks such as, " It is
where we reconnect with nature, reflect
on life, and relax from the daily rigors of
our lives. " " It takes a community to make
a park. " All true but not helpful in making the tough decisions of allocating resources. A recent NRPA contest asked the
question, " What if there were no parks? "
The current direction of our political climate could make this a reality. Our professional organization, NRPA, gets " it. " The
writings in Parks & Recreation magazine
indicate that our colleagues get " it. " The
question now is what do we do about " it " ?

24 Parks & Recreation

J U NE 2 0 1 1

The Missouri Park and Recreation Association (MPRA) commissioned a statewide study of Missouri residents' values
and funding priorities for public services. The survey asked the opinions of citizens, elected officials, and practitioners.
The study compared certain aspects of
parks and recreation services against
other governmental funding priorities.
" We wanted to understand which benefits of parks and recreation programs
and services citizens were connecting with our industry and what benefits
of our programs and services our residents valued most, " says Janet Snook,
director of Parks and Recreation for the
City of Raymore, Missouri, and MPRA
study and research chair. " Most importantly, we wanted to know if we needed to
change the way we do business to meet
the changing economics, demographics,
and trends in our state. "
The study revealed significant disconnects among citizens, elected officials,
and practitioners in understanding the
values and benefits of a vibrant parks and
recreation system. There was perceived
value of the impact our services can have
on property values, economic development, health/fitness, and nature education. Yet when asked what they thought of
when they heard the words " parks and

www . N R P A . O R G

recreation " they mentioned only a specific park or experience. Further, while
we were considered important, we fell far
short in comparison to other public services, such as education, public safety
and public works. Why? Because when
funding decisions need to be made, elected officials will prioritize based on their
perception of essentiality (their reality
based on the facts they have to make that
judgment).
We propose all of us need to be educated on the metric (quantified) benefits
of parks and recreation. Both the longand short-term benefits need to be understood as they relate to prevention of and
intervention in our community challenges. For example, have your elected officials ever discussed the $71,000 a year
that it takes to incarcerate a juvenile (intervention) along with what can be done
with that same $71,000 utilized in the
parks system for positive behavior building opportunities in jobs or participation
in activities that provide healthy opportunities for young adult development (prevention)? How about a new statistic for the
national debt and health care we learned
about in Washington? " Did you know " if
we reduced the occurrence of diabetes in
our nation by just 10 percent, the national
debt would be eliminated.

June 2011 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2011 - Parks & Recreation