June 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 9

NRPA i n fo cus

Board Member
Ernest Burkeen
Urban parks need a dynamic,
coherent message.

his is the first in a series of interviews with NRPA's

Board members. Each brings a wealth of different
strengths, areas of specialization, and professional
experience to the Board-and, thus, to NRPA's members.
Ernest Burkeen heads the Miami Department of Parks and
Recreation and has 35 years of experience in leadership
in urban parks systems. We interviewed him about NRPA's
work on behalf of urban parks across the country.
What are the ways NRPA addresses urban parks
and policy?
Ideally, NRPA works in concert with urban parks directors to identify, strategize, and coordinate issues
that impact the parks and recreation profession-
particularly in the delivery of programs and services to our communities. Identification of the issues is
the easy part, but developing a coordinated strategy
to deal with those issues is the proverbial " devil in
the details " work.
In an effort to increase our membership and constituent base, I believe that NRPA needs to invest in
a marketing plan to engage urban parks and recreation employees. These employees, in many cases,
do not fully appreciate the importance and benefits
of belonging to NRPA. I say that as a result of working
in Detroit and Miami, both major urban areas with
large park systems and low employee involvement
in NRPA. From NRPA membership perspective, this
is the key dilemma of urban park agencies.
The Urban Director's Forum is a vehicle that allows
urban parks directors throughout the United States to
share creative ideas and solutions to challenges and
obstacles they face. While NRPA can certainly assist
urban directors with timely information and resources, our success or failure ultimately depends on the

political environment-and on how we collectively
engage the political process. To that end, NRPA will
continue to provide access to the federal government
with legislative forums and educational sessions-
and will also continue to develop studies that demonstrate how parks and recreation impact a community
economically and socially. In everything from crime
prevention to families' " quality of life " desires. Ultimately, I believe NRPA should explore the creation of
a political action committee so as to influence the dialogue and debate with politicians on funding parks
and recreation nationally and locally.
What are the issues facing urban parks
administrators and citizens? What are the issues
relating to a lack of parks and lack of funding?
I believe one key issue affecting funding for urban
parks is our lack of a dynamic coherent message to
the public. We lack that significant sound bite that insists upon the importance of parks and recreation.
Think about it: A common law enforcement message
is that if you do not hire police, crime will increase.
The world knows that police do not stop crime; they
react to crime that has already taken place. However, there is not a politician on earth who would dare
to go on record as being against hiring more police

www . N R P A . O R G

J U NE 2 0 1 1

One key issue
affecting
funding for
urban parks is
our lack of a
dynamic
coherent
message to
the public.

Parks & Recreation

June 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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