June 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 19

open space and affordable recreation
programming. Across the board, we
are committed to keeping our parks
clean, filling our recreation facilities
with programs that serve our communities and providing new, exciting ways for residents to enjoy their
parks. But we are not doing it alone.
In an era when city budgets are severely limited and parks are closing
across the nation, Rec and Park is
finding innovative ways to get the
job done at the end of the day.
For the past couple of years, we have
developed strong partnerships with
individuals and organizations to support our park operations, reorganized
our recreation division to expand the
number of high-quality programs and
classes, and increased the number
of special events that people want in
their parks. For example, the Outside
Lands and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
festivals in Golden Gate Park have
become some of the must-see music
festivals in the country. This type of
creative park management has made
San Francisco a leader and model of
innovation in the recreation industry.
At the end of the day, it is important
to note that for every dollar that we
raise, that's one less dollar we have to
cut in service, a dollar that would help
support a gardener at your local park
or a dollar that would help keep your
favorite recreation program going.
How did the city's quality parks and
recreation play a role in San Francisco
being named America's Best City by
Bloomberg Businessweek in 2012?
One of the keys to our high quality of
life in San Francisco is making fun, interesting recreation opportunities available to our communities. Our recreation
staff takes incredible pride in providing
programs that pique and sustain the interest of residents of all ages. More than

At the end of the day, it
is important to note that
for every dollar we raise,
that's one less dollar we
have to cut in service.
328,000 people visited our nine pools
last year, and more than 2,200 kids and
young adults received scholarships to
the tune of more than $800,000 of subsidized programming, ensuring that everybody can get out and play no matter
their economic background.
Since 2003, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the
Office of the City Controller have been
conducting Quarterly Park Surveys,
and we have been seeing an annual increase in the quality of our parks and
overall scores. Our parks received an
88.4 score in their last annual maintenance standard report, the highest it
has been since the start of the reporting.
These findings reflect the hard work of
our maintenance, gardening and custodial staffs, who, despite working in an
era of limited resources and reduced
staffing, have continued to perform at
a high level, providing the public with
clean, safe and beautiful parks.
We also asked Philip A. Ginsberg,
general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department: Why is the mayor's support
for parks and recreation so important to the continued success of San
Francisco's parks? What does he do
to support them?
Mayors play a vital role in promoting
recreation opportunities and prioritizing parks in their respective cities. San
Francisco is incredibly blessed to have
a mayor who not only understands the

importance of having a world-class
urban park system, but who also pushes us to find and utilize cutting-edge
ideas to tackle today's most pressing
park-management issues with creative
and innovative solutions. Under Mayor Ed Lee's strong leadership building www.datasf.org, the city released
the Recreation and Park mobile app
for smartphones last year, making it
easy to find city parks, playgrounds,
dog parks, picnic tables, gardens, restrooms and more.
Additionally, as we are facing the
challenge of climate change, increasing demand on our urban parks as
families and former commuters move
back into cities, and persistent pressures on our annual operating budgets, the vision and steadfast focus
of Mayor Ed Lee to transform San
Francisco into the innovation capital
of the world has allowed us to harness
and tap into the creative and entrepreneurial talent of our residents and
organizations to help make our city
and department work better, smarter
and more efficiently. Mayor Lee fits
the mold of being a " recreation and
parks mayor. " He formerly ran the
city's Department of Public Works, so
he understands well the challenges associated with maintenance operations
and capital infrastructure, and he has
had hands-on experience with budget
challenges, labor and personnel issues,
and " passionate " constituents.
More inspirationally, our mayor
loves and enjoys the services we provide. He is a frequent visitor to our
golf courses, loves sports, loves our
concerts and special events, loves kids,
and understands just how much families and business rely on our parks and
programs. He is a kid at heart.
-Interview by Elizabeth Beard, Managing
Editor, Parks & Recreation (ebeard@nrpa.org).

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June 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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