May 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 14

Community Center

From the Director's Chair

art of being a leader is mastering the ability to meet challenges and conceptualize solutions. This is never done in a vacuum - collaborators,
supporters, partners, advisers and even outside municipal departments
or nearby agencies often lend insight and experience to meet an outstretched hand. Directors at some of our largest urban agencies have more than
a passing familiarity with seeking support for their initiatives. In this month's
column, we reached out to Sara Hensley, director of the Austin, Texas, Parks
and Recreation Department; Brian Zimmerman, CEO of Cleveland Metroparks;
and Amy Phuong, commissioner of the city of Atlanta Department of Parks and
Recreation to ask the following question: Who or what has been your biggest
champion for increased support of your agency, whether through planning,
programming, financing or otherwise? Following are their insights:

Sara Hensley
Austin Parks and Recreation Department's biggest champion(s) is, by far,
the partners/partnerships we have
nurtured with the community, community groups, conservancies and
foundations. We are so fortunate to
work with citizen coalitions that not
only support us through volunteerism, but also speak up and show up
to voice what the community needs
are and how it ultimately relates to
the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
The many conservancies that have
been formed over the past three years
indicate that there is more interest to
assist us - not just advocating for
more money, but putting their money
where it can best serve the community. We work with the various groups
to define the parameters that are needed and that they could support. Each
effort is different and we mutually
12 Parks & Recreation

develop a formal agreement, defining
our specific job functions and responsibilities.
The future for Austin Parks and
Recreation is wrapped in the success of these partnerships. There will
never be enough resources to serve
Austin's growing needs. However,
due to the hard work in developing
better and ongoing relationships with
our citizens through community coalitions, associations, foundations
and conservancies, we have more
focused voices and support. This in
turn allows us to be more successful
in serving areas that may have been
underserved due to lack of adequate
resources. We like to refer to this as
the Trifecta: the department wins, the
city wins and, most importantly, the
community wins.
Brian
Zimmerman
Our biggest
champion
has been the
community
at-large. On
November 5,
2013, voters
gave a 70 percent approval rating to a

| M AY 2 0 1 6 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

tax levy that provides the lion's share
of Cleveland Metroparks' budget each
year. The 10-year measure will financially carry us through to 2024 and
is a direct reflection of the public's
support for our mission of conservation, education and recreation. That
support has resulted in our ability to
continue to reclaim Cleveland's lakefront, to the benefit of all residents of
Northeast Ohio.
Our efforts began in earnest in
2013. Cleveland Metroparks' Lakefront Reservation now includes Edgewater Park on the city's West Side,
Edgewater Marina, Edgewater Yacht
Club, the portion of Gordon Park
north of Interstate 90, the East 55th
Street Marina, a former state maintenance facility on East 72nd Street,
the Forest City Yacht Club, the Inter-City Yacht Club and the Lakeside
Yacht Club.
Cleveland Metroparks is also
spearheading the total renovation of
Cleveland's historic lakefront Coast
Guard Station - along with several
community partners - which is an
icon on the ever-changing landscape
of Lake Erie.

Amy Phuong
Without question, Mayor Kasim
Reed has been the city of Atlanta
Department of Parks and Recreation's biggest champion. When
his administration began in 2010,
Atlanta was in the midst of the

May 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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