November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 19

council members from the outset.
A colleague and I surveyed a
probability sample of 833 Texans
and asked questions designed to
ascertain which interpretation of
equity
they most supported for
allocating park and recreation
funds in their communities. Threequarters
of them opted for allocating
resources equally across all areas.
A similar response was forthcoming
when the same series of
questions were posed to 64 Texas
city park and recreation directors.
In our discussion, we suggested
residents' responses perhaps reflected
America's traditional egalitarian
ethos, while the directors' responses
may have reflected a desire for
a noncontroversial stance that is
the safest path through the political
minefield of equity options. Certainly,
the consensus among citizens
for this option provides directors
with justification for their pragmatic
response, because it is consistent
with that of their constituents.
However, it is possible many respondents
did not realize that equality
of inputs is not a commitment to
egalitarianism (i.e., fairness) if the
existing facilities, services and equipment
that those inputs are intended
to sustain historically have been inequitably
allocated. This is a complex
idea to communicate and the probability
of a lack of understanding
illustrates the challenge of agreeing
upon an interpretation of equity.
However, the starting point for
developing an equity roadmap is to
explicitly recognize different interpretations
of equity, their different
operationalizations and their
different
measures. A few years ago,
a colleague, Stephanie West, and I
developed an instrument and established
its validity and reliability to
measure citizens' equity preferences
among the various interpretations
of equity. This can be found at tiny
url.com/hnzjr2tu on page 53. In an
ideal world, this would form the basis
for an equity roadmap.
John L. Crompton, Ph.D., is a University Distinguished
Professor, Regents Professor and Presidential Professor for
Teaching Excellence in the Department of Recreation, Park
and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University and an
elected Councilmember for the City of College Station
(jcrompton@tamu.edu).
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PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | NOVEMBER 2 0 2 1
| Parks & Recreation
19

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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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