October 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 17

cannot be made in another service,
which, therefore, is not offered -
so the subsidies create inequities.
Demand
The important principle underlying
this approach is that the market, not
the agency, determines the pattern
of service delivery. Demand may
be viewed as transposing the central
role of cash in market equity into
the context of the participants'
investments in time and effort in
services
that
are subsidized.
It
allocates services on the basis of
demands or " requests, " not on fees
or taxes paid. This interpretation
of equity is manifested in one of
three forms:
* Demonstrated use, which means
allocating resources to those park
and recreation services that have
most participation. For example,
parks that receive the most use
receive the most maintenance resources.
*
Demonstrated interest, by
which allocations are based on
residents' responses to surveys
or similar measuring instruments.
It differs from demonstrated
use in that it embraces
latent potential participation as
well as actual use.
* Advocacy, by which administrators
and elected officials prioritize
services (and make equity
decisions) by the intensity of residents'
engagement in the democratic
process.
Ostensibly, demand sounds fair
(equitable), but it
a hidden allocation
economically
residents
often harbors
bias
disadvantaged
are likely to make
less use of park and recreation
services, are less likely to respond
to surveys, and tend to be less
since
actively and assertively engaged
with
government
hxrmjfjf).
The demand interpretation of
equity does not guide the allocation
of services in a pre-determined
agreed direction. Rather,
it
is a
pragmatic, reactive approach that
park and recreation managers and
elected officials use because it is
administratively convenient. Its
use is likely to result in an unpredictable
and inconsistent set of
winners and losers.
However, it is consistent with the
utilitarian philosophy that states,
" the sole foundation, the end and
aim of all good government, should
be the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people. " The
utilitarian focus is on maximizing
aggregated community benefits. It
does not address social goals, such
as the distribution of those benefits.
Budgetary pressures have led many
park and recreation agencies
interpretation
embrace
this
to
of
equity. In essence, it emphasizes
efficiency and asks: What programs
will generate the most participants
at the lowest cost per participant?
Long Timeframe
A commitment to an equity policy
is likely to require consistency
over a period of many years before
the intended changes are accomplished.
Three factors make it inevitable
that short-term, annual shifts
will be small.
First, park and recreation department
annual budgets
invariably
are set by making relatively small
incremental increases or decreases
from an existing year's budget.
Thus, it is likely that, for example,
95 percent of resource allocations
reflect historical
patterns of an
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agency's interpretation of equity in
its delivery of services.
Second, the difficulty of
substantive changes when using
incremental budgeting is reinforced
by most park and recreation services
being based in existing facilities,
which are immovable assets that
often were a function of opportunity
taxpayer-funded purchases (e.g.,
funded by bonds and located where
land was
relatedly
inexpensive)
or philanthropic donations.
Consequently, elected officials
are likely to feel obligated to give
funding preference to maintaining
and operating these fixed assets, even
though this may be inconsistent with
a new equity policy.
A commitment to an equity
policy is likely to require
consistency over a period of
many years before the intended
changes are accomplished.
Third, cities are organic. There
is regular turnover of elected officials,
and it is likely that the value
systems of new officials will differ
to some degree from those of their
predecessors. There also is turnover
in neighborhoods, so the profile of
communities will change over time
because of residents' changes in
preferences and perceptions. The
changing membership of both these
stakeholder groups make retention
of a consistent policy over a multiyear
period challenging.
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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October 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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