An Outline Emerges of the New RAP

Two trends are emerging as the City of L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) adapts to the most austere local economy since the 1930s.

A combination of management attrition, layoffs and clustered services seems to be producing a "flatter" organization, with fewer layers of bureaucracy between top officials and the grassroots. This is a good thing when the result is simplicity, efficiency and maintaining public services.

The New RAP is also likely to embrace more public-private partnerships (PPPs). Vicki Israel has been named the new Deputy Director of PPPs, and the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners has been discussing a comprehensive, new policy on partnerships. SLAPA has been reviewing the proposed PPP policy to ensure that public spaces remain open to the public, private partners are accountable, and community stakeholders have input into planning operations.

The Real Cost to Light Our Summer Nights

The last issue of ParkBeat inadvertently relayed incorrect financial data for the City of Los Angeles' popular Summer Night Lights (SNL) program. According to Deputy Mayor Jeff Carr, total funding for SNL is $5.6 million - half of which is raised from private funds - while the total GRZ program budget is $26 million. The City selects parks with a gang problem, and is adding six sites to SNL this year. The Dept. of Recreation and Parks is contracted to provide services with GRZ/Summer Night Lights funding, and staff are paid overtime for helping.

Parks department should look before it cuts

In this time of need, recreation staffers may be more urgently needed than administrators.

L.A. Times, February 21, 2010, By Steve Lopez

Connie Sommer has a thing for her neighborhood park. She loves the variety of sports programs and classes and the way the park ties her three children to the greater community. She sees the pleasant tree-shaded acres as a slice of multicultural Los Angeles at its best.

But the splendor in the park is threatened by a wild, rampaging beast.

In Los Angeles and across the state, budget cuts are coming at every level of public service, and more employees are being thrown out of work. I get lots of e-mails like the one from Sommer, who said Mar Vista Park is about to take a hit.

"Would you please take up our cause and help us get heard," she pleaded, "before it's too late?"

It may already be too late. And not just for parks.

As I was on my way to meet Sommer, my wife called me to say our daughter's school year will be shortened by a week to save money.

Terrific.

And based on what I learned in Mar Vista, we shouldn't count on sending her to the neighborhood rec center that week.

Sommer and two other parents, Pam Jackson and Tony Solomon, met me at Mar Vista Park on Thursday morning to make their case for preserving the programs there, which may be scaled back as the mayor and City Council threaten to eliminate 4,000 city jobs.

My hosts at Mar Vista said they understand that the situation is dire and that every pet program can't be protected. But they argue that the city will have bigger bills down the road if idle kids have nothing to keep them out of trouble. Their park could lose one or more of its few full-time positions as well as some part-time recreation staff.

"It's short-sighted," said Jackson, who resents that the people who use and support the park, and pay for many of the programs, have been left out of the budget-cutting discussion.

"My own business is down 80%," said Solomon, who's in commercial real estate and doesn't question Mayor Villaraigosa's need to pare the city budget. "But are there better suggestions as to where some of the cuts should be made?"

Good question. Unless they're all turning profits, do we need a dozen municipal golf facilities? And nothing against Brentwood or the Barrington Rec Center, but this might be a good time to consider dropping low-impact aerobics, bridge and dog classes, or maybe tripling the fees for them. If they had a voice, the Mar Vista parents told me, they'd ask city officials to cut administrative recreation positions before the jobs of the on-site coordinators and directors. The latter are in contact with thousands of adults and children who participate in dozens of sports and arts programs.

I heard the same call later in the day at a meeting of the Alliance to Save L.A. Parks, which is led by Jack Foley, a Cal State Northridge professor emeritus of recreation. Foley fears that the city will lay off dozens of front-line employees, shut down some rec centers and turn the rest of the system into a "pay to play" department.

That would be disastrous, he said, because in dozens of neighborhoods, many families can't afford to pay. Foley calls rec leaders the "thin green line of community safety" and argues that firing them is "comparable to firing teachers and beat officers."

A recreation department employee who wouldn't let me use her name, fearing she'd be fired, said the cuts are coming just as demand for park and rec services is rising and summer approaches. If the mayor wants crime reduction, she said, he should consider that by whacking her department, the city would be creating a "devil's workshop."

To some extent, the threat of layoffs is a negotiating tool, with city officials trying to extract concessions including pay cuts from labor unions in return for job security. But there's a $485-million deficit projected over the next two years, and Clemente Arrizon, a rec coordinator at Montecito Heights Recreation Center, said that, like many other park employees, he has received notice that he may be laid off.

"All of my kids are at-risk kids, with 80% of them below the poverty line," said Arrizon, who added that his kids pester him to volunteer at the rec center so they're beyond the reach of the gangbangers.

"We're referees, we're counselors, we're stepfathers, we're brothers. We do it all," said Arrizon, who grew up in a tough Santa Ana neighborhood and knows how easy it is for a kid to get into trouble. He went to college, studied under Foley and got his degree.

Now, 18 years into a career that could soon end abruptly, he's applying at places like Home Depot.

The head of the Recreation and Parks Department, Jon Mukri, did not return my call. Jeff Carr, the mayor's chief of staff, said any cuts to recreation and parks are painful, but the city has to live within its means. There'll be more of an effort to recruit sponsors and build public-private partnerships, he said, to keep programs running.

I'm not suggesting there's much of a silver lining in any of this. But maybe, in the new and reduced California, people will get angry enough about the state's habitual dysfunction and political cowardice to demand reforms that would lead to less partisanship, more efficiency and steadier revenue streams.

In the meantime, there's a chance for an honest discussion about which public services we can no longer afford and which ones we can't afford to lose.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Park Cuts Will Sever "Thin Green Line" Holding L.A. Together

By Jack Foley

Every October, People for Parks joins City and County recreation agencies to honor the employees, volunteers and friends who bring life to our local parks. Last year we also toasted to comedienne Amy Poehler and her TV show, Parks and Recreation, for putting a funny face on public service. No one is laughing now.

This budget crisis is about to wipe out 20 years of progress in greening Los Angeles' urban core. Last month, the City Dept. of Recreation and Parks (RAP) began informing employees they were subject to layoffs. The first wave of pink slips set a troubling pattern: Almost all (118 of 125) are on the recreation side of the department, and none are in management.

Layoffs may be a reality, but eliminating recreation programs to keep up maintenance - a.k.a. the "Mow and Blow" strategy - will plant the seeds of social disaster. Across-the-board cuts should concern all Angelenos for three reasons:

• They fail to distinguish which communities can afford alternative recreation programs. Not all playing fields are level.
• They don't distinguish between enrichment programs that could be eliminated without much fallout and vital partnerships with other public agencies, nonprofits and private sources.
• "Mow and Blow" may work in neighborhoods that can afford fees for private service providers, but activity in poor communities will fall off and gangs and the homeless will take over.

All three problems collide in South Los Angeles' Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts. One Watts, as the cluster of three recreation centers is known, has built an innovative athletic-academic program that has reduced violence, suspensions and truancy at troubled Markham Middle School, which serves all three housing projects. Now, the 7-member staff is facing total meltdown.

RAP operates about 160 local centers offering programs for everyone from preschool kids to seniors. Many recreation coordinators and directors grew up at parks, earned college degrees and returned to the community. Some are reformed gang members. Together, they are a "Thin Green Line" helping youth navigate tough neighborhoods, and they deserve as much credit as police for keeping a lid on local criminal activity.

The proposed cuts are an about-face for RAP. In 1925, Mayor George Cryer created the Dept. of Playgrounds to help families and prevent delinquency. Before, private clubs offered swimming and camping. Soon, some of the country's first lifeguards were on duty at public swim holes in the Arroyo Seco and San Gabriel River, and at beaches in San Pedro and Venice. The department also developed the nation's first family and children's camp programs in the San Bernardino Mountains and Angeles Forest.

Progressives were able to defend many programs against calls for cutbacks during the Great Depression that followed, but the axe fell after Prop. 13 was enacted in the 1970s. Dozens of under-funded L.A. parks were soon gang-ridden killing zones that local families avoided.

Mayor Tom Bradley - who developed running skills at the Harvard Rec Center that led to a track scholarship at UCLA - responded with a $7-million campaign to clean up urban parks and strengthen programs. People for Parks sponsored two voter initiatives that have since channeled about $1.5 billion into local recreation.

Even after 20 years of progress, though, Los Angeles still ranks last among major U.S. cities for access to green space. Before this economic crisis, only a third of L.A. children lived within walking distance of a park, compared to more than 90% in Boston and New York City, where pocket parks enrich neighborhoods.

Layoffs may be inevitable, but "Mow and Blow" is not the right course of action. Instead, RAP must prune wisely to position the department for new growth when the economy revives. Until then, officials should:

• Preserve and promote partnerships that share resources with other public and private agencies. The future belongs to efforts like Community-School Parks, a joint-use program between the City, LAUSD and People for Parks to tear up the asphalt and landscape elementary school playgrounds for students during the day and the community during weekends and breaks.
• Hold the line in neighborhoods that cannot afford alternative recreation services. That means cutting managers and non-critical office staff while retaining front-line personnel like the One Watts team, and encouraging new partnerships and economic support.

Jack Foley is President of People for Parks and was a professor of Recreation Studies at Cal State University Northridge.

Pink Slips and the New RAP

Layoffs at the City's Rec and Parks Dept. tear at the "Thin Green Line" holding our neediest communities together.

On Monday, Feb. 8, Recreation and Parks employees received telephone calls informing them they were subject to layoffs. The next day, about 150 employees met with management, who said the dismissals would begin in March and continue through June 30, when union contracts covering tens of thousands of city employees will expire.

None of the 125 employees identified for dismissal in a Feb. 8 memo is in management. One is a trash collection operator, one is an archivist, two are project directors, and three are park rangers. The other layoffs - 118 staff - were all from the Recreation Division.

The division operates about 160 neighborhood facilities, and organizes numerous special programs, from sports and art to at-risk youth services and senior centers. Many of these recreation coordinators and directors grew up at parks, earned college degrees and returned to the community. A few are reformed gang members. Together, they are a "Thin Green Line" helping youth navigate tough neighborhoods, and are vital to any successful safety plan.

A case in point: the entire staff at the South L.A. housing-project cluster - Jordan Downs, Imperial Courts and Nickerson Gardens - received dismissal notices. This is same team that initiated One Watts, a program that engages youth in a recreation-academic program at Markham Middle School. Partners include Markham, Character Counts, People for Parks and the County Department of Parks.

At the Feb. 9 City Council meeting, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa directed RAP to prepare a 3 to 5 year reorganization plan that includes escalating contributions to health and retirement benefits. The mayor is also pushing RAP towards full cost-recovery, which will mean charging fees for sports, arts, daycare, swimming and other programs that will be out of reach for low-income working families.

Fewer programs, escalating fees, idle kids, higher unemployment - the outline of the new RAP is a nightmare vision. This is not the road Los Angeles should take.

Summit Takes First Step Toward Creating Alliance to Save Parks

On Oct. 23, 2009, People for Parks hosted a Crisis Summit to Save Los Angeles Parks at the L.A. River Center. The County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, the Verde Coalition, the L.A. Conservation Corps and the Trust for Public Land co-sponsored the summit, which convened leading parks and recreation stakeholders, including professionals, activists, advocates and nonprofit groups.

Click for list of speakers, panelists and participants >>>

Click for photo gallery of Summit to Save L.A. Parks >>>

PFP President Jack Foley described the Summit’s purpose as understanding potentially drastic budget cuts now bearing down on the City and County, and identifying short-term and long-term strategies for maintaining park and recreation services, especially in communities with the greatest needs.

PFP co-founder Carlyle Hall, County Supervisor Gloria Molina and City Councilman Tom LaBonge recalled the late 1980s when similar cuts arising out of Proposition 13 “killed” many urban parks in Los Angeles.

Molina and LaBonge, who heads the City Council committee overseeing parks and recreation, described an earlier time, when they were young and enjoyed family outings in Los Angeles’s parks and open spaces. They called on Summit participants to organize public support for their legislative efforts to maintain quality parks and recreation programs despite the budget crunch.

City Controller Wendy Greuel and the County’s Norma Garcia described the impacts of reduced budgets on public parks and recreation. Only one in three children lives within walking distance of a public park in Los Angeles, which has always ranked low among American cities for access to green space. Today, residents of South L.A. and other inner-city neighborhoods are losing ground. Operations, maintenance and programming are being substantially reduced in many existing urban and suburban parks.

The City has already cut 25% in general funding for parks over the past three years. County parks, meanwhile, took a 5% cut in 2009-10. Overall, a picture emerged of still more difficult rollbacks on the way. Beyond revenue cuts, both departments have experienced substantially higher expenses, due to increased demand for public parks and recreation during the current economic recession and because they must now pay for their water supplies and other utilities. The County is working with water districts and other utilities to reduce costs by investing in recycled water systems.

Summit panelists emphasized the critical role parks play as community social centers and alternatives to gang life. They recommended the development of new funding strategies to meet the growing need for public swimming pools, senior centers, exercise courses and other facilities.

Summit panelists discussed how forming partnerships with nonprofit groups (like AYSO and Boys and Girls Clubs), with private sector companies (though adopt-a-park and similar programs), and with public agencies  (from housing authorities and school districts to public works departments) can help parks and recreation departments to manage and leverage their resources.

Public Participation

After each panel, Summit participants made extensive comments and recommendations. A broad consensus emerged among panelists and participants about three key action items:

• Identifying new funding sources to preserve parks as part of the safety net;
• Developing partnerships with nonprofits, private sector companies and public agencies to supplement services that public parks provide; and
• Establishing a broad community coalition to advocate and provide support for parks and recreation as a critical public service and high budget priority.

In their concluding remarks, Jon Mukri, General Manager of Recreation and Parks, and Joe Edmiston, Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, spoke of the need to increase the visibility of new parks recently opened by Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council, and the importance of elected officials being responsive to park users’ needs.

Thirty of the panelists’ and participants’ recommendations were posted following the discussions.

Click for list of recommendations >>>

Next Steps

To effectively build the kind of coalition the Summit speakers and participants strongly endorsed, we need to organize a steering committee and a broad alliance that includes public officials, business and labor leaders and non-profit organizations. Together, we want to develop a broad campaign to support and promote our parks.

No matter how successful future partnerships with other entities might be, parks and recreation departments will need a fair share of public dollars to provide their critical community services. Voters should be polled about possible revenue raising measures. A variety of other funding sources should be explored. This is a difficult time for many working families, but their needs for public parks and recreation services greatly increase during hard economic times.