I found out last night that the City of Raleigh’s proposed budget includes cuts in the city’s Parks and Recreation budget which will result in less maintenance of greenways and roadsides, reduced staffing, and reduced hours at many facilities – including some facilities remaining closed one day per week.
According to the proposed Parks and Rec budget changes, hours will be reduced at a number of Parks facilities, with most facilities closing an hour earlier than normal during the weekdays. Some facilities, such as Pullen Arts Center and Sertoma Arts Center, will no longer be open on Sundays. Walnut Terrace Neighborhood Center will be open for four fewer hours during the weekday, opening at 2 PM rather than the usual 10 AM. Lake Johnson and Lake Wheeler waterfront operations will be closed on Mondays during the offseason. Boat rentals and concessions will no longer be available at Shelley Lake.
The Parks department is eliminating 27 currently-unfilled positions. In addition, the citywide hiring freeze will prevent any additional hiring should current staff decide to leave. In addition, facilities still under construction like Greystone Village and Walnut Creek Wetland Center will not be given their own staff once they open but will instead draw staff from other facilities, putting an additional strain on staff.
While I’m pleased the proposed Parks and Rec budget includes no layoffs, I am concerned about reducing park services at the time they’re most needed by citizens. As Bill Fletcher said during last week’s Fred Fletcher awards, our parks are recreation department is needed most during times of economic hardship – a time when many families are forgoing vacations in favor of staying home. I hope the Council, the City, and the Parks department can work together to minimize the impact on our Parks services.
actually, I’m quite proud of the city being able to keep this in budget and not eliminate staff! Awesome!
Ok, how are the parks needed in troubled times? In these times people don’t have as much money so they don’t spend. Most of the services at those places you mentioned have fees. Like boat rentals and concessions…The truly good stuff, like a stroll in the park or a picnic, still won’t have a charge so there’s really no difference that way.
Now, let’s assume Bill Fletcher is correct how do you solve it? Raise taxes? Funnel money from other services? Maybe something else?