M P R B Pres. John Erwin: New Park Board's Goals For 2010
The following statement by MPRB President John Erwin was posted on the Issues List on July 3, 2010:
THE NEW PARK BOARD'S GOALS FOR 2010
From: "John Erwin"
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2010 9:15 PM
To: mpls@forums.e-democracy.org
Subject: [Mpls] The New Park Board's Goals for 2010
Some have asked about the priorities of the new Minneapolis Park and
Recreation Board. The Board has had a very busy first 6 months and has
had many accomplishments including:
Resolving the conclusion of one Superintendent, starting an interim
Superintendent (David Fisher), initiating an international search for a
new Superintendent, purchasing the Scherer property, planting an extra
1,000 trees, establishing a partial smoking ban in parks, cutting 1.6
million from the budget this year, setting aside another 1 million for
neighborhood parks, working with the county to renovate 6 athletic fields
in Minneapolis, working with the city to resolve the storm water fee and
the park dedication fee, working with the Minnehaha Watershed District to
resolve issues at Minnehaha Falls area, and resolving a free speech issue
in public parks among other things! This Board is off to a fantastic
start! I have to say that many of our elected colleagues at City Council,
the Mayor's office, the County, the State Legislature, and the MCWD have
been more than willing to work together. Much thanks!
Aside from the work we have been doing to finish much unfinished business,
we set new Board Goals. Now that a lot of the unfinished business is
done, we will be starting to actively work on these goals. I think it is
helpful to post them to the list so that members can see the direction
that this new Board would like to go! The goals are:
1) Increase the quality of amenities, services and programs in
neighborhood parks.
2) Initiate a citywide public/private greening effort in collaboration
with the City Council, Mayor, County, local business leaders, and the
public.
3) Increase community engagement and transparency by improving our citizen
input process and increasing the amount of information available online.
4) Improve organization development collaboratively with staff and the
public.
5) Increase the percentage of our operating budget that is derived from
nonâproperty tax based sources by 5%.
6) Improve intergovernmental relationships and collaboration while
maintaining and/or strengthening the independence of the Minneapolis Park
Board.
These goals were adopted by this Board unanimously and speak to the change
that all of us would like to see!
Any constructive comments would be greatly appreciated! My e-mail is
erwinforparks09@yahoo.com.
Sincerely,
John Erwin
MPRB Pres and Citywide Commissioner