Metro Parks To Think Like A Business (12. March 2007, 14:50 by Derek Young) ~ Can You Help?
According to the BusinessExaminer Daily, Metro Parks wants your help to think more like a business:
The Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma is forming a Revenue Task Force to explore ways the parks agency can either trim costs or boost revenue through partnerships with businesses around the South Sound.
Parks officials want to hear thoughts from everyone from real estate experts and developers as well as lawyers and restaurateurs, not to mention bankers, marketing professionals and fundraising experts. The Task Force will develop ideas and plans to boost revenue and lower costs for the $54 million a year agency by September.
Anyone interested with ideas on making the parks district more business focused or are interested in serving on this volunteer committee should send a letter of interest outlining his or her expertise on a particular area of business that would assist Metro Parks to NancyJ@TacomaParks.com or Nancy Johnson; Metro Parks Headquarters; 4702 S. 19th St. Tacoma, WA 98405. The deadline for applications is April 2.
I’m intrigued by 1. what prompted this decision to ask for guidance and 2. what ideas may result from this. Hmm…
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Yes, that’s interesting. Especially in light of what I’ve heard about MPD for years and years and years. Somebody please enlighten us.
(Boost revenue through partnerships???)
1 | Posted by Dave L. | Mar 12, 03:54 PM
Oh, now I remember what I was trying to remember. Will it be more things along the lines of what Exit 133 reported back in October
2 | Posted by Dave L. | Mar 12, 04:09 PM
man, people go to the parks to escape “business partnerships” Why do we have to turn all our green spots into disneyland?
3 | Posted by RR Anderson | Mar 12, 06:37 PM
Metroparks is very slow to advertise things, (like events) just a little bit of an improvement on that end would help a great deal.
It’s too bad they are looking to corporations for help, I don’t see that actually benefiting the people of Tacoma very much in the end.
Claudia, I think Asarco Park would be more appropriate for Point Defiance :)
7 | Posted by RR Anderson | Mar 13, 04:06 PM
I remember a TNT article about a citizen group meeting that Metro Parks facilitated.
There were looking at a number of different plans for Point Defiance Park including commercial development, trains, trams, housing hotels.
Some of the participants were gleeful that they had this great “blank slate” to work with.
Finally, the letters to the editor poured in from people opposing commercial development in the park.
Tacoma’s parks are generally valued because they have resisted development.
Metro Parks needs to focus on stopping the encroachment of potentially commercial activities such as Multi Care’s proposed gas burning plant by Wright Park.
Also, Metro Parks has a large budget funded by taxpayers. I don’t think Tacomans want to see their public assets sold or corporatized and still have to pay for them.
Most people I know enjoy thenm for the open spaces and not to have them developed.
Would the community be better served if Metro Parks were folded into the city as a Parks Department?
My guess is there’s probably quite a bit of duplicity created by having a completely separate entity running the parks. We already have marketing, maintenance, managerial staff, etc. down at city hall, do we need duplicate departments for our parks?
Wouldn’t we as tax payers save money by using our existing city government structure? And wouldn’t this create a more responsive and responsible park system?
Just a thought.
10 | Posted by morgan | Mar 13, 09:18 PM
Speaking of parks.
Multi Care will be giving a presentation before the new Tacoma Neighborhood at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall 747 Market Street to discuss their proposal to place a gas burning plant adjacent to Wright Park.
Please consider attending if you value visiting and using Wright Park.
Hopefully, they will bring some pollution impact analysis with them so we can assess the impact the facility will have on the park.
To have two separate entities dealing with parks in Tacoma indeed makes no sense, I agree with Morgan. MetroParks has become very top heavy with more and more people doing planning and administrative and less people on the ground dealing with parks and facilities. The head of MP Jack Wilson actually takes home more then his counterpart in Seattle. The city should take on the leadership of parks and mainstream the two operations into one. This would not only eliminate duality in many aspects such as fleet maintenance, staff training and planning for example; it would also eliminate litigation as it happened in the past on several occasions. Joint facilities for administration and greenhouse operations would free up money that could go back into community centers, several of which have been neglected by MP to the point of closure. It would also free up revenues to create parks which focus on a healthier environment, cleaner lakes and just more exciting landscaping. And frankly, the city has been a lot nicer to deal with and is responsive and supportive towards residents. MetroParks does not seem to feel much need for that.
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