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“There are areas of
weakness in the City of Toledo that have not become
priorities and because they have not become priorities, we
have the situation we have now in our parks, with respect to
recreation, with respect to services, with respects to
educational engagement,” said Adams introducing the new
parks plan.
The report incorporates
previous analyses by groups such as the Parks and Recreation
Vision Master Plan, commissioned by the City in 2013, and
the Recreation Task Force, formed by Kapszukiewicz in 2018
after he took office.
The current Adams’ report
reviews the issues that the city parks and youth-oriented
divisions have faced over the last few years since decreased
funding has forced the downsizing of activities. The
funding for parks and recreation has declined from over $6
million in 2001 to approximately $3.3 million 20 years
later. The City’s Youth Commission was decommissioned in
2018.
All this was happening in
the City, says the report, while the public school system
still struggles to achieve all-around academic success.
“City of Toledo Government
must emphatically, decisively and definitely make it known
that a school’s failure is not just the school’s problem.
It’s the neighborhood’s problem,” reads the executive
summary.”
The report sets as its
main goals to codify the recommendations of the Recreation
Task Force and to develop a plan for the City to exceed
“state and national standards in parks and recreation, youth
services and educational outcomes, supporting it through
budgetary appropriation.”
Specifically, the new
department would have a director with three divisions
reporting to him or her: the Division of Parks, Recreation
and Community enrichment; the Division of Youth Services and
the Division of Educational Engagement.
It is anticipated that the
budget will need to be increased from the current level of
$3,357,797 to $5,662,371 or 2.0 percent of the General Fund
Budget.
“We have the money,” noted
Adams. She mentioned that the City’s last budget anticipated
a $70 million surplus and that an additional $190 million is
anticipated from the federal government as part of the COVID
relief plan.
A host of community
activists attended the Monday press conference spoke
approvingly of the new department’s plans and goals,
including Rev. Willie Perryman, president of the Toledo
Chapter NAACP and Montrice Casey, community activist and
summer league basketball organizer.
According to the executive
summary, ultimately the goal of the City of CHOICE proposal
(Community Collaboration, Healthy
Neighborhoods, Opportunity for All, Inclusive
Innovation, Commitment to Capital Investment, Educational
Excellence) is to establish “a framework for collaborating
with community partners in the areas of parks and
recreation, youth services and education to establish
community needs and priorities and to develop strategic
plans and goals for addressing those priorities.”
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