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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
It is City Council’s job to listen to the citizens. They are the representatives in city government. City Council members will often form small work groups, committees, advisory boards, and commissions to focus on special projects. City Councils are almost always staffed by elected officials from each of the neighborhoods (or districts) in the city. When one finds a potential skatepark site, it will be useful to know which district it’s in and who the city councilperson is for that area.
The City Council will usually report directly to the Mayor or City Manager (some cities have only a Manager, some only a Mayor, and some have both). Every town with more than a few people has existing, perpetual departments tasked with maintaining and/or improving aspects of daily life. These departments may include the library system, parks and recreation, economic development, public works, police and fire, revenue and finance, municipal court, and so forth. Some of these departments will have useful input on the skatepark project. The parks and recreation department will probably be responsible for most of the best potential skatepark sites, and they will also be the most receptive to this type of facility. In some cases the city will own land suitable for a skatepark or skate spot. If the vision for the community involves a whole skatepark system, many inquiries about different potential sites throughout the process will need to be made.
When a town becomes incorporated it establishes itself as self-sufficient for particular responsibilities. Many towns are unincorporated and rely upon nearby communities for their basic services. If the skatepark is to be sited in an unincorporated area, the advocacy group will likely be dealing with the county government. Everything will be the same as with a city situation except that the contact personnel are county parks department employees and officials. Counties often have their own parks and recreation departments, just like cities. Advocates will want to establish contacts with the County Parks group at some point. Like cities, counties are usually managed by an elected body, or county councilmen or councilwomen. If an ideal site is identified in an unincorporated area, the advocate should find out which county councilperson’s district it’s in.
Parks departments operate in different ways, depending on the town or city. Most parks are run as a department of city government, but in some places the parks department is independent and operated outside of City Hall. Either way, they will almost always have an elected body, or Parks Board, with one person representing each district in the city. The Parks Board approves (or rejects) all significant operations of the parks department. The parks department answers to the Parks Board—your elected representatives. If you want a skatepark in your neighborhood, an excellent place to start is with your neighborhood’s Parks Board member.
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