More hearings on Parks and Rec commission candidates

PlanPhilly staff

March 23, 2009

Last week Councilman Darrell Clarke, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and the Committee she chairs – Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs – took an important step in implementing what citizens overwhelming voted for last November: transparent park governance and citizen participation.

The Committee held the first 2 of 4 public hearings for applicants to the new Commission on Parks and Recreation. Click here to learn more about the 2 remaining hearings on March 24 and 26. (Please note that tomorrow’s hearing will be held in Room 401.)

We don’t yet know the final outcome of these hearings, but the Parks Alliance is delighted with the openness of the process and the energy, diversity and talent of the applicants, many of whom acknowledged in their testimony the caliber of their fellow applicants and the importance of appointing top notch commissioners at this landmark time.

Now that the closed and outdated Commissioner selection process has been reformed and made public, and qualified citizens have been invited to participate in a meaningful way, an unprecedented 206 applicants have come forward to apply for 9 Commissioner seats.

It will be for Council to nominate 19 to 25 excellent candidates with the demonstrated ability to shepard our parks and recreation through the critical next phase – and for Mayor Nutter to appoint 9 exemplary Commissioners.

This new process has made it very clear that the citizens of Philadelphia and surrounding communities love our city’s parks and recreation, that they believe there is much untapped potential to be realized, and that they want to be part of making positive change.

The Parks Alliance looks forward to working with the passionate advocates for our parks and recreation and to harnessing their ideas and energy as we move forward.

Thank you for all that you do for Philadelphia’s parks.

Posted by The Philadelphia Parks Alliance

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