TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file a report on approaches to Park Equity in the City of Long Beach. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On July 18, 2017, the City Council requested the City Manager work with the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PRM) and the Parks and Recreation Commission and return to the City Council with a report that addressed current recreation programming offerings and participant data, opportunities for enhanced and more equitable distribution of said programming, review of park entertainment permit and fee waiver policies, and updates to core Departmental planning documents, just to name a few. On February 20, 2018, the Department returned to the City Council with the requested information.
During the City Council meeting, more information was requested, and PRM staff was scheduled to return to the City Council for an update. With the call for further study of park equity, PRM convened a Park Equity Change Team including staff from the Office of Equity, the Innovation Team, Economic Development Department and Development Services Department. In addition to these efforts, the Parks, Recreation and Marine Director has begun to visit the City’s parks and is working with groups and social networks that exist around each park, and will continue to brief the Parks and Recreation Commission on these and future efforts.
Striving for park equity will be an ongoing and long-term process that has begun with the new Department Strategic Plan, for which $70,000 was approved by the City Council as part of the FY 19 budget, contingent on the availability of FY 19 General Fund surplus. This funding will help start the development of the Strategic Plan, which will offer PRM opportunities to engage with its users and stakeholders around service, programming, maintenance, and park/open space needs. This process will begin with a staff evaluation of the existing Strategic Plan, followed by a community process to provide input on goals, objectives, an...
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