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Editor’s Note: This column, “LBWA” (Leadership By Wandering Around), is based on the premise that, in order to find out what’s going on in the field, a parks and rec leader has to leave his or her desk and “wander around” the area of operations, talk to people, ask questions, and kick around ideas with the individuals in the thick of delivering services to the public. So the author will bring up issues and ask the leaders among the readership to share their knowledge and experiences.
I am assuming that the majority of PRB readers are in the same, large budget boat, which is in a storm, with an erratic rudder, taking on water and drifting dangerously close to the barrier reefs along the shoreline.
So, as the ship lists and drifts, parks and recreation professionals can begin to feel like they’re among the first to walk the plank as the captain decides how to lighten the load.
Navigating Rough Waters
I can’t say what’s happening in every park department in the country, but in my neck of the woods, my department has sailed for two years or more into ever-constricting budget waters and is about to drift once more into unknown lands. This phenomenon has pushed us deeper and deeper into “Pay-to-Play” territory.