Update on Strategic Planning
Process for Philadelphia Parks
At the October meeting of the Fairmount Park Commission, Phil Goldsmith, Interim Executive Director announced that the project team of Leon Younger & PROS had been selected to develop and implement the comprehensive strategic planning process for Philadelphia's park system. PROS is an Indianapolis based Management consulting firm focusing solely on park, recreation and leisure services who have helped more than 200 agencies across 30 states establish a vision for their park systems.
They are joined by a project team composed of Carter & Burgess, Inc., a Fort Worth Texas based firm, specializing in planning, engineering, architecture and construction management, and the Philadelphia based firm of Public Financial Management, who bring their expertise in assisting clients with complex operation and fiscal challenges. The other team members, who are all based in Philadelphia, are Brown Partners, a multicultural marketing firm and The Melior Group, a marketing research firm, both of which will be focusing on community and stakeholder input, Lager Raabe Skafte Landscape Architects who will be doing facility and program review, and Lori Salganicoff & Samuel Y. Harris, independent collaborating preservation consultants.
In a more recent discussion with Mr. Goldsmith, he outlined the broad parameters of the upcoming planning process and expressed his belief in it's importance. "This is a very small investment for determining how 10% of Philadelphia will be utilized...I hope it establishes and enhances the credibility of our decision making process and the value FPC plays in the city's vitality."
The planning process will take place in two phases over a 12-month period. The hope is that phase 1 will be kicked off in mid-December 2002; it will take approximately 6 to 7 months and is being funded by a $300,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation.
There will be 3 key components in this phase. The first will be Stakeholder and Community Input that will be obtained in several ways: through interviews of key leadership (elected officials, partners, and friends groups); approximately 30 focus groups; 10 public forums; and if deemed necessary, a citizen survey. The planning team will do a "Community Values Model Development" to assimilate and synthesize the feedback captured by this public outreach.
The second key component of phase 1 will be an Operational Audit of all the major departments of the Fairmount Park Commission (FPC) from the Rangers to Executive management. This review will look at the efficiency and effectiveness of many aspects of FPC including staffing, work flow and accountability. There will also be a less detailed high level operational and staffing review of The Philadelphia Recreation Department (PDR) and an examination of potential overlaps between the two departments.
A Total Financial Review will be the third component of this phase and among other issues will look at financial practices, revenue history, potential new sources of revenue, how and where money is currently spent, and possible overlaps with other city departments.
Phase two of the planning process will focus on Assessment of Park facilities and programs. Funding for this phase has not yet been raised but Mr. Goldsmith is comfortable that it will be.
During this phase the planning team will look at historical structures in the park to determine how best to deal with under resourced inventory and how to prioritize the use of limited resources. The team will make use of past site inventories such as the 1983 Master Plan, the 1987 Historic Facilities Report, and the 1999 User Plan.
"In phase two, the team "will look at how our parks are being used and how they should be used" says Mr. Goldsmith, "they will determine how to spend limited dollars in the best way, what it would take to bring the park to an optimal level, how to close the gap with private funds, understanding there will never be enough." He hopes to start operationalizing the plan as soon as possible. Some things will be done right away; others will require policy decisions.
FPP will continue to report on the progress of the planning process as it unfolds.