Two proposed amendments up for consideration by the Dallas Charter Review Commission could limit — or remove completely — the Park and Recreation Board’s nearly 100-year independence inside City Hall.
The city council appointed 15-member parks board is responsible for millions of dollars of the city’s money and manages thousands of acres of park land.
It can have public safety officers commissioned for policing park land. And unlike other city department officials, the parks director is chosen by and reports to the board — not the city manager.
While advocates of the system say it adds an additional layer of oversight to city government — and that the board needs city council approval on most actions — some think a reorganization of City Hall could increase transparency and efficiency.
One proposed amendment would leave oversight and management of the parks department to the city manager’s office instead of the board. The other amendment would change who names the park department director from the board to the city council.
“This amendment is really proposed to kind of streamline approvals, streamline the process and basically make the city government more efficient,” former Dallas City Council Member Chris Luna told KERA.
Adam Medrano, the charter commission’s vice chair, and District 13 Commissioner Marshall Mills submitted the amendment to allow the council to appoint the department’s director. They both declined to speak to KERA about their proposal.
But not everyone is eager at the idea of doing away with the department’s century long semi-autonomy within City Hall.
“If somethings not broken, there’s no need to try and fix it,” former Dallas Parks and Recreation Board President Bobby Abtahi told KERA. “And our parks system has been consistently recognized over the last few years as one of the top in the nation.”
Abtahi says the parks board system enables dedicated experts to focus only on parks — and that any change could mean a loss of philanthropic dollars flowing through the department.
Ultimately, if the amendments make it past the charter commission and city council, the question of who should have oversight over the board will be decided by Dallas voters.
“I think it’s a valid question: Should all the departments flow under the city manager?” District 9 Council Member Paula Blackmon told KERA. “I believe that is something that should be asked and should be reviewed, and if so put to the voters to see if that is the direction we should go.”
‘100 years of history’
With the help of the parks department staff, the board controls over 20,000 acres of park land. That includes more than 400 parks, seven lakes and thousands of surface acres of water — plus an aquarium, the Dallas Zoo and a waterpark.
The Dallas Parks System was created in the late 1870s and the first commission to manage it was formed by the council in 1905. Charter amendments — like those slated to be discussed by the current review commission — in 1927 and 1930 established an independent park board.
According to the city charter, the group can sell, convey and lease land — with the approval of the council “when required by law.” It also has control over money appropriated to the park’s department.
A parks department spokesperson told KERA “there are no land transactions that the Park and Recreation Board can approve unilaterally.” Most actions need to be approved by the city council — and in some instances Dallas voters.
The board also has control over Dallas’ parks security and can have “security personnel” commissioned as police officers.
“Which is under the jurisdiction of the parks department,” Luna said. “Of course, the regular police department is under the city manager and the chief of police.”
Those officers can police properties under the board’s control “either within or without the city limits,” according to the city charter.
And the board picks the parks director.
But Medrano and Marshall’s amendment would leave the decision of who runs the department up to the city council. The commissioners simply listed “increase transparency and accountability” as the rational for the amendment.
Scott Goldstein represents District 10 on the parks board. He says the board already adds an extra layer of transparency by being somewhat separated from the council and city manager’s office.
“The parks board members are able to really drill down in a way that council members don’t really have the capacity to.” Goldstein told KERA. “I think that added layer of oversight and transparency has clearly been a benefit to the department.”
Goldstein says if passed, the amendment to place the parks department under the city manager would bury the department deep in the bureaucracy of city hall.”
‘Too important to have them in a silo’
According to Luna, the current park department set up is from a bygone area in Dallas government. He says when the council changed to a city manager form of government in the 1930s, only three bodies remained independent — the parks board, library board and hospital board.
“The library board, of course, has gone away and is now the library department, the hospital board went away completely because now there’s no city hospital it’s the county hospital,” Luna said. “So the park board is the last vestige of this 1930s set up.”
While serving as a council member from 1991 until 1997, Luna said he learned about what he calls “double stacking.”
“Stuff going to the park board first and then coming to the city council,” Luna said. “That was kind of the genesis of the amendment…what I thought was an inefficient practice.”
Luna says bringing the department under the supervision of the city manager will streamline the policy process. And while Abtahi — and other former parks board members — say the system has been working fine for the last 100 years, Luna has a different opinion.
“I do think it’s broken and it can be improved,” Luna said. “Part of the whole charter amendment process is how can we make city government better?”
Luna wrote as rationale for the amendment that what happens in the parks department is “too important to have them in a silo.”
Arun Agarwal is the president of the board. He says changing the structure could have detrimental effects to how Dallas' park system is governed.
"If this was the structure...I would not accept the position of park board president," Agarwal told KERA. "Unless I want to just put it on my resume...but if you want to make a difference, you really cannot."
‘Change is always painful’
Luna says he anticipated some opposition to the two amendments slated for discussion by the charter commission.
“Change is always painful or difficult,” Luna said. “So, the fact that there may be some opposition doesn’t surprise me because there’s always people that want to promote the status quo.”
But Abtahi says the board’s independence is “a blessing.”
“You have people on that board that are specifically focused on parks and the [recreation centers],” Abtahi said. “That’s a different skill set than you would need if you were filling a pothole or if you’re looking at 911 response times.”
Abtahi warned that if the structure of the parks department were to ultimately be changed — it could effect the money that gets donated to the city’s parks.
“Philanthropic dollars flow into the parks department because the foundations and the individuals that donate that money know that when they donate to parks it will be done right, it will be done with efficiency and it will be done with community input,” Abtahi said. “I’m not sure you can say that for other parts of the city.”
Luna says while the two amendments aimed at the parks department are different — they’re from people who have intimate knowledge of City Hall as elected officials.
“I just think its interesting that those of us who served on the city council can see the issues,” Luna said. “And while our amendments are slightly different, I think they are both similar in spirit.”
The charter commission is slated to discuss at least one of the amendments during Monday evening’s meeting. If approved the proposals will move forward to city council.
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter @nathannotforyou.
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