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The Peaceful Parenting Tour of China with Mark Rauterkus has ended but is yet to be put online. Details and observations are expected soon.

Children's issues aren't what they used to be. Education, health care, and safe neighborhoods were not the delegates' focus at the Democratic National Convention. The Democrats' new platform only reveals education in 37-page platform committee on page 22. By contrast, the first third of the 2000 Democratic platform was focused entirely on education. More.

PG Letter to the editor, 08/02/04

This is a great letter. It matches my thinking, but of months ago -- not August 2, 2004. My comments are nicked within the original letter reposted here. See the letter in the PG's pages without my comments.

Bravo for funding city pools, but we should pay, too

Pittsburgh officials said there was no money available to open the city pools this summer. At the request of city Councilman Sala Udin, foundations and corporations stepped in to save the summer for thousands of city children by raising enough funds to open 16 of the 31 city pools.

Mark: Pittsburgh's officials closed the pools, in part, because they don't have the will to do their jobs. We hired them to operate the pools when we voted for them. They want to do what they want -- and not do what the job calls them to do.

Giving Sala Udin credit for making the request to the foundations is a giggle. Sala has done a lot to make sure that the pools are in their present condition.

The foundations choose to put a new band-aid upon the old band-aid upon a corpse. By intent, the foundations moved to create some cover for the oversight board's take-over of the city.

One of the pools that didn't open was the one I usually frequent just about every day throughout the summer. Sure, I was disappointed, but willing to travel a greater distance to cool off, have fun and relax.

Much to my surprise and amazement, when I asked to purchase my annual swim pass for the usual nominal fee of $20 per year, I was told this year the passes are free! Instead of being overjoyed, I was stunned. The usual $20 annual fee per person to swim in city pools all year round is already absurdly low every year. I and other swimmers I've talked to agree a $50 fee per year would not be out of line -- especially when you consider suburbanites pay upwards of $500 per summer for private pool memberships.

Mark: Right on. The fee should be evaluated with honesty and fairness. Too bad the aquatic task force, organized by the city and a half-hearted consultant, was such a joke.

The cost for suburban pools is up there.

The cost should not have been $0. The solution should not have been so short sighted.

As I floated in the cool, clear water surrounded by the screams and laughter of all these children, I wondered if it's free to swim this year, what will happen next year? The city is in financial crisis and we are swimming absolutely free. It doesn't make any sense. Why weren't fees collected so all pools could open for all the children and taxpaying residents to enjoy?

Mark: Right on again. We do need to have a few, and even the PG, look to the long-term. Well put.

Why weren't fees raised or even collected and put away for next summer to at least give residents the choice to swim or not swim? Will the foundations agree to raise $850,000 next year, too?

Mark: Sorry I'm the only one trying to give a response to these excellent questions. Unlike the action within the swim pool, when it comes to local politics and trying to get a response to hard questions, my advice is, "Don't hold your breath."

MARLENE GENTILCORE
South Side

City League Football Season Out of Step with WPIAL

My rant.

We've called for the merger so that the City League team join with the WPIAL. More is documented within the first draft of the position paper, http://DSL.CLOH.Org/v1/. This article advances that discussion and makes the case to merge.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/highschool/s_206279.html

Act 47 Plans mentions of Parks is SLIGHT but bold.

Summary: Parks, Pools and Rec Centers got fleeting mentions in the Act 47 Recovery Plan. In August 2003, closures by Mayor Murphy's Administration crushed the opportunities for kids, opportunities that were already scant. A total re-dress of PARKS and RECREATION is due.

All sections dealing with parks within the Act 47 plan have been cut-and-pasted below.

Regional Park System

In the Parks and Recreation Chapter, this plan calls for a significant reduction in recreation activities (particularly pools) in City parks, compared with levels in place prior to 2003 cuts. These reductions will result in significant cost savings, but also in revenue reductions. While these necessary adjustments are implemented, the City and County shall continue their discussions of a regional park system, combining the operation and maintenance of the County’s nine parks (12,000 acres) and the City’s four main parks (1,700 acres), comprising Highland, Schenley, Riverview and Frick Parks. The City and County currently receive approximately $20 million in Regional Asset District support for these regional parks. The City shall seek the County’s cooperation in initiating discussion (with the help of the Act 47 Coordinator and DCED) with the Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to determine state financial resources available to support such an intergovernmental, regional effort. Any such regional parks system must address the significant amount of deferred maintenance in both the City and County parks. The City shall include the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy in these discussions.

Conduct Space Utilization Study and Sell Excess Property

The City is owner of over 300 structures, totaling over 2.1 million square feet of building space. These facilities range from the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh, to the Fleet Maintenance garage, to the numerous shelters found in City parks. While the City has recently conducted an inventory of City buildings and has shared some data on utility expenses, this data has not been analyzed to inform a strategy to lower costs. The building inventory would assist the City in understanding what buildings are under-utilized or could be sold. The utility information could be used to negotiate more advantageous contracts by leveraging the City’s total usage of the utility.

The City shall undertake a comprehensive space utilization study, taking into consideration current and future space needs. Goals of the strategy shall include maximum collocation of operations with the County, Commonwealth and School District, in coordination with the nascent Pennsylvania Economy League space utilization analysis. The strategy shall also consider the potential relocation of government workers to the 5th & Forbes development site; and provide guidance on a reasonable property disposition strategy.

Once the comprehensive study has been conducted, the City shall establish a space management committee of senior officials assigned to meet periodically to review space needs, continue space consolidation, coordinate with other governments, and account for the capital and operating costs of space requirements.

The sale of City property, in addition to generating revenues from the sale, would have the effect of reducing operating costs such as maintenance personnel and/or contract costs, energy, and security. Initial analysis has indicated that up to five percent of City-owned property – 104,647 square feet – is excess and shall be sold. However, to avoid potential doublecounting relative to other initiatives directed toward reducing facility costs (e.g., energy cost reduction measures detailed below), the potential fiscal benefits associated with such optimized space utilization and property disposition have not been quantified for this Recovery Plan.

PS01. Coordinate After-School Programs

The City shall coordinate resources to fund non-duplicative, effective services based on the sound evaluation of youth after-school programs. Children are at greatest risk during the after school hours of 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. There is a great need for activities to meet the needs of children, and multiple public sector and private several community service agencies provide positive programs. For example, the City Department of Park and Recreation offers the Community Enrichment Program (CEP), in coordination with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, to offer after-school programming in public schools where no recreation center is readily available.

Operations Cost Recovery

The Department of Public Works provides a variety of maintenance services to the City’s park system and park-related facilities. In exchange for the use of many of these facilities, the department will collect fees. DPW shall adjust the fees charged to recoup a greater portion of the costs associated with providing the service.

PW11. Evaluate Ballfield Permit Fee Increases

The Department of Public Works manages the rental of park facilities, including ball fields and park shelters. There are a total of 128 fields, each approximately 1 acre in size. Park facilities are maintained by DPW staff to ensure that they are in good operating condition and free of hazards. This includes grass cutting, field maintenance (dragging dirt infields, fertilizing and over seeding grassy areas) and bench/bleacher repair and maintenance. DPW has recently restructured its fee schedule for park ballfields as presented below.

Ballfield Fee Schedule

FY2003

(1) Spring Day (1 hour 45 min ends before 7:45 pm) $20.00
Season - Spring Day (1 hour 45 min ends before 7:45pm) $150.00
(1) Spring Evening (1 hrour 45 min after 7:45 pm) $25.00
Season - Spring Evening (1 hour 45 min after 7:45 pm) $300.00
(1) Fall Day (3 hours ends before 5:30 pm) $25.00
Season - Fall Day (3 hours ends before 5:30 pm) $175.00
(1) Fall Evening (3 hours after 5:30 pm) $35.00
Season- Fall Evening (3 hours after 5:30 pm) $350.00
The cost of maintaining the City's recreation fields is estimated $623,943, as detailed below.

In FY2003, the City issued 328 field use permits generating $49,325 in revenues, thereby achieving a cost recovery ratio of 9.3% of field maintenance costs. To improve the level of resources available for adequate maintenance and to reduce overall subsidies, the City shall work with the Coordinator to evaluate potential fee structure adjustments so as to recoup between 15% - 25% of its cost. This evaluation will include benchmarking of the new fee levels required to achieve such cost recovery relative to other regional facilities, as well as an assessment of the impact on access to these facilities. If such cost recovery can be achieved without compromising regional competitiveness and/or affordable access, then revenue gains of $30,000 to $80,000 annually might be achieved. Pending the evaluation outlined above, however, this Recovery Plan does not include quantified savings from this initiative.

Parks and Recreation Chapter

Management at DPR believes that a fundamental change in the way the City views its recreation program is necessary to deliver a product that will be competitive and sustainable. The recreation program that exists in Pittsburgh today is not well aligned with the needs of the residents of the City. Designed for a City with double the residential population of Pittsburgh today, recreation center attendance levels are now low, and the City lacks adequate resources to maintain such facilities. As indicated in the chart below, for example, Pittsburgh has a lower resident to recreation center ratio than many larger cities.

For Pittsburgh to be near the median of the cities surveyed, nine recreation centers would be eliminated leaving a total of 10 facilities. The current large number of facilities has also forced the department to spread its resources to staff all of the facilities. In turn, this has decreased the level and quality of service provided, which impacts the competitiveness of DPR programs. Similarly, an analysis of the City's swimming pools revealed that the number of swimming pools per capita was the lowest of the cities surveyed. This information is reflected in the following chart.

These statistics indicate that DPR may have invested too heavily in these facilities. Alternatively, DPR may not be providing sufficient levels of service in other areas, such as viable after-school educational programs. In FY2004, as a result of budget constraints, the City did not open any swimming pools for the summer. However, this severe service cutback did not address the need for a long-term strategy for sustaining an appropriate number of such facilities. In the FY2004 City Council enacted budget, the budget for the Department of Parks and Recreation of $2,588,791 (not including fringe benefit costs), or less than one percent of the entire City General Fund.

Olympian Follow-up:

The Gold-Medal Olympic Swimmer who was slated to travel to Pittsburgh to speak for the benefit of the youth presently ill. The trip can NOT occur as the athlete is in no shape for travel. So, the trip will be rescheduled.

Olympic Rant, #1, PDF, from April 6, 2004

Rant #2, PDF, from April 7, 2004

Foundation news breaks in popular media

PG coverage on Saturday, March 27

Media Coverage

A reporter and two broadcasters, WTAE TV 4 and WPXI TV 11, covered our Feb. 27, 2004, meeting at Duquesne Heights Community Center, Mt. Washington to talk about the closed swim pools and recreation centers. A few dozen attended and offered great advice and conversation. Thanks. We'll build for more meetings and larger forums in the dates ahead -- March 24, 2004.

See the article (PDF) in the South Pittsburgh Reporter. or link to that site.

Call #1:

Let's Play Well Together

The saga known as "Pittsburgh's budget crisis" contains two lessons. First, "If we don't do anything, then nothing will get done." We, in this case of parks and caretakers, means volunteers, parents, coaches, neighbors, teachers and citizens. We can fix this. And, we must act to do so.

The city's fumbles with closed outdoor pools and Rec Centers provides plenty of opportunities for others to rise and meet the challenge. The Great Race had an alternative flavor. The marathon is off, but our shared marathon of life for providing care for our youngest citizens never ends. We can't permit a "lost generation" to simply grow on their own without opportunities and direction. We all need to work together without the support of city employees.

The second lesson goes to the root of the problem. "At the parks we teach our kids how to play well with others." Parks and crossing guards were the first to go and the hardest hit. Grant Street leaders fail to understand and display the willingness of "playing well with others."

Playing well with the public and other agencies is the key to fixing our future. Pittsburgh deserves its "oversight board" as our elected leadership hasn't played well among themselves. The oversight board might straighten the budget and mend services. But sadly, the oversight board will overlook the kids.

We must work among ourselves to care for the little ones and the teens. The city's distressed status is but another pimple for those of distressing teen-age years. Act 47 may work for the Governor, but for tykes, we need actions, say Act 4 to 7, for those age groups.

Grass-roots efforts to better handle the places and programs where we all come to play are starting. All are welcome to open community meetings on these issues. Contact Mark Rauterkus, Mark04@Rauterkus.com, http://Play.CLOH.Org, 412-298-3432 = cell.

Get Involved, Call #2

Release for March, 2004.
PDF, 140k, one-page handout uploaded and updated in March 2004.

Speaking Out or NOT?

The balance of power in Pittsburgh is so delicately poised at this time that discrepancies between thought and speech, between private world and public writing, are only to be expected.

Parents, teachers, agency workers and all the citizens of the area are upset about the bad news from the Mayor's office. However, people are not going to drag their children into a fight that is not fair. We have our lives to lead.