Park Board Meeting: Wednesday, August 4, 5:00 pm -- 2117 West River Road
Last December, a simple majority of 5 to 4 of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board commissioners aborted the Superintendent search then in progress, and abruptly appointed Jon Gurban, who had not even applied for the job, as Interim Superintendent. Many of you turned out at the following meeting of the Park Board to voice your displeasure and ask the commissioners to reinstate and complete the original process. The majority 5 refused to consider such an action.
We are now in the middle of another Superintendent search -- a search which started with an extremely aggressive and short time schedule, and which is already several weeks behind. At the next regular meeting of the Park Board, this Wednesday, August 4 from 5pm to 8pm, the commissioners will solicit and hopefully listen to Public Input on what you the public and taxpayers believe the qualities and attributes of the next Superintendent should be.
The press release for this public hearing from the Park Board can be found here (http://www.minneapolisparks.org/forms/about/pr_toc.asp?prid=217) or here (http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/node/view/113).
“This will be an opportunity for residents and park users to inform the Board about what’s important in hiring the next Park Superintendent, and we’ll use that input in our decision,” said Jon Olson, Board Chair.
If you have concerns about the maintenance of the parks in your neighborhood, how the park system is run in general, how your property tax and income tax dollars are spent or other concerns about the Minneapolis parks, attending this meeting is critical. The Superintendent appoints about 15 to 18 positions within the organization, and is the primary person setting direction, ethics and character of the park system. The Park Board is working on a long-term plan. Whoever the next Superintendent is will have a lasting imprint on the city of Minneapolis. We need to make sure this person is the person we really want.
The actual public hearing will be at 6:30pm, but if you wish to make your viewpoint known, you need to get your name on the list of speakers in advance, possibly by 5:00pm.
Also, at approximately 6:10pm during the Administration and Finance Committee meeting, there will be a 10 minute or so report from the Superintendent search firm, the Oldani Group.
If the Superintendent search were not important or interesting enough by itself, this next meeting will also feature a 30 minute report from the staff on the Upper Harbor Terminal. One has to wonder what the Park Board is doing with regards to the City-owned (as opposed to Park Board owned) upper harbor, about which there are many rumors -- including that it will be closed in the medium-term future. This report will be during the Planning Committee meeting, which is at 5:00pm.
I encourage everyone to attend and make their views known.
Chris Johnson Fulton http://www.MplsParkWatch.org/
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