Tim: I've had similar observations. Part of the reason, I think, is a lack of volunteers. But part of the reason is funding cuts. Parks and Rec, I am told, has seen their budgets trimmed steadily every year, with lots of consolidation of programs, more limited hours, deferred maintenance, etc. I think it's tough to run a really successful program when city leaders don't value these programs the way the citizens did 20 and 30 years ago. Wouldn't it be great to have a mayor who was looking to expand the services that parks and rec offer, who was looking to increase hours for libraries? What's always dismaying to me when I visit some St. Paul libraries is the lack of books! Lots of computer terminals, public space, meeting rooms, but a pretty limited supply of books. I'm not criticizing anybody in particular, just lamenting that libraries used to be places stuffed to the rafters with books, but now the books seem to take up a lot less space. Hillcrest is one place in particular that seems to be that way, but maybe it's a reflection of the relative neighborhood affluence and the preference to own books that can be bought pretty cheaply at 1/2 Price Books down the street. Still, we need to emphasize literacy and recreation, and I would think "world class" libraries and parks/rec centers would be central to any great city.
Maybe one of our mayoral candidates has this as a goal in his platform? 'Cause it's sure not in the plan of the current administration, as far as I can tell. Tom Goldstein Hamline-Midway ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Erickson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "St. Paul Issues Forum" <stpaul@mnforum.org> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 11:58 PM Subject: RE: [StPaul] Parks & Recreation - Youth Sports > > At 11:40 PM -0500 4/18/05, Paul Gleeson wrote: > >In my experience, most (not all) Rec Center youth sports programs emphasize > >the recreational aspect of sports. My experience with Rec Center soccer was > >similar to yours. Not very well organized, nor well coached. > > I understand that the philosophy is meant to be recreational and that > the coaches are pretty bad (actually, some of them were very good). I > was one of the bad ones, coaching kids in a sport I knew almost > nothing about. > > I also understand that there are alternatives. > > I'm not complaining about the lack of competitiveness or untrained > coaches, I'm complaining about some REALLY bad customer service. I'm > complaining about a city program, that based upon my experiences > reflects poorly on the city. > > - If we are going to have a recreational sports program, we ought to > do it well. > - Rec Center staff, ought to be able to answer basic questions about > the programs that they are offering. > - And volunteers coaches should be handled appropriately. > > But, maybe my experiences were isolated or extreme, which is why I'm > eager to hear from others. > > There were times during the last season, in which I wasn't sure if it > wouldn't be better to shut down the program at one park, rather than > offer such a really bad program. It was almost funny how bad it was. > > Best wishes, > > Tim Erickson > Hamline Midway > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ------------------------------------------------- > JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: > http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ > ------------------------------------------------- > POST MESSAGES HERE: stpaul@mnforum.org > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: stpaul@mnforum.org To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
