April 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 26

advocacy update continued from page 23

Now, more than ever, we must use the collective power
of our voices to advocate for continued investment in the
parks and recreation programs and projects that make
communities better places to live, work, learn, and play.
Dina Trunzo, Manager of Therapeutic Recreation for Somerset County Park
Commission in New Jersey, serves as
a great example of the difference that
professionals can make in the political
realm. She first got involved in advocacy by attending an occupational therapy licensing board meeting. Over the
years she became more engaged with
issues beyond just those related to therapeutic recreation. " I realized that even
though I was a TR professional I needed
to advocate for all issues pertaining to the
parks and recreation profession just as I
wanted parks and recreation professionals to advocate for people with disabilities. " Trunzo, and fellow advocates from
New Jersey, have enjoyed considerable
success recently. In November the state
passed a $400 million dollar bond initiative to support several different open
space and preservation programs and
last year her advocacy team was instrumental in convincing Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ) to champion the cause
of urban parks through his introduction
of the Urban Revitalization and Livable
Communities Act (H.R. 3734). Hopefully, through continued advocacy efforts,
that bill will soon pass Congress and
provide much needed funding for urban
parks and recreation agencies all over
America.

" All Politics is Local "

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24	 Parks & Recreation

APRIL 2010

Make it a point to attend city council,
county council, and public board meetings and hearings. Get to know the players, who they are, what is important to
them, and the dynamics of the decisionmaking group in your municipality. Cultivating relationships will help you gain
support for new initiatives and identify
local champions for your cause. Knowing
what people have sponsored in the past
and what their interests are will help you
identify natural allies.
Reach out to the staffs of your local representatives as well as with the

w w w . NR P A . ORG

district office of your Members of Congress. Invite officials and their staff to
events you host, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new facilities, or just to spend a
day at a park with the kids in their community. This is a great way to cultivate
relationships as well as to generate positive public relations for your agency and
your elected officials.

Be Persistent
Remember that results do not happen
overnight. Effective advocacy takes consistency in message, persistence in effort, and time. Mike Waters, Executive
Director of the North Carolina Recreation
and Park Association, compares advocacy to a slightly different endeavor. " I like
to compare advocacy to farming, " says
Waters, whose advocacy efforts helped
his state produce two Congressional
Award Winners this year. " You are always planting seeds and preparing the
soil for growing a bumper crop, knowing
at any time a hail storm may just upset
your best laid plans; however, it's important to always keep planting those seeds
and on a good day you will see the fruits
of your labor and even on a bad day it
just may result in something positive later down the road. "
If you value what you do on a daily
basis and the services that your agency
provides, then you owe it to yourself and
your community to be an advocate for
public parks and recreation. The NRPA
Public Policy office encourages you to
visit our website at www.nrpa.org or
contact our office for any information and
resources you need to help you make
your case. 

Joel Pannell is a member of the NRPA
public policy team in Washington, D.C.

For more information and resources
contact the NRPA Public Policy
office at 202.887.0290 and visit us
on the web at www.nrpa.org.
April 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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