December 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 42

You can be sure that NRPA will be a
leader in actively promoting funding for
key federal programs in parks and recreation, trails, and conservation.
Brian Knapp
Fairfax, Virginia
Congress and the White House have
huge work ahead of them. The elections do not change the fact that park
and recreation advocates will have to
work even harder as everyone from the
federal government down to local governments ﬁnds ways to increase revenue and cut expenses. It will be our job
as advocates to sell the importance and
beneﬁts of parks and recreation and
ﬁght just to keep what we currently
have in these rough economic times.
Many of us have new relationships to
build with some of the newly elected
members of Congress as well as local
legislators. The weight we carry as professionals and citizen advocates has a
huge impact in moving NRPA's legislative platform forward.
Steve Eckelberry
Carol Stream, Illinois
The recent November elections
showed us once again that the public
continues to support parks and recreation and open space initiatives at the
local level. Many jurisdictions across the
United States debated ballot measures
funding new park facilities and capital
projects, and most passed with resounding approval. Here in Northern
Virginia, two such measures, one in Arlington County and the other in Fairfax
County, had widespread public support.
These measures will have a lasting impact on parks and recreation for years
to come.
Unfortunately, there is very little to
cheer about at the federal level. In the
President's second term, the White
House and Congress will absolutely
need to solve our budget crisis and address our mounting debt. Even if Democrats and Republicans come together
in the coming months and identify solutions to the tax cuts, debt ceiling, sequestration, and the FY13 budget, we
will absolutely face declining federal
budgets for the next four years, maybe
longer.
40 Parks & Recreation

The recent election has resulted in what
appears to be a more balanced House
and Senate. Both parties are agreeing to
create more bipartisan legislative decisions, many that will affect the park and
recreation programs that impact our local community's needs. It will be important to keep a close eye on
legislation relevant to park and recreation programs. Though the economy
will not take a dramatic jolt upward during the next several years, both parties
have agreed to signiﬁcantly focus on
the nation's young adults regarding
their educational needs, health and ﬁtness, and progressive skilled trade issues. Funding priorities for programs
supporting park and recreational efforts
may experience a political polarization
unless they can connect to these three
objectives. Historically, NRPA member
advocacy efforts have produced quantiﬁable results. Now, more than ever, is
the time for strong advocacy by park
and recreation advocates and at the national, state, and local levels.
Pam Sloan, CPRP
Stockton, California
Parks and recreation have the potential
to beneﬁt from the re-election of President Obama by strengthening their
mission to enhance the health and wellbeing of the populations they serve. His
re-election provides public support for
health care reform to progress. The
original advisory committee for health
care reform with 18 stakeholders
agreed on only one thing: If the U.S. is
going to afford health care for all, then
programs will need to help Americans
adopt healthier lifestyles. We need to
help the public and policy makers to
appreciate that parks and recreation
can be open gateways to building
healthier communities.
Janice M. Prochaska, Ph.D.
West Kingston, Rhode Island

| DECEMBER 2012 | WWW.NRPA.ORG

The outcome of the 2012 election will
call for continuous citizens' demand for
accountability, transparency, and productivity in government services. Park
and recreation agencies, as producers,
are aggressively seeking strategies to
concurrently generate revenue and expand service levels to broader segments of society. However, if partisan
politics are the business of the day, resource allocation may be contingent
upon both how well professionals are
communicating our story and the inﬂuence of your elected officials to secure
funding. Interestingly enough, the results spoke to voters understanding that
government should play a role in impacting the quality of life for all we
serve. The next four years will speak to
what extent.
Detrick Stanford, CPRP
Jonesboro, Georgia
Will the two political parties overcome
the political divide in order to legislate
for the good of the country? Eventually.
It will be difficult and will not likely result
in any great change that sets the right
course. We need a balance of ﬁscal
conservatism and social values. There
are too many special interest groups
with deep pockets who control
outcomes.
I think we have already seen much of
the cuts [in federal support for park and
recreation programs] in the last few
years. Will there be more? Probably, but
we will also see minor contributions to
programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The change at the local level continues, but the issue is more about a lack
of funds and less about politics. Hard
decisions have been made and will
continue to be made. The cities and
states that chart their own courses and
steer their own ships will succeed. We
have a responsibility to help our neighbors who have less. We can no longer
think about problems-we must get up
every day and think about solutions.
And the solutions must be local and
collaborative.
Susan Trautman, CPRP
St. Louis, Missouri

December 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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