October 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 70

government departments, are seeing state funds tied
increasingly to agencies' ability to furnish the public with at-a-glance performance statistics. Governor
Rick Snyder has instituted a " dashboard project, " in
which all local jurisdictions are being asked to provide statistical report cards on their websites-tables
giving constituents information about budget, services, and performance. Greg Hohenberger, parks and
recreation director for the township of Canton, says
the township supervisor pushed all of Canton's agencies " to be ahead of the curve. " And PRORAGIS, he
remarks, was the perfect tool to do that-the profi le
completion dovetails with that compliance effort.
" Filling out the profi le is actually not as scary as it
looks, " Hohenberger says with a chuckle. " I suspect
most places have already gathered this info for accreditation or other purposes. They just may not realize it's all there. "
Phil Castonia, head of Oakland County Parks and
Recreation, says his agency was, like Hohenberger's,
initially motivated by the governor's dashboard initiative. But adding to their incentive was the timing of
PRORAGIS's release. " We are right in the middle of a
10-year strategic plan, " says Castonia. " We had consultant data when we established that plan, but that
was nowhere near the comprehensiveness of the data
we have been able to obtain through PRORAGIS. "
The two Michigan park directors highlight the following additional applications for their agencies:
■■ ■Researching comparisons not just with agencies
similar in size, but also with larger and smaller agencies. " We can get inspired by agencies that are doing amazing things with less money than we have, "

Castonia says. And the larger ones, he adds, can help
his agency to become more ambitious.
■■ ■Master planning for federal grant applications.
■■ ■Partnering with other small townships in pursuing
private funding.
■■ ■Comparative analysis of funding sources-e.g., fees
versus tax monies-to compare not only percentages
but sources of fee-based revenue and subsidy dollars per household.
Considering both the state compliance issues and
the cyclical nature of the master planning process,
Castonia says, " we would have paid a consultant a lot
of money. And even then, it would have been hard to
capture this level of data from other communities. "

Gaithersburg, Maryland
For Michele Potter, parks and recreation director for
the Washington, D.C. suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland, the drive to get her agency into the PRORAGIS
system was first and foremost a desire " to be on the
cutting edge. " And the timing was right, she adds,
explaining that when the system launched, her department was right in the midst of reorganizing. She
had created a new post for a resource development
specialist, and she was eager to equip her new staffer
with a data-reporting and GIS tool.
Potter completed the profi le-and, once she digested the agency performance report, she says, she
compiled a number of data points to share with the
mayor and city council. Most important, Potter states,
was the discovery that, while Gaithersburg has 66
percent fewer full-time employees than other similar jurisdictions, it also has a volunteer base that is

PRoRaGIS 101
need some step-by-step guidance as you
gather and upload your data? Whether
you're brand-new to Gis or already use
the technology in your jurisdiction, our
tutorials will lead you through the process
of entering and mapping your data. Just
visit www.nrpa.org/proragis101

68 Parks & Recreation O C T O B E R

2 0 1 1 w w w . N R P A . O R G

October 2011 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2011 - Parks & Recreation