City of Tallahassee Elizabeth Gardner

Interview

I interviewed the Director of Parks and Recreation

Ashley Edwards

Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The mission of the city of Tallahassee is to provide excellent services and facilities to support a high quality of life for our community.

Vision Statement

Tallahassee, Florida, a city which remembers its past while focusing on the future – a vibrant capital city: fostering a strong sense of community, cherishing our beautiful, natural environment, and ensuring economic opportunities for all our citizens.

Organization Values

Customer Service is our Business

Demonstrate Leadership & Personal Responsibility

Promote & Support Employee Excellence

Practice Teamwork

The New Park

Type of Provider

The City of Tallahassee is a government agency

Programs Services & Facilities

The City of Tallahassee was named “Best in America” by

the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)n

2004.

The City operates and maintains 3,540 acres of parkland,

ranging from neighborhood playgrounds to regional parks.

They have “active” recreational complexes, athletic facilities,

and “passive” parks, where visitors are able to go and just be

with nature.

Programs Services & Facilities

Contd.

The City has 8 multi-purpose community centers, a teen center, senior

center, and a gymnastics facility

28 different playgrounds

86 athletic fields

55 tennis courts

They also have 7 aquatic facilities and 2 golf courses

The park system has 70 miles of trails, 2 dog parks, state park, and 2 disc

golf courses and a Miracle League Baseball field for people with

disabilities.

Miracle Field

Staff and Training

Full time employees

173

Part time/seasonal

About 800-1000

Training

There is individual training for each specific job within the city

Funding

The City of Tallahassee has a total budget of $142.8 million

The City of Tallahassee Parks and Recreation department

has an annual budget of $20.8 million.

Opportunities

With the passage of the local sales tax extension, our

Department will be receiving funding for new facility

construction as well as maintenance of sales tax funded

projects.

Challenges

Budget funding continues to be an issue for our agency and

others that are funded through General Government funds as

the State continues to recover from the recession. Sales tax

and property tax revenues remain at lower levels which

impacts the level of funding available.

Personal Observations

Some of my personal observations is that I feel that the city

is really about the community. They do so much to help and

be involved with the community.

The mayors back to school jam

The opening of Cascades Park

Mayors farewell party

Benefits

Individual

Community/Social

Economic

Environment

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/COTNews

https://www.youtube.com/user/WCOT

https://twitter.com/COTNews

http://www.talgov.com/main/digitally.aspx

References

http://www.talgov.com/main/home.aspx

http://www.talgov.com/Uploads/Public/Documents/dma/

pdf/fy15/fy15-fundproformas.pdf

http://www.fdoa.org/miracle-sports