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Philadelphia Daily News - Posted Mon, Dec 11, 2006 Letters | Report on parks WAS distributed
THERE was clearly no intention to slight two members of City Council who have led recent efforts to improve Philadelphia's park system, as your editorial of Dec. 6 suggested.
Philadelphia Daily News - Posted Wed, Dec 6, 2006
IS PARK GROUP LOST IN WOODS?
WAS IT IGNORANCE or arrogance on the part of a park-reform task force that explains why, after two years of working with City Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown on fixing the Fairmount Park system - a period during which the task force asked for and got a number of delays - it released a report on its recommendations... and neglected to send it to the Council members? READ MORE. . .
By Inga Saffron (Click here for the Changing Skyline blog) The Fairmount Park Commission congratulated itself last night for holding a public hearing on a plan to insert more parking in the recreation space behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art - and then proceeded to vote exactly as it had intended before anyone uttered a word. The commission unanimously approved Olin Partnership's conceptual design, which calls for inserting 27 new parking space on the grassy riverbank between Lloyd Hall and the Italian Fountain. Those spaces, which will utilize an environmentally friendly, porous paving stone, are a supplement to a 440-car garage (see glass elevator tower, right) that the commission approved in June - without benefit of a similar public hearing - for the hillside just south of the Azalea Garden. The good part is that much of the garage will be camouflaged with greenery and topped with a sculpture garden. READ MORE . . . Northeast Times & Home News | Posted October 12, 2006 An update on Fairmount Park reform By William Kenny Outdoors enthusiasts who last year feared that a City Council-proposed merger between the city?s Recreation Department and Fairmount Park Commission would leave parkland open to potential sale or redevelopment need not worry any longer. The merger has been taken off the table for the foreseeable future, as have other park commission reorganization strategies. While that may come as good news to residents who don?t necessarily trust City Hall to properly manage one of Philadelphia?s greatest public assets, its 9,200-acre park system, there is a downside. READ MORE . . . Park governance won't change on ballot Charing A. Ball , Staff Writer After months of fine-tuning legislation that would revamp the Fairmount Park system, City Councilman Darrell Clarke tabled a city charter change bill last week after growing frustration over what reform should look like. Councilman Clarke was frustrated after learning that his legislation did not have the votes needed to pass. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, would have put a question on the November ballot asking voters whether or not there should be a governance change to allow the Mayor, City Council, and a nominating panel to appoint park commissioners instead of the Board of Common Pleas Judges. READ MORE . . . How to run the parks better CITY Council has the chance to adequately fund Fairmount Park and recommend a city charter amendment that would change the way Fairmount Park commissioners are chosen. Both proposals should be enacted together. If properly crafted, these changes would improve Philadelphia's most important physical asset. Annual Operating Funds: An advisory report of April 2006, "The Future of Fairmount Park," recommends ways to improve the park. A committee co-chaired by Robert Nix, president of the park commission, and Zachary Stalberg, president of the Committee of Seventy, came up with options for improvement (see it at www.fairmount-park.org). Two of them could help solve the short-term fiscal needs of Fairmount Park. A third suggests a way to support all parks within the region. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006 Clarke ends quest to change park panel It's a rare day when a politician throws in the towel, admits defeat and says he's "frustrated, stunned and befuddled." But City Councilman Darrell Clarke did just that yesterday when it became clear that he lacked the votes for a city-charter ballot initiative that would change how Fairmount Park commissioners are selected. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Metro - Posted on Tues, Sept. 22, 2006 Council disgusted over Fairmount Park status CITY HALL - Park reform advocates were successful yesterday in stopping a ballot measure that would have changed the Fairmount Park Commission, but that they didn?t believe went far enough to fix the struggling agency. After working with City Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown for the last year and a half on a bill that would overhaul how the 15-member commission is chosen, advocates said that any measure that stops short of fixing funding problems isn't good enough. "I think that this is a really important issue and it will be really best for the parks to consider both governance and funding at the same time," said Lauren Bornfriend, head of the Parks Alliance, and a member of the task force. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006 Editorial | Fairmount Park Proposal City Council members Darrell L. Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown this morning may turn to their colleagues for a vote of support on a plan to revamp how Philadelphia's Fairmount Park is run. Metro Philadelphia - Posted Thu, Sept. 21, 2006 City Council to decide Park Commission Vote CITY HALL - City Council will vote today on letting voters decide in November's election whether to change how the beleaguered Fairmount Park Commission is appointed. The ordinance would have the 15-member board chosen by a nominating committee with mayoral and Council approval, rather than the courts. Not everyone wants the bill to move forward, though. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006 LET'S BE clear: The city's park system has been starved of funding. Imagine: in 1974, the Fairmount Park operating budget was $11 million. In 2001, nearly 30 years later, it had risen... by about $2 million dollars, to $13 million. Since then, it has seen slight increases, although the 2007 budget figure is down to below $13 million. The financial neglect shows. How could it not? For one thing, the budget puts the staff-to-acreage ratio in the park at one staff member per 40 acres. As a basis of comparison, consider that Chicago has one employee for every 2.3 acres of parkland. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Thu, Sep. 14, 2006 KEEP WINDOW OPEN ON FAIRMOUNT PARK CHANGE FIFTEEN months ago, when Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown first proposed a charter change to create a new governing body for the Fairmount Park system, they opened a window that had been stuck shut for decades. Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Fri, Sep. 01, 2006 Earni Young | Fairmount Park water-park plan: OK, or all wet? A PHILADELPHIA municipal-bond financier wants to make a splash in Fairmount Park - literally. J.P. McGowan, with the help of Councilman James Kenney, is floating the idea of building a 12-acre water park around Kelly Pool, near Memorial Hall. According to McGowan spokesman Denis Carlson, what they have in mind is a cross between New Jersey's Wild Water Kingdom and Bahama Beach, an indoor water park in Dallas. "There is a lot of interest. Not everyone has the time or money to go down the shore," Carlson said. "Inner-city water parks are going to start booming." READ MORE. . . Park panel backs leasing land to cancer center The Fairmount Park Commission yesterday approved a lease agreement that would cede more than 19 acres of Burholme Park for the expansion of the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Commission approval of the 80-year lease agreement - including renewal options - marked a major hurdle for the Fox Chase plans. The center still must obtain City Council's approval. READ MORE. . . Germantown Courier - Posted Thu, June 22, 2006 City Council future of park system governance One year after the first round of public hearings to discuss the controversial park reform bill which would merge the Fairmount Park Commission with the Department of Recreation, City Council continued the debate last week, this time pushing for a last drastic change to the park system. Community and civic groups conveyed at Council hearings last Wednesday, June 14, to throw their support behind a resolution and an ordinance, both introduced by Councilpersons Blondell Reynolds-Brown and Darrell Clarke, which would revise how park commissioners are selected and create a Park and Recreation Funding Task Force. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Thu, Jun. 15, 2006 Round 2 for Fairmount Park Commission reform bill Almost a year to the day that a Fairmount Park reform bill was introduced in City Council, the bill got another public hearing yesterday, as well as further amendments, and was then recessed until September. The bill, which would provide for a charter change necessary to alter the way the Fairmount Park Commission is appointed, was originally introduced last June by Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown. The bill came on the heels of a strategic plan for the parks that uncovered a system beset by problems. READ MORE. . . KYW 1060 - Posted Wed, Jun 14, 2006 City Council Regroups on Takeover of Fairmount Park Commission City Council was continuing its debate Wednesday on the future of the Fairmount Park Commission -- but any vote on drastic changes won?t come until the fall. Councilmembers Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown had originally called for the abolition of the Fairmount Park Commission, with its duties consolidation into the city's recreation department. READ MORE. . . WHYY - Posted on Wed, Jun 14, 2006 Philadelphia City Council holds hearings this morning on a plan to change the way the Fairmount Park Commission operates. Proponents of the change say it will allow the 9200-acre park system to raise more money and operate more efficiently. Currently, a board of judges selects 16 park commissioners. Critics say that system lacks transparency, since commissioners are chosen behind closed doors. City Council members Darrell Clarke and Blondell Reynolds Brown have been working to change the system. They've introduced a bill that would allow the mayor, City Council, and community organizations to set up a nominating panel to recommend commissioners to the Mayor. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Tue, Jun. 13, 2006 Sandra Shea | Fairmount Park lacks leadership I'M NOT A hugger. I don't mind hugging, but when dealing with people I don't know well, I prefer social formalities like handshakes. Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Sat, May. 27, 2006 Editorial | Fairmount Park It's springtime, when a city official's thoughts once again turn to love - that is, apparently, love of Philadelphia's tarnished jewel, the 9,200-acre Fairmount Park. A year after City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke and a colleague suggested pruning the Fairmount Park Commission, Clarke is back with a better, but still flawed, proposal to improve how the park governing board's members are chosen. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Fri, May. 26, 2006 Bill would zap Park Commission Councilman Darrell Clarke introduced a bill yesterday that would effectively dissolve the Fairmount Park Commission by changing the way the commissioners are appointed. Clarke's bill proposes a city charter change calling for 15 commission members who would be appointed by the mayor. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Thurs, April 6, 2006 How to clean up our parks It's the woods and trails, the quiet and the sounds that amaze and inspire me. Along with the lone hikers and runners, I pass all sorts of families, some with dogs, some with strollers, others with clumps of teenagers, representing every race and speaking every language. In this, the fifth-largest city in America, I feel like I'm Henry David Thoreau. And then I see the garbage. I spend as much time as I can in Fairmount Park, and I commute through it every day, sometimes remembering to silently acknowledge how lucky I am. But if the stray chip bags and bottles bother me, the big-league trash really sets me off. One day, it's a pile of construction debris. Another day, it's a moldy old mattress and a string of overflowing green trash bags. I pass this stuff polluting our incredible park and ask myself: Can't this be better? The answer is, yes, of course it can be better. It can be much better. But after hundreds of conversations with people who know and love Philadelphia's parks, my organization, the Philadelphia Parks Alliance, has become convinced that better parks require a reformed park system. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Tues, March 28, 2006 Parks group calls for new board and a czar WHYY Radio (Morning Edition) - Posted on Tues, March 28, 2006 The Philadelphia Parks Alliance says Fairmount Park is underfunded and governed by a confusing structure that leaves no one knowing who is actually in charge. A report released Monday [3/27], calls for simplifying the current structure by replacing the Fairmount Park Commission with a board of directors, who would be accountable to the Mayor. Parks Alliance member Graham Finney says this would be a first step toward raising more money for the Park. READ MORE. . . WHYY Radio - Posted on Tues, March 28, 2006 The Philadelphia Parks Alliance opposes merging Fairmount Park with the city's recreation department as was called for in legislation introduced in City Council last week. The Alliance says the two agencies should be better funded, but remain seperate.The Alliance report issued today calls for simplifying the current hierarchy by replacing the Fairmount Park Commission with a board of directors, which would be directly accountable to the Mayor. Parks Alliance Board member Joan Riley says simply merging Fairmount Park with the Recreation department would not solve the problem of underfunding. READ MORE. . . Metro Philadelphia - Posted on Tues, March 28, 2006 Park group eyes mayor's race Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Tues, March 21, 2006 Park agencies' tasks merging, city is told Metro Philadelphia - Posted on Tues, March 21, 2006 Park merger fight turns to class CITY HALL - A clash between the city's social classes is behind the ongoing battle to combine the Fairmount Park Commission and city Recreation Department, a former executive director of Fairmount Park said yesterday. "I think it's a class issue," Phil Goldsmith, who is also a former city managing director, said following his appearance before City Council. "Fairmount Park is seen as the white-collar park. The other neighborhood parks throughout Philadelphia are seen as the blue-collar parks." READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Mon, March 20, 2006 Sandra Shea | Apples & oranges? No - more like a pair THERE'S AN ELEPHANT in Fairmount Park. And with today's City Council hearing moving us closer to some resolution about the future of the city's park system, maybe it's time we talked about it. As I've listened to arguments against consolidating Fairmount Park and the city's recreation department into a new single entity - as a bill now before Council calls for - I find the arguments so counter-intuitive, so illogical, and so just plain wrong that only one conclusion makes sense: there's something someone's not telling me. READ MORE. . . Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Wed, March 15, 2006 Recreation funding too weak, chief says Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Wed, March 15, 2006 KYW NewsRadio 1060 - Posted on Tues, March 15, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Sat, Feb. 11, 2006 A poem of everlasting beauty and a dream of magnificence - the world-hidden, wood embowered Wissahickon. Moving slowly along the wide gravel path at Valley Green, sunlight warming her face and wind gusts mussing her shoulder-length silver hair, Herta Grove wondered aloud whether she could still negotiate even a few feet of the rutted dirt trails through the Wissahickon Valley. She had hiked the back passages for more than 20 years with Victor, her husband. Hand in hand, guided by neither map nor goal, they followed twists and turns and ups and downs, marveling at all they saw. READ MORE . . .
Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006
Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Fri, Jan. 27, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer - Posted on Fri, Jan. 13, 2006 Philadelphia Daily News - Posted on Tue, Jan. 10, 2006
Philadelphia Inquier - Posted on Thurs, Jan. 5, 2006
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