Parks department reports first-year progress: 50 new programs, LED lighting and pilots for Wi‑Fi and tap-to-pay

Tamika, a Parks and Community Services staff member, briefed the Recreation & Parks Commission on Jan. 21 about the first year of the department’s three-year strategic plan, saying the plan "was based on the findings from our community needs assessment, and it's been actively guiding our department priorities, resource allocation, and our daily operations."

Tamika said the department saw meaningful progress across five goal areas, with "notable accomplishments in community engagement and partnership development." Highlights the staff listed included more than 50 new recreation programs; strengthened partnerships with organizations such as Friends of West Pond and Tree Davis; scholarships and joint-use agreements with the school district; and prevention-focused maintenance coordination among parks and programs.

Staff also described infrastructure and operational steps taken during year one: pursuing on-bill financing to convert pool lighting to LED at Walnut, Chestnut, Manor and Arroyo pools; implementing new technologies to improve analytics and productivity; and formalizing preventive-maintenance schedules. Tamika said the department will focus in year two on implementing fee-study recommendations, advancing multiyear initiatives and workforce development.

Commissioners asked questions and offered feedback. One noted that social-media outreach has increased visibility for programs; Tamika and staff said they will work with the city communications team and the local newspaper to amplify both programming and deferred-maintenance work, particularly aquatics projects.

Staff confirmed a pilot to provide Wi‑Fi at Arroyo and Manor pools to support operations and enable PayTrack (mobile tap-to-pay) for registrations and snack-bar purchases. "By moving into having the Wi‑Fi access and expanding our options of providers ... it allows for us to have tap-to-pay," staff said; commissioners noted tap-to-pay is already in effect in some locations.

On green-infrastructure goals, staff said turf-replacement planning (to reduce irrigation needs and increase native-plantings) is slated across the next two years, and that Tree Davis has been a partner in identifying candidate sites. Staff also described community-engagement steps, such as inviting commissioners to outreach events and coordinating an upcoming summer activity fair led by Connor Schooley to showcase over 20 summer program providers.

The department offered to circulate more granular quarterly updates and the director’s regular internal update to the commission for greater transparency. The commission closed the item after questions and moved to calendar items; the meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m.