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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout, Comments regarding proposed merger of Open Space Department and Mountain Parks~ ~ ~ I ~ ~ 4 `~~ ) ~ i~' 1 ~ ,. , , TO Pazks and Recreahon Boazd ~ ~' FROM Jul~e Kreutzer, Open Space Cha~r Ind~an Peaks Group, S~erra Club RE Comments re Proposed Merger of Open Space Dept and Mountam Pazks DATE 2/27/00 Our Resoluhon, below is submitted as part of publ~c wmment on this issue Also, I have a few add~tional specifics as to the ConsultanPs report that m~ght clanfy our posiaon - Contrazy to the consultants' opm~on, our v~ew ~s that Open Space and Mountam Pazks have very d~fferent emphases and these differences aze condmm~g rather than histoncal Mountain Puks ~s cleazly makmg every effort to manage theu lands m an env~ronmentaliy sens~tive way Nevertheless, theu emphas~s has always been recreahon Open Space has other mandated pnonhes m addmon to reaeahon and has always had a strong emphasis on preservahon of the resource itself as well as allowmg h~stonc uses such as ranchmg, famung, etc Thus, a merger based on the concept that the two agencies have become so surular as to be md~stmgmshable mdicates that the consultants haven't really reviewed the history , m~ssion and charters of these respectrve agenc~es Although a merger nught be poss~ble, unless the Charter is changed for Open Space, the~r m~ss~ons remazn d~ssimilaz m some respects and those differences woald have [o be respected m any merger - Unhke the consultants, we do not see a great deal of overlap or waste wrthm Open Space or Mountam Pazks On the conhazy, we thmk they funchon qmte well mdependently and do shaze ~`"'"' staff resources for similaz work It ~s true that they need to commumcate and work [ogether ~..- better and that there is some ammous~ty between the two groups that needs to be dealt w~th , but we don't thmk the merger as wrrentiy contemplated ~s the correct solution because ~t rrus~deMi6es the problem Because we have l~tNe hme to acquve the remammg open space we need, any merger would have ro be rethought so that it dces not create chaos at a cnhcal time m our acquisihons program That necessanly means that the h~gh speed merger proposed by the consultants overlooks the fact that thev proposal would reqmre a change m the Open Space Charter and would not ~molve the necessary caze needed to reshvcture, these thmgs both take hme It seems the money saved ~s through ehmmatmg personnel Our v~ew ~s that Open Space and Mountam Pazks already shaze s[aff resources on ovedappmg responsibilihes and that ro eLm~nate staff ~s ro eluiunate experUSe and people that will be sorely rtussed when we are hy~ng to acquire more land and manage ~t well We have found no examples of staff that are domg duphcauve work or who seem to be underemployed On the contrary , rounne busmess with both goups by the S~erra Group and other environmental actrv~sts md~cate that both staffs aze workmg long hours and domg important work We wou(d tend to commend them for it rather than ask one staff member to do the work of two people We cadt emphas~ze enough that though we aze m favor of savmg money and domg thmgs effic~ently ~t doesn't change the fact that our Open Space is pnceless We put an extremely high value on our Progam of acqmnng lands while we st~ll can and managmg th~s land wisely Th~s means that we do not favor a l~ghmmg reorgamzahon that would tend to threaten a highly successful program that ~s cnacal to Boulder pazvculazly when the cost savmgs aze d~sputed m amount , and may be to the demment of the pubhc lands and cmzens of Boulder ~ +... - hm Cram ~s no[ a perfect huatan bemg but he is a past master at acqmnng open space and takmg ~ care of ~t We have the open space we do because of h~s skills and personahty Placmg him m "' the city manager's office would dilute his abil~ty to operate for a number of reasons, pnmanly that there ~s likely ro be a conflict of mterest be[ween spendmg funds to acqmre open space and the C~ty Manager's Office desue to allocate the same funds elsewhere In fact, one can see that aUeady The report was funded by the City Manager's office and already proposes that money saved from the merger goes back to the c~ty That assumes that the personnel money saved from the merger can w~sely be put back mto the fund ms[ead of cons~denng that the money might well be needed for acqmnng land or other pubhc lands putposes such as more personnel money ~f the staff reducUOns don't work If hm Cram were m the City Manager's office, th~s problem would l~kely persist to the detnment of our public lands And th~s dces not even begm to touch on the sub~ect of the histoncal ammousity between the C~ty Manager's office and the Open Space Department wh~ch, as a number of people have noted, would tend to make movmg J~m to the C~ty Manager's office the eqmvalent of house arrest Even assummg he would tolerate u, the rest of the envuonmental commumty is unl~kely ro accept the results Any reshuctunng needs to take place m way that pernuts hm Cram and other staff to be effective m the~r work Further, the pra~seworthy goal of gettmg people to work together better should not resuit m Iosmg pnceless personnel or pumng them m place where they can't funchon RESOLUTION WHEREAS, an mdependent aud~t of the management of the Boulder Mountam Pazks and Open Space Depaztments has been comm~ssioned by the C~ty Manager and has proposed a merger of the two deparunen[s mto a new Dept of Natural Lands w~th the followmg pro~ec[ed results (among others) a$900k m savmgs, pnnc~pally tFvough rruddle management and lower-level staff reducUOns ~""" b The present "leadership" of the two departments would be removed (perhaps offered pos~t~ons ~w~. elsewhere) and a new head of the combmed department would be h~red c The real estate funcUOn of the present Open Space Dept would be removed from the new department and placed under the conVOl of the C~ty Manager d Greater efficiency and consistency m Open Space/Mountam Pazks management would be obtamed e The present Open Space Board of Trustees would be replaced by a new Namral Iands Adv~sory Boazd w~th an augmented membersh~p (wh~ch would requue a Charter change vote by the people), and WHEREAS, the discussion m the consultanPs audit has emphas~zed the ~mportance of consohdatwn for the more effic~en[ managemen[ of Open Space or Mountazn Pazks land, and has not dwelt on us effects on the acqms~hon of addihonal lands, and, WHEREAS, the Open Space Dept is curren[ly engaged in del~cate and complicated negohations for addiuonal C~ty open space m Jefferson County as well as for addmonal land m Boulder County (possibly mcludmg the F7ahrons property m South Boulder), and, WHEREAS, the City has v~ewed purchase of lands for open space as by faz the surest way to prevent mappropnate growth around the City of Boulder, and this view is bemg strongly rahfied by the State L.egislature m passmg "talungs" and "vested property nghts" bills that will severely l~m~t land use regulanons to conhol sprawl that can be~mposed by local govemments, and, WHEREAS, the proposed new departmenPs name, - Natural Lands, - misrepresents the character of some of the lands that remam to be acquued, and ~ ~r.s ~,, ~ WHEREAS, the above-menUOned land purchase negot~at~ons could conce~vably be dera~led by the debate and general confus~on surroundmg a deparUnental consoLdation, ~ THEREFORE, the Ind~an Peaks Group generally supports the merger of the two departments mto a new department because of the probable long-term atanagement efficienc~es [ha[ rt will produce, but strongly urges the City manager and City Council ro 1) Prevent any mterrupUOn to land acqmsmon efforts dunng any merger process, as a first pnonty, 2) Place the consohdated lands under the overs~ght of the Open Space Boazd of Trustees, not under a new board, so that a Open Space Charter vote can be avoided, 3) Create a transihon plan for the consoLdahon that solic~ts pubhc mput, is not fast-tracked, and is fmal~zed before the most cnhcal elements of consol~dahon take place, 4) Make sure that the pro~ected savmgs of FTE's m the consohda[ed agency does not short-change the management or acquis~hon tasks of the combmed agency .«.. ti..- ,*'"^, r..