National Police Week: A Time To Honor & Pay Respects During the week of May 13, 2012 thousands of people will gather in Washington, D.C. to honor fallen police officers that were killed in the line of duty here in the United States. In 1962 when then President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation designating May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date fell in as National Police Week. Today, Officers and supporters from around the world come to participate in events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. The week of events is expected to draw between 25,000 to 40,000 attendees from departments throughout the United States as well as from agencies throughout the world. This year, ceremonies will take on an even deeper meaning, as one of Lakeland’s own will be honored. Officer Arnuflo Crispin who was killed in the line of duty this past December will be honored for his service. As part of the memorial event, Officer Crispin’s name will be unveiled on the national police memorial wall along with the names of other officers killed in the line of duty during 2011. In honor of Officer Crispin and his service to the Lakeland community, a team of cyclists will ride in the Police Unity Tour. The group will set out on the 3-day bike ride from Portsmouth,VA to Washington , D.C. where they will be greeted by Officer
Crispin’s family and Police Chief Lisa Womack at the National Memorial event. Lakeland Police Officers Hans Lehman, Mike Moran, Kevin Parker and Jo Jett are four members of the six-person team. Joining them will be Polk County Sheriff’s Officer Deputy Lyle Tripp and Dayton Ohio Officer Wendy Stiver who recently came down and met the Crispin family at the BBQ benefit held in March. The BBQ benefit, sponsored by local professional barbecue teams, raised an estimated $14,000 to assist the entire Crispin family travel to Washington, D.C. so they can take part in the ceremonies. Here in Lakeland, a memorial service is held every year to honor those officers killed in the line of duty in Polk County. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, May 10 at the West side of the Lakeland Center property. For more information on this event please visit www.lakelandgov.net.
G OV E R N M E N T E M P L OY E E S AT WO R K
Meet Bob Donahay Bob Donahay is the new Director of Parks & Recreation. He has been with the Department for 34 years and he actually started as a part-time Recreation Leader at Simpson Park. Donahay said, “I was hired by Bill Tinsley who was the Recreation Supervisor at the time. I am blessed to have one of the best jobs around and my duties have grown considerably over the years from overseeing the basketball, flag football and racquetball programs at Simpson Park to now managing the entire Parks & Recreation Department.” He started with the City of Lakeland Parks & Recreation Department in 1977. Donahay was promoted to Superintendent of Parks in 1998 and served in that position until 2006 when he was promoted to Assistant Director of Parks. He took over at the helm of the Department this February. He said, “I see myself being the Director of the Parks & Recreation Department a long time. It has been a life-long goal and I have been very fortunate to work under three very talented Parks & Recreation Directors during my tenure.” He added, “I was able to see the vision of the Department progress over time and I can honestly say that for a community of our size, we have one of the top Parks & Recreation Departments in the state of Florida.” Donahay stresses that the strength of Parks & Recreation is the employees who make it all happen.
Donahay inherited a very well run Department and he said that staff will build on the framework that is already in place. However, he mentioned that there are some priorities that need immediate attention. “One of my major priorities is to reduce the subsidy at Cleveland Heights Golf Course,” he said. “We already have plans to improve the greens and tee boxes at the facility but our goal is to have Cleveland Heights operate as a self-sufficient operation.” Donahay has outlined that many of the recreation facilities have been in place for decades and his staff will work on maintaining this aging infrastructure. He said,“I have future plans to restore and refurbish the Southwest Softball Complex, the Westside Softball Complex and the Hangers at Tiger Town. These facilities are in need of a facelift.” There are some very exciting future projects that Donahay will oversee and these include the new recreation complex located within the Northeast quadrant of the City and a new skate park. He said, “We are currently exploring a couple of sites for a new skate park and we have several field trips planned to other communities to look at some of the design elements that they have incorporated into their municipal skate parks.” Donahay said, “I am very excited about the Northeast Recreation Complex that is located off Lakeland Hills Boulevard, not far from I-4. We actually have infrastructure funding in 2013 that will
help build some roads and hopefully we can build two little league fields.” He added, “We already have a bridge in place at the entrance to the facility that goes across Lake Crago.” When it’s completely built out this is going to be a wonderful facility with multiple sports fields, a recreation center, swimming pool, tennis courts and nature trails. Donahay said, “I look forward to working for City Manager Doug Thomas and I appreciate this opportunity that allows me to fulfill my life-long dream. The City of Lakeland is very important to me and I am very grateful to work with dedicated employees from all of the Departments as we continue in building Lakeland’s future.” Donahay is a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married to his wife Debbie who is an Assistant Principal at Lake Gibson High School. They have three adult children Courtney, Robby and Zeke.