Goal #9 Funding Recognize and invest in parks and recreation as a valuable and necessary County service. 9.1 Develop and regularly update metrics to communicate the value of Mecklenburg Park & Rec service and amenities— across County departments and to the public. As a CAPRA accredited organization, Mecklenburg Park & Rec has developed a healthy system of performance measures and metrics. The department is able to track progress with the Strategic Business Plan in concrete and measurable ways. The stories of these successes and challenges are vital to communicate to the public. It is recommended that Mecklenburg Park & Rec develop an online dashboard to easily and transparently report such progress externally. Dashboards in similar communities have been used to track customer experience, infrastructure development and preservation, organizational excellence, and staff performance. Transparent reporting of
112
MeckPlaybook 2021 Master Plan
performance results, both successes and current challenges, allows the community to actively participate in government. While it is important to measure Mecklenburg Park & Rec against its own goals, it is also helpful to situate metrics in a larger context. As a reminder, the following list includes the peer agencies analyzed and reviewed for a comparison of both funding and staffing needs. While this list is not exhaustive, it is recommended that Mecklenburg Park & Rec continue to compare itself to these same agencies for consistency: • Austin, TX •
Columbus, OH
•
Dallas, TX
•
Gwinnett County, GA
•
Hillsborough County, FL
•
Jacksonville, FL
•
Louisville Metro, KY
•
Palm Beach County, FL
•
Salt Lake County, UT
•
Wake County, NC
•
Montgomery County, MD
9.1 Key Actions Develop an online dashboard to easily and transparently report CAPRA performance progress with the public.
