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Goal #13 Reflection
Goal #13 Reflection Build programs and places in which residents see and express their community’s values and perspectives.
13.1 Measure and report on park and facility visitation to understand use patterns across geographies and demographics and prioritize investments aimed at increasing visitor diversity.
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Visitation counts are extremely important, as they help organizations understand facility capacity and need against program allocation and weekly or seasonal use patterns. Counts help to identify where and how Mecklenburg Park & Rec resources, like staff, routine maintenance and capital reinvestment funding, programs should be allocated. Accurate visitation counts also reveal if Mecklenburg Park & Rec is fulfilling its goal to increase the diversity of visitors. Mecklenburg Park & Rec does measure visitation through the Strategic Business Plan, which attempts to compile data on recreational center visitation through registration software. However, there is not a standard approach countywide to collect this data and information about visitation often leaves out crucial park spaces and facilities. In order to understand current use and make decisions about increasing the number and diversity of visitors to recreation centers, nature centers and other facilities, Mecklenburg Park & Rec should develop and implement a standard usage assessment. The assessment should include visitor counts and include regular samples of demographic questionnaires that include questions about home address, household size and needs, and visitation frequency. This not only allows data points to be compared across facilities but reveals which amenities are over- or under-visited and by whom.
13.1 Key Actions
• The assessment should include visitor counts and regular samples of demographic questionnaires about visitation and household details.
13.2 Recruit and support a diverse workforce at all levels of Mecklenburg Park & Rec to better reflect the communities Mecklenburg Park & Recreation serves.
Mecklenburg Park & Rec’s workforce greatly reflects the demographics of Mecklenburg County. Yet, there is less diversity at higher levels of Mecklenburg Park & Rec. Mecklenburg Park & Rec can work in concert with the Mecklenburg County Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) to expand opportunities for neighbors identifying as black, indigenous, people of color, LGBTQIA, or youth and adults with physical and visual disabilities. A department with backgrounds that mirror the community fabric will create a more robust and multifaceted perspective. OEI has established guidelines and approaches to attracting, recruiting and retaining diverse talent throughout the County. Mecklenburg Park & Rec can capitalize on this work by establishing realistic goals for staffing Mecklenburg Park & Rec. Tracking how closely Mecklenburg Park & Rec’s makeup reflects census demographics could become a performance metric in the Strategic Business Plan. Diverse hiring needs to be considered at all steps of the hiring process: job posting, active recruiting, and the selection process. Job descriptions should emphasize a commitment to diversity and encourage application by diverse candidates, recognizing the importance of experience working with diverse populations. Specialized skills (for example, bilingual capability) should be acknowledged to further encourage diverse candidates to apply. Targeted recruitment activities can also build a broader applicant pool. This might include attending job fairs at local universities, community colleges, or other settings where underrepresented populations already participate. Active mentorship through these educational programs can also connect Mecklenburg Park & Rec to potential candidates in advance and build strong partnerships. Finally, best practices for selection and hiring include ensuring that the hiring committee itself is diverse, has criteria that value diversity meaningfully in the evaluation process, and touches on the topic of diversity and serving a diverse population during the interview.
