Volunteer help welcome but parks still city’s kuleana

There’s plenty to like in Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s E Paka Kakou initiative, which commits to spending more to improve Honolulu’s public parks, and, dovetailing with a bill before the City Council, encourages community members to also spruce up the facilities.

However, there also are obvious limits to this volunteer-reliant approach. All involved need to be clear-eyed about the potential pitfalls so that the city is not absolved of a core responsibility it owes taxpayers, namely the decent upkeep of public grounds.

The mayor is pumping $2 million for park refurbishments into the 2016 budget he is due to submit to the City Council Monday, enough to upgrade playground equipment at 16 parks and to refurbish the bathrooms at 24.

This cash infusion is much needed to address an obvious erosion at city and county parks over the past few years.

The work is to include replacing playground equipment and ground cover, retiling restrooms and installing new fixtures, powerwashing restrooms and installing sealant that will make them easier to keep clean.

The proposed improvements won’t last, however, if the people who use the parks don’t take care of them, and this is where Caldwell’s emphasis on volunteerism and donations is most welcome.

The mayor’s call echoes the intent of Bill 58 (2014), which District 1 Councilwoman Kymberly Pine introduced last year and which is now pending before a Council committee.

Both would make it easier for individuals and groups — baseball teams, hula halaus, tai chi clubs, etc. — to help maintain their favorite parks, and would formally recognize contributions many groups already make.

The volunteers themselves would decide their level of involvement, which could range from raising charitable donations to benefit specific parks, to helping city employees with regular maintenance, to forming "neighborhood park watches" similar to neighborhood security watches.

Intensifying and expanding this Adopt-a-Park concept makes sense, especially when Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation has such a huge job, managing about 300 parks covering some 5,200 acres of land.

Oahu residents flock to these recreational grounds, of course, but so do countless tourists, causing further wear and tear on already well-used sites.

According to the city website, the Department of Parks and Recreation has an annual operating budget of $64.5 million and employs 750 regular workers and 1,080 people via personal services contracts.

One of the risks of substantially tapping volunteers for general upkeep is that parks could end up with vastly unequal resources, depending on the wealth and vitality of area residents. It’s just as easy to imagine that parks in wealthier neighborhoods would be underfunded, with neighborhood residents (i.e., "donors") expected to pick up the slack. A minimum standard for all parks must be upheld, on the government’s dime.

Likewise, city parks employees must fulfill all the duties required under their contracts, and not expect volunteers to take on work for which they are obligated.

A representative of the United Public Workers submitted testimony opposed to Bill 58, claiming that its passage would cost the labor union jobs. But with the needs of the parks so large, that seems unlikely. There’s plenty of work to go around,

Volunteers should be seen only as a supplement for regular park employees, not as a replacement. By their very nature, volunteers cannot be compelled to serve, which is another reason not to rely too heavily on them.

With appropriate foresight and planning, all of these potential pitfalls can be avoided, giving the E Paka Kakou initiative every chance to succeed.

"Our Parks Together," indeed.