Summer activities will go on as usual this summer in Jackson, Mississippi, with no changes even after the City Council dissolved the Parks and Recreation Department to save money and contribute toward a balanced budget. The City is not laying off any employees or cancelling any park programming.
Instead, maintenance duties for the parks shifted to the Jackson Public Works Department and recreational program administration to Jackson’s Department of Human and Cultural Services.
The decision to dissolve the Parks and Recreation Department meant Jackson Public Works gained 24 new employees. Jackson Public Works Director Lorenzo Anderson told the Mississippi Free Press that his department is “working out the kinks” in an interview on May 22.
“You have a great group of guys that already know the routes and things like that, but merging that using all of our resources with public works and parks and rec will (be) day-by-day. We’re making it more efficient,” he said.
The Public Works Department wants to add about 40 or 50 new employees in addition to those absorbed from parks and recreation, Anderson said.
“If you want to work, come to Public Works,” Anderson said. “Go to human resources, fill out an application. We’re looking for equipment operators, skill operators, skill positions, engineers, things like that, so you can help build infrastructure in the City of Jackson.”
‘We are Still Committed to our Parks’
Jackson’s Chief Administrative Officer Pieter Teeuwissen emphasized that the dissolution of the parks department does not mean that the City is giving up on its parks and recreation at the May 5 meeting where the decision to dissolve the Parks and Recreation Department was made.
“It’s important for the public to know we are still committed to our parks and recreation here in the city, and that no positions that either mow grass, maintain parks or provide recreational activities to our youth… are being cut,” he said at a May 5 meeting.
Three public pools—and a fourth, depending on progress with ongoing construction at Grove Park—will be open this summer, Teeuwissen said. Summer activities like the city’s recently-approved youth golf program will remain active as well.
The decision to dissolve Jackson’s Parks and Recreation Department is rooted in last September’s budget discussions..
Teeuwissen explained to Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes that while the Parks and Recreation Department was only established in the early 2000s, there was still opposition to its dissolution.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay suggested lowering the Parks and Recreation Department director’s and deputy director’s respective salaries to save money, rather than dissolving the department entirely.
“I would ask the Council to consider maybe lowering those two director positions… and use our parks and rec department to develop a Parks and Rec Department (program) for students graduating from college to design a program that would be revenue generating for the City of Jackson, and let it be an experiment, similar to the University of Mississippi Medical Center,” Clay said. “… I know we have limited funds, but I think we could work around those funds and create a park system that is outstanding.”
The Council’s vote to dissolve the department was 6-1, with Clay casting the lone dissenting vote.
More Expansion Coming
While the Parks and Recreation Department is dissolved, the City is still working on improvements at other public parks and expanding other public amenities.
“We are looking at our footprint of parks and looking at our footprint of community centers and gyms, and we are absolutely committed to having a strong footprint of activities for our youth,” Jackson Chief Administrative Officer Peter Teeuwissen said.
The City approved funds to purchase a site to host a new community center in South Jackson at the May 5 meeting, designating a former daycare at 4716 Terry Road for the site.
Projects to improve Livingston Park and Jackson Zoo are also under consideration, and improvements at Grove Park have been underway for about a year. Some repairs at Parham Bridges Park were completed recently.
On May 19, the Jackson City Council approved an easement agreement with the Jackson Public School district for the construction of a new walking and biking trail, the Peachtree Connector Trail, near Murrah High School.
The Jackson City Council also approved creating an easement on the north right-of-way of Lakeland Drive at the May 19 meeting, intended for Entergy to build a pedestrian bridge.
An easement agreement with Jackson Public School District to build a walking and biking trail was also approved at the meeting. The walking trail will be in the vicinity of Murrah High School and Wells Elementary School, Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson told the Mississippi Free Press.
