City considering privatization to keep community centers open | Public Spaces

In the TV comedy “Parks and Recreation,”  a character expresses his desire to see his town’s government privatized, claiming its parks could be operated better by a private company.

“Chuck E. Cheese could run the parks,” he says. “Everything operated by tokens. Drop in a token, go on the swing set. Drop in another token, take a walk. Drop in a token, look at a duck.”

While not quite that extreme, a handful of the nine plans to save the city’s community centers released by Seattle Parks and Recreation last week include partial privatization of the centers.

Because of the need to cut $10 million out of its budget, Parks was directed by the Seattle City Council to look at increased partnerships for the management, operations, planning and fundraising of the community centers, as well as alternative management, operational and staffing models.

After five months of work with the citizen-led Community Center Advisory Team, Parks released the nine community center options, which it will be presenting at public meetings June 15 and June 16.

Below is a summary of the nine plans. More information on each is available online.

Geographic management: The city’s community centers will  be organized into seven geographic groups and managed and programmed in a coordinated fashion. The Alki, Laurelhurst, Queen Anne, Ballard and Green Lake community centers would have their hours restored. This option would save approximately $665,000.

Tiered: Each community center will be assigned to a tier based on physical facilities, current use and demographics. A center’s hour and staffing will depend on its tier. This option would save approximately $1.2 million, but could be controversial for communities with lower-tier centers, according to Parks.

Tiered with closures: This option is similar to Tiered except that it includes the closure of two to three community centers. The city could partner with private organizations to open the closed centers. This option would save approximately $1.8 million.

Closures: This option would save between $1.5 million and $2.7 million by closing seven to 10 community centers. The shuttered community centers could be reopened by private organizations partnering with the city.

Increase PAR fee: The PAR fee, is the percentage of gross revenue from Associated Recreation Council classes, sports fees and childcare services that goes to the city for community center operation. This option would increase the PAR fee from 3.25 percent to 4 percent or 5 percent, saving Parks between $47,000 and $126,000.

Resident discount: This option would raise fees for programs and services, such as tennis courts and pools, by 10 percent while at the same time creating a 10 percent discount for Seattle residents. It would save $7,000 to $126,000.

Volunteers: This plan calls for Parks to use more volunteer staffing at community centers. According to Parks, it is unlikely to save a significant amount of money.

Reprogramming of underused spaces: This plan would recruit private organizations to provide programs or services using community center facilities when centers are not open or are underused. Like the above option, this option is unlikely to save a significant amount of money, according to Parks.

Long-term leases: In this option, a private organization would assume total operation of a community center that would otherwise be closed. Parks will still own the land and be responsible for all major maintenance. This plan would save $500,000 plus whatever rent the organization pays.

Four of the nine options include some form of privatization of the city’s community centers. Parks notes that privatization is not ideal for a number of reasons, including the likely time between a community center closing and being reopened by a private organization and the difficulty in regaining leased centers if or when the budget allows for it.

Dewey Potter, spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation, said the department does not consider any of the plans to be privatization. Parks already has nonprofit operators at Pratt Fine Arts Center, Madrona Dance Studio, Bathhouse Theater, Seward Park Clay Studio, Seward Environmental and Audubon Center and the Cascade People's Center.

The two public meetings on these options will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. June 15 at Bitter Lake Community Center, located at 13035 Linden Ave. N., and from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. June 16 at Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave. S.

In addition, the city is providing an online survey for residents through July 1. Responses will be tallied and sent to the mayor and city council.